Sens owner buries insider over 'false claims' about his players.

You just don't typically see team owners in the National Hockey League speak out in this manner, and it is perhaps for that reason that Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer is quickly becoming one of the most beloved owners in the sport.

Over the weekend Andlauer did something incredible when he made the decision to publicly shame one of the reporters that regularly cover his team. Andlauer wasn't doing so out of some desire for vengeance, but was instead upset that one of his players had been put in an uncomfortable situation due to what he described as "false claims" made by the reporter in question.

What made Andlauer's comments stand out more than anything however, was the fact that he publicly shamed the reporter by calling him out in front of his peers and did so by name.

"So who wants to start," asked Andlauer when approached by reporters. "Bruce where are ya?"

Andlauer was specifically reporting to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, a man he was clearly hoping to exchange words with given the next words that followed.

"You know why he's not here?" asked Andlauer. "Because he's making false claims."

Andlauer then referenced a rumor involving a potential trade of Senators forward Drake Batherson, calling the report from Garrioch absolutely untrue.

"Apparently we're trading Batherson?" said Andlauer feigning surprise. "You know it's not right. Sometimes you gotta get your sources right, you can always validate it here, but it's not about me or Steven [Staois], to me it's all about the player."

Andlauer genuinely seemed much more concerned about how the rumor might negatively impact Batherson or potentially even impact how he feels he is valued by his own team, and the fact that he called out the reporter by name shows just how much that bothered Andlauer.

"All of a sudden this guy is seeing that and it's totally false," said Andlauer. "Anyways let's move on."

You can listen to Andlauer in his own words courtesy of Coming in Hot Sens, who were on the scene to capture Andlauer's comments on video.

For what it's worth Bruce Garrioch has since gone radio silent, only popping his head up to share a tweet over the weekend that called out his "trolls" and "haters" but made no reference to Andlauer's comments or the allegations of a false report. It is worth noting that Garrioch disabled any replies from anyone but the people he personally follows.