After a Nov. 5 team practice, Ottawa Senators starting goalie Linus Ullmark told the media exactly what he thought about the criticism he’s gotten for his poor start to the season. He started out diplomatically, explaining that, “There are so many things I’d like to say to all the people, all the doubters, all the so-called ‘experts’, that I can’t say to the media” (from Bruce Garrioch, ‘Ottawa Senators’ Goalie Linus Ullmark doesn’t care what his critics think,’ The Ottawa Citizen, 11/5/25).
But then he did anyway, saying, “It is what it is. Everybody has a right to their own opinion, but the only opinions that matter are the people around me that I do care about and my coaches. What everybody else says, they’re entitled to say whatever they want because I don’t give two shits about it.” Possibly just a little concerned he’d gone too far, he then softened his point, explaining with a smile that what he really meant to say was that he “didn’t give two ‘craps’ about it.”
Related: 3 Veteran Goalies the Senators Can Target to Back up Ullmark
So, what should fans and hockey pundits make of Ullmark’s ponderings? Some of my beer league hockey buddies told me his comments were contemptuous of fans who fork over their hard-earned dollars to buy Senators tickets. Still, some of my colleagues at The Hockey Writers told me that all Ullmark meant was that he knows he has to be better and he’s putting his poor start to the season behind him.
This split in opinion reflects the dilemma facing any outspoken player: honesty versus humility.
Ullmark Missed Golden Opportunity to Let His Play Do the Talking
I don’t think Ullmark meant what he said either. Perhaps what he was trying to say was that he can’t allow himself to be distracted by outside criticism. He’s a pro and he needs to stay focused on what his coaches are telling him.
If that’s true, then fair enough – he’d be right. Yet that’s not the way his comments came across. For many fans he sounded like an arrogant blowhard. I remember a time when hockey heroes were told to do all their talking on the ice. I think that’s still good advice, especially for a goalie like Ullmark who’s registered a dismal .820 save percentage (SV%) and a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.21 over his 14 starts this season.
Fans will forgive poor performance, but what they can’t forgive are athletes who don’t care about what they think, or worse, don’t care about their feelings. NHL hockey players are first and foremost entertainers. Their fans want to see, know, and feel that they care about the experience they deliver to their devotees while on stage.
Still, as the adage goes, there are always two sides to a story. This one is no exception. Ullmark’s words raise an old question: should players speak their minds, or let their performance speak for them?
Ullmark Not the First Goalie to Say What’s on His Mind
Way back when Ullmark was just learning how to strap his goalie pads on, the Senators’ Tom Barrasso began the apparent tradition of Bytown netminders linking others’ opinions about their play to excrement. As Barrasso put it on an April 20, 2000, Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, “I really couldn’t give a shit what you people have to say.” That was after the Senators evened their first round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs with him as the starting goaltender.
The lesson for Ullmark here is that if you’re going to demonstrate contempt for what others think of your play, you need to back it up with performance. In Barrasso’s case, he helped dig his team out of a two-game playoff series deficit. Still, the Senators went on to drop the next two games and lose the series with him in goal. After that, he left Ottawa, never to be seen again and without saying another word.
Lest you think matters fecal are the preserve of Senators’ twine minders, there are the musings of Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner to consider. Following a playoff victory against the Montreal Canadiens in June 2021, he told journalists at a postgame press conference that, “I sat for two hours and watched you guys talk shit on Twitter on me . . . I don’t care what people think.” Several years before, while playing for the Buffalo Sabres, he likewise remarked, “The biggest part is not caring at all about what other people think.”
Many fans might attribute all of this to nothing more than the supposed eccentricities of the goaltending fraternity. But I think there’s more to it than that. Goaltenders simply can’t allow themselves to dwell on what the peanut gallery says about them.
Perhaps Florida Panthers goaltending coach Ron Tallas explained it best, saying, “To be an elite goalie in this league, you really have to believe in yourself and not just say to yourself that you are good. Sometimes you have great years, sometimes you can have years where the team might be offensive and it affects the way you play, but no matter what goes on in front of you, if you don’t really believe in yourself and what you are doing, it’s going to be difficult.” It seems that for goaltenders, their opinion of themselves is all that really matters.
Ullmark Should Have Taken a Page From Connor Hellebuyck
Ullmark might have taken a page from three-time Vezina Trophy winner and last season’s Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck who spoke eloquently about his mindset, sans swearwords. “I kind of was always the underdog,” said Hellebuyck in a recent interview. “And I don’t even want to be recognized; I don’t need the fame or any of that. I figure it’s going to come if it comes. I just want to do the best; I want to be the best at what I do. I don’t care if other people think it or not.”
It’s fine for Ullmark to say he doesn’t care what people think – as long as he can back that up with his play. Goaltenders who rank 65th in the league in SV% and 53rd in GAA simply aren’t in a position to proclaim they don’t care what fans think. In Ottawa, effort and humility in athletes are still admired. The best way for Ullmark to silence his critics isn’t with his words – it’s with saves.
