Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk dies at age 62

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk died after a battle with an illness, the team announced Monday. He was 62 years old.

Melnyk made his fortune as founder and CEO of Biovail Corporation, a Canadian pharmaceutical company. In 2003, he purchased the Senators for $92 million with the team facing bankruptcy. The team is now estimated to be worth more than $500 million by Forbes.

During his time as the team owner, the Senators made the Stanley Cup Finals once in 2007, but lost in five games to the Anaheim Ducks.

In 2015, Melnyk received a liver transplant after making a public plea for a donor. In a piece written for The Players' Tribune, Melnyk said he was preparing himself to die when his daughters convinced him to ask the public for help, which resulted in an anonymous donor providing a liver.

The team statement announcing his death does not detail what kind of illness resulted in his death, only that it was one "he faced with determination and courage."