On Ottawa and the NHL

by Rob Luker on Nov 16, 2009 12:30 PM EST Comment 2 comments

Hey Sens fans. I was at the game on Saturday (Ranger fan if you can't tell by the avatar), and it was a lot of fun. It's our third year doing this trip up to Ottawa and we have a great time every year. I wrote this for my little blog I'm doing on the business of hockey and soccer (just my ideas on stuff). Let me know what you think.

The Senators as a franchise were lucky enough to have the distinct advantage of being placed in Canada to start from a business perspective. Unless they never win a game for the next five years, I don't see how their attendance could ever dive below the top 15 (in terms of percent capacity). The biggest business challenge for the Sens to me? They are going up against the history of the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, and even the Quebec Nordiques to an extent.

I was thinking about this at the game. Ottawa is, for the most part, just stuck between Montreal and Toronto. With the Leafs and Habs being apart of the original six, generations upon generations of Canadians grew up supporters of one of the two clubs typically. With the Senators playing only their 17th season this year (16 if you want to subtract the lockout), its no wonder some people seem to think Sens fans aren't as dedicated as others.

Read the whole piece here and please let me know what you think.

EDIT: Keep reading before you lose it about the end of the quote there, I'm not anti-Sens.

- Rob

This FanPost was written by a member of the Silver Seven community, and does not necessarily reflect the beliefs or opinions of the site managers, editors, or Sports Blogs Nation, Inc.

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Hey Rob,

Liked your article, short and to the point. You’re right in saying that the Leafs and Habs have traditionally had a huge influence on Ottawa hockey fans, thats probably something that will continue for a number of years. However this isnt the main reason Sens fans get a bad rap. The reason is pretty simple: because alot of Sens fans do suck.

They dont really pay attention to what happens on the ice but speak like they do; they believe what they read in the papers and what they hear on the local (generally awful) sports talk radio; they detest players who exibit any form of personality. But those are just the things that bug me. Worst of all they will, without fail, show up to home games and not cheer.

It has to do with a couple things; a main one being the quiet, conservative attitude which characterizes the city. Also the fact that the team is relatively young and has yet to build up a hardcore fanbase certainly plays a part. But from the perspective of hardcore fans, and this has been said and debated on this website many times, alot of Sens fans are just lame. Bad fans. Period.

This isnt to say that this phenomenon doesnt exists with other teams, of course it does. And there are a shit-ton of loyal, hardcore Sens fans out there who really do pay attention and care, like the people who write for and comment on this website. But alot of us (I think) are frustrated. So yah, didnt mean to rant at yah, but thats kinda where we stand. Really liked the article though, I look forward to reading your blog in the future.

by Andrew J on Nov 18, 2009 11:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don’t see how someone could percieve your post as anti-Sens at all. You are correct, 17 years ago, everyone in Ottawa was a Leafs, Habs, or (even) a Bruins fan.

Toronto, Montreal and Boston have had close to a century to develop a fan base… at least seven decades more than Ottawa. It takes a while to build. I try to say this to people, but Leaf and Hab fans come out with their typical responses… so I’m glad an unbiased party is saying this.

When Ottawa came to town, I was in grade 3. I am from Ottawa and grew up here since I was young. My friends that I’ve grown up with are Sens fans and I think its the new generation that are becoming Sens fans. The Senators are doing a great job at trying to help that. School visits, community events, public appearances… this all helps the exposure. Give it another ten years and you will really see a change.

It’s not even about a winning product on the ice. That is only a small factor. But it is true that it is a factor and you can pretty much say that about every franchise. Even starting to take a toll on the Leafs – tickets being sold for half of what they use to go for (which mind you they are getting snatched up fast).

You can factor in a couple other things as well, pricing of tickets (especially for premium games), location of the arena (far west end), amount of home games in a short period of time (2-3 home games each week for a consecutive four weeks), etc. Ottawa is also a big walk-up (Sens, 67’s, Renegades, Lynx/Rapids) city… this is probably the one thing they need to find a way to work against.

Andrew, I’m not going to agree or disagree about Sens fans being lame. I will disagree and say that there are at least 10,000 fans there a game that are diehard fans. But when you go into this stuff about fans on the radio, don’t even start. The fans are the same as they are in Toronto and Montreal… we all complain about the same things and same situations… theres just more of them.

I know no one is saying this here but your (Andrew) comment reminded me of it… I hate, absolutely hate when people say Ottawa fans are quiet while comparing them to Toronto fans. For the most part, yes they are correct about Ottawa fans being quiet. But I’ve been to several (and I mean more than 20 a season) non-Sens/Leaf games at the ACC and SBP and Toronto is 10x quieter than Ottawa (aside from interdivison games). Anyway, thats not the issue we are talking about.

“Also the fact that the team is relatively young and has yet to build up a hardcore fanbase certainly plays a part. "
You’re right and it plays a HUGE part.

by msconduct on Nov 26, 2009 1:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs