ESPN NHL

OTTAWA -- As the guests left a reception to mark Eugene Melnyk's confirmation as the new owner of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday afternoon, they were handed a small black box covered with red and gold ribbon and a gold bow.

Inside was a crystal puck, engraved with the words, "The Dawn of a New Era."

No kidding.

If it was a crystal ball, just about everybody who attended the splashy announcement of the Senators finally emerging from beneath the cloud of their well-publicized bankruptcy would have seen sunny skies ahead.

Melnyk marked his first day as an NHL owner by pledging the Senators will be staying in Ottawa and announcing a free concert by the Eagles for season-ticket holders.

Not a bad first day for the 44-year-old pharmaceutical billionaire who picked up both the bankrupt hockey club and the Corel Centre for an estimated $130 million CDN, roughly $92.7 million US (Bruce Firestone paid $50 million US for the franchise in 1991 and the Corel Centre, completed in 1996, cost about $200 million to build).

"I guarantee the team will be staying in Ottawa. I guarantee stability for the fans, the players and the vendors," said Melnyk, a native of Toronto and an admitted fan of the Maple Leafs. "I didn't stop being a Leafs fan. I just became a really big Senators fan."

Standing in front of huge photos of Senators stars Marian Hossa, Daniel Alfredsson and Patrick Lalime in the lobby of the Corel Centre, Melnyk said he doesn't have to do much to help the on-ice project.

"The team is already a success," he said of last year's President's Trophy champions who came within minutes of advancing to the Stanley Cup final last spring. "I just want to make sure I don't mess it up. It came within a goal of the Stanley Cup final. I just want to make sure they are allowed to flourish."

Melnyk has already boosted the Senators payroll about $10 million from $30 million last year. Much of the money went to re-signing cornerstone defenseman Wade Redden and unrestricted free agent Bryan Smolinski, who joined the Senators at the trade deadline last spring. The only player unsigned from last year's team at this point is winger Martin Havlat, a restricted free agent.

Melnyk said the increase was only to keep last year's team intact and he will not be jumping into the free-agent market.

"I wanted the same team that came within two minutes of the Stanley Cup final," he said. "As far as payroll goes, we don't have to do what other teams have done because the farm system here is so good."

Melnyk spent much of his time thanking fans for their support through the Senators' rocky financial problems which were the antithesis of the club's on-ice success. He said he understood the reluctance of many in the national capital region to embrace the Senators. Although the club averaged about 17,000 fans a game in the 18,500-seat Corel Centre, it sold less than 9,000 season tickets.

	“	This was the most complicated deal I've ever been involved in in my life. Somebody made a lot of money photocopying. ”
		— Senators owner Eugene Melnyk

But what could be expected from a fan base that has watched its team teeter on the edge of extinction almost since the day it was born? Fans lived through the club's financial hardships under previous owners Firestone and Rod Bryden, including a couple of "buy tickets or else" edicts from Bryden. The Senators were plunged into bankruptcy when Bryden couldn't make payroll halfway through last season and a complicated plan to refinance the team fell apart when a secret investor -- believed to be American businessman Nelson Peltz -- withdrew his support.

"Why get emotionally attached to something when it might leave?" Melnyk said.

To thank the fans who stood by the team and encourage new fans to buy season tickets, Melnyk has arranged to have the Eagles, who have sold 120 million albums worldwide, to play a free concert at the Corel Centre on Oct. 8, the night before the Senators open their regular season against the Montreal Canadiens.

The concert is rumored to be costing Melnyk $2 million.

"They're my wife (Laura)'s favorite band," he said.

Tuesday's announcements came after about seven months of laboring through two bankruptcy courts -- one in Canada which handled the Senators' bankruptcy and the other in the U.S. which was dealing with the Corel Centre, which was controlled by a U.S. firm, Covanta.

"This was the most complicated deal I've ever been involved in in my life," said Melnyk. "Somebody made a lot of money photocopying."

After resolving the Buffalo Sabres bankruptcy, Tuesday's announcement in Ottawa resolves the latest two crises faced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

"I have to confess this is the first time in a number years I've come to Ottawa without feeling angst and concern," said Bettman, who was on hand for the announcement. "This opens a new chapter in the book of the Ottawa Senators.

"If you were going to computer generate an owner for this market, he'd certainly be on the radar screen. This is a great team in a great place and now it has a great owner."

Chris Stevenson covers the NHL for the Ottawa Sun and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.