Senators' players, coach come to defence of Ullmark, general manager Staios

As he does on the ice, Brady Tkachuk came to his teammate's defence off it.

The Ottawa Senators captain did not mince words Saturday morning when he addressed online rumours about the reason for goaltender Linus Ullmark's personal leave, which had general manager Steve Staios releasing a statement earlier in the week that referred to "trolls" and "sick people" as the source of the rumours.

"I don't think anybody's pretty happy about a narrative being spread like that," Tkachuk said. "It's OK for people to critique our on-ice performance, but when it gets into family it's pretty f--king bullshit.”

"It's embarrassing that it got to the point that it did. I can tell you for free I'm not happy about it one bit."

The Senators announced Dec. 28 that Ullmark was taking a leave of absence. The club has gone 2-4-0 in his absence, was outscored 24-15 in that span and ranked second-last in the NHL's Eastern Conference.

The Senators were to host the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday night after two losses on the road that included an 8-2 thumping by the Colorado Avalanche.

Saturday morning's skate was the first time players spoke to local media about the online speculation and Staios' statement two days earlier.

"Linus is away from our team for personal reasons, and he has the entire organization's support," the GM said in that statement.

"We asked that people respect his privacy, but clearly that request was not heard by the lowest forms of trolls and sick people who scour the internet. We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club. This statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation spread online."

Tkachuk appreciated Staios' strong words.

"It was great to see him defend