Several members of the Ottawa Senators NHL team are in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Video has been released showing Thomas Chabot, Dylan DeMelo, Matt Duchene, Alex Formenton, Chris Tierney, Chris Wideman and Colin White talking about the Senators ineffective penalty kill and mocking one of their coaches.
The recording apparently came from a camera mounted on the dash of an Uber driver's van or SUV.
During the video, the players mocked assistant coach Martin Raymond, who handles the team's penalty-killing unit. It was recorded in Phoenix during Ottawa's west-coast road trip at the end of October.
The Uber driver is heard asking what team the players play for near the beginning of the video and Wideman, seated in the passenger seat, replies: "Ottawa. If you can tell we're really pleased with our ....'' A player seated in the middle row of the vehicle finishes his sentence: "with our PK."
Duchene later adds that he "(hasn't) paid attention in three weeks" in Raymond's meetings. "Here's the other thing, too. We don't change anything ever. So why do we even have a meeting?" he says in the clip.
The Senators are currently 29th in the league in penalty killing at 68.8%.
Following the release of the video, the players issued a letter apologizing for their comments.
Head coach Guy Boucher said in the same statement that the team has ``every confidence in Marty Raymond's coaching, in the effort and determination of our team; and in the sincerity of our players' apology.''
"We are now treating this as a team matter, and will be making no further comment to the media," Boucher added.
Uber Canada's general manager Rob Khazzam said on his verified Twitter account on Monday night that "a video released by the media today of several Uber passengers being filmed without their consent while having a private discussion ... is a clear violation of our terms of service."
"Filming or recording passengers without their consent is totally unacceptable and if reported/detected we will investigate," he added.