Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is making a forceful pitch for a Major League Soccer franchise as part of a political and financial power play that would likely force municipal officials to choose between chipping in for a soccer stadium or a Canadian Football League park.

Though Melnyk’s grand vision for an MLS team has clearly energized the city’s soccer establishment, it has lowered the temperature on an increasingly chilly relationship with backers of Ottawa’s nascent CFL franchise…the CFL has already granted a provisional franchise to an investment group led by Jeff Hunt, the owner of the Ottawa 67′s junior hockey team. The group is to present its own stadium proposal this month.

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