All-Purpose Attendance Thread - Part II

[Fandlauer]

If Melnyk had the capability of moving the team he would have already done it. He has zero connections or attachment to the city of Ottawa beyond the CTC.

 

[GCK]

If Dorion is able to build and retain the best young team in the NHL them fans will come back. Retaining them is key. Also we are still a long ways away from being the "best young team in the NHL". He has yet to retain anyone and there even seems to be a struggle to extend Boro, which should be a slam dunk.

Umm, I have been told by many on here that they all know multiple former STHs that will never go back as long as Melnyk owns the team. Are you saying they are lying ?

 

[BatherSeason]

This is a huge assumption. Many teams don’t own their building, Katz doesn’t own the building in Edmonton, the Flames won’t own the new building in Calgary. It’s about maximizing revenues and that can be done with a great lease deal. The Houston Arena owner wants an NHL tenant but doesn’t want to own a team. A lease deal that, for arguments sake, triples game day revenues along with the city/county covering the relocation fee makes sense. Melnyk could then additionally sell off his Ottawa real estate holdings for close to the teams overall debt. My understanding is TSN would not object, in fact they would jump at the opportunity, to annulling their existing broadcast contract.

Please elaborate on your "TSN understanding". This is the first I have ever heard of this. Do you have any sources to back up your claims? I'm guessing no.

 

[GCK]

Please elaborate on your "TSN understanding". This is the first I have ever heard of this. Do you have any sources to back up your claims? I'm guessing no.

I have told one of the mods. I will not say publicly.

 

[GCK]

@BatherSeason

I like the attitude you are taking in this thread. You hate Melnyk, don’t trust Dorion, but you are willing to support the team if they make smart decisions and invest appropriately. This is all the org can ask of the fans it has alienated.

New Sens motto should be:

We will show you rather than tell you!!

 

[Larionov]

So true. I’m taking my wife and a bunch of friends out to a Royals game tonight for her birthday celebration, and we always get ‘club seats’.

It’s two sections in the middle that has its own lounge area, bathrooms, bar & food counter, so you don’t have to go out into the concourse to reload or off load.

$30 a ticket to those sections, over $20-25 for other comparable ice level seats.

It’s really nice to have that convenience, and the milling about area her you can hang with other people.

Sorry to be that guy, but go Giants. ;-) I was at a Giants game a week ago yesterday in Langley when they beat Calgary 6-5.

Victoria is actually a great example of how you can turn a market around. The Cougars moved out of there and it looked dead and buried as a junior hockey market, but some good marketing (and a better arena) and all of a sudden it has turned much better. The NHL knows full well that Ottawa is a good market, and that it won't take much to turn around this current situation...

 

[Masked]

My understanding is TSN would not object, in fact they would jump at the opportunity, to annulling their existing broadcast contract.

I'm guessing that's in the current situation where they sign a huge regional contract then Melnyk proceeds to tank the team and threaten TSN employees. I don't know if the feeling would be the same should the team be under new ownership or if it wins the lottery. Lafreniere on the team would be great for TSN.

 

[BatherSeason]

I have told one of the mods. I will not say publicly.

Does that mean that TSN falls in the "bad fan" category since they are allegedly wanting to back out?

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Well Melnyk will never apologize so it doesn’t matter.

I sometimes wonder why the stubborn old man won’t just apologise too. I can help by writing it:

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the city council, distinguished HFSens, and former Ottawa senators,

I would like to apologise to all of you for the poor decisions if have made over the past few years.

Firstly, I apologise to Daniel Alfredsson for not signing you to a two year, 4 million dollar contract, and not calling your bluff on leaving the team. We really could not put a playoff team together like you wanted. I am sorry.

Even though I was not talking to our fans that financially support the team, I would like to say sorry to all the people I called out on December 17th, 2017 that did not buy tickets to this amazing hockey club.

I am sorry for initiating a rebuild in the hopes of building a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup for years to come. I know it is hard to get used to a losing team after so many years of success.

I am sorry for letting Pierre talk to the media prior to having him learn the proper way of addressing big trades in public.

I am also sorry that we cannot openly discuss how the trade negotiations actually went down, as we believe in player-organization confidentiality.

I am sorry that I backed out of the downtown arena. I know it is hard to understand that I am not willing to throw my money away into a business model that would have run the team into the ground. You do in fact know that the local government did not support our endeavours as previously agreed upon. As easy it may seem to the average fan for me to signup to a new arena, the overall plan was too complex and my financial advisors deemed it to fail. I wanted this as much as all of you.

Please accept my apologies, and see you at the rink tonight.

Sincerely and with love,



EM

 

[supsens]

What's he gonna do? Move the team obviously. That's been the go to for a few of you for 2 seasons now. Argument done.

Hope everyone has their tickets for PEI night tonight, especially all of you that like to call everyone bad fans for not attending.

Are you kidding? Look at the stands and explain how that can go on forever?
Who said ‘bad fans’ I would suggest your a bad reader if anything, and one last time no one said the team is ‘going to move’
for 2 seasons you have not been able to grasp the concept that the team is not 100% safe and there is no reason to think that if things don’t change it won’t move. You also don’t understand no fans means no money....in the end that means no team.
I have no idea why you don’t understand how our society and money work....Are the invisible no people the ‘bad fans’?
Does the NHL owe a city a team that won’t spend a penny to support it? A promise the city made they will never help with an arena or spend a penny on the NHL? fans that won’t buy tickets?
At what point to you is it a bad business model that is not going to work? Going bankrupt a second time in Canada?

“Nope nope never move cause cause I said so”

 

[Larionov]

I am sorry that I backed out of the downtown arena. I know it is hard to understand that I am not willing to throw my money away into a business model that would have run the team into the ground. You do in fact know that the local government did not support our endeavours as previously agreed upon. As easy it may seem to the average fan for me to signup to a new arena, the overall plan was too complex and my financial advisors deemed it to fail. I wanted this as much as all of you.

That's an awfully generous interpretation of how the LeBreton Flats deal fell apart. We'll see if a judge agrees...

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

That's an awfully generous interpretation of how the LeBreton Flats deal fell apart. We'll see if a judge agrees...

(it’s Eugene speaking. Of course it’s generous).

 

[BatherSeason]

Are you kidding? Look at the stands and explain how that can go on forever?
Who said ‘bad fans’ I would suggest your a bad reader if anything, and one last time no one said the team is ‘going to move’
for 2 seasons you have not been able to grasp the concept that the team is not 100% safe and there is no reason to think that if things don’t change it won’t move. You also don’t understand no fans means no money....in the end that means no team.
I have no idea why you don’t understand how our society and money work....Are the invisible no people the ‘bad fans’?
Does the NHL owe a city a team that won’t spend a penny to support it? A promise the city made they will never help with an arena or spend a penny on the NHL? fans that won’t buy tickets?
At what point to you is it a bad business model that is not going to work? Going bankrupt a second time in Canada?

“Nope nope never move cause cause I said so”

The first post I quoted mentioned relocation. Look for it, you'll find it.

 

[Crosside]

Let’s go Melnyk split the team with Quebec

 

[Daffy]

Rightly or wrongly, I fully am starting to believe the NHL will absolutely move this team in the not too distant future unless we all go back and start filling the arena. I think Melnyk is too stubborn and spiteful to sell so we are going to have to put our dislike for him aside and support the team if we still want to have a team imo.

 

[Wondercarrot]

This is a huge assumption. Many teams don’t own their building, Katz doesn’t own the building in Edmonton, the Flames won’t own the new building in Calgary. It’s about maximizing revenues and that can be done with a great lease deal. The Houston Arena owner wants an NHL tenant but doesn’t want to own a team. A lease deal that, for arguments sake, triples game day revenues along with the city/county covering the relocation fee makes sense. Melnyk could then additionally sell off his Ottawa real estate holdings for close to the teams overall debt. My understanding is TSN would not object, in fact they would jump at the opportunity, to annulling their existing broadcast contract.

1. why would the NHL owners forgo a $600 million expansion fee in Houston?
2. The debt on the team is up in the $250-$300 million vicinity, exactly who is going to buy his ‘real estate holdings’ for a fraction of that?
let alone close to all of it.

so no, the team is not relocating. Sold? Sure. Relocating? Based on all previous evidence of Bergman’s tenure the NHL would exhaust all possible options before moving it.

 

[Wondercarrot]

FAKE NEWS.

EM still has lots of money. He paid himself handsomely too last year. Apparently, most of his money is tied up in “investments”.

He is not selling, or moving unless FYOUS fails.

ok, how much money do you think he has?
I’d be fascinated to see your ball park on this, also tell me how much money you think someone needs to own and operate an NHL franchise.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

ok, how much money do you think he has?
I’d be fascinated to see your ball park on this, also tell me how much money you think someone needs to own and operate an NHL franchise.

My guess: Net worth: $800m minimum mainly because the value of the Senators have dropped as it is a floundering team now.

You don’t need any money to run a team. You need money to buy a team. People don’t buy a team to put their spend their own money on operations. It is a business.

Maybe EM stopped putting effort into the business when he decided to rebuild... or even worse when he started to think that fans weren’t supporting the team financially any more without putting out huge effort to get them in the arena.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Sorry to be that guy, but go Giants. ;-) I was at a Giants game a week ago yesterday in Langley when they beat Calgary 6-5.

Victoria is actually a great example of how you can turn a market around. The Cougars moved out of there and it looked dead and buried as a junior hockey market, but some good marketing (and a better arena) and all of a sudden it has turned much better. The NHL knows full well that Ottawa is a good market, and that it won't take much to turn around this current situation...

Nooooo! Not tonight man, you can have tomorrow

This could be a pretty sweet playoff match up, and the regional rivalry should make the atmosphere pretty great tonight!

 

[JD1]

If Dorion is able to build and retain the best young team in the NHL them fans will come back. Retaining them is key. Also we are still a long ways away from being the "best young team in the NHL". He has yet to retain anyone and there even seems to be a struggle to extend Boro, which should be a slam dunk.

But what about all the folks that say Melnyk will never get another dime of my money? If Dorion builds the best young team in the league, will they be back?

Didn't they retain Chabot?

White?

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

I'm guessing that's in the current situation where they sign a huge regional contract then Melnyk proceeds to tank the team and threaten TSN employees. I don't know if the feeling would be the same should the team be under new ownership or if it wins the lottery. Lafreniere on the team would be great for TSN.

I just picked up on this comment.

Can you send me a link to the threats to the TSN employees. I must have missed that story.

 

[GCK]

Rightly or wrongly, I fully am starting to believe the NHL will absolutely move this team in the not too distant future unless we all go back and start filling the arena. I think Melnyk is too stubborn and spiteful to sell so we are going to have to put our dislike for him aside and support the team if we still want to have a team imo.

I would hope fans go back IF the team makes smart moves and invests in the team incrementally.

 

[JD1]

Rightly or wrongly, I fully am starting to believe the NHL will absolutely move this team in the not too distant future unless we all go back and start filling the arena. I think Melnyk is too stubborn and spiteful to sell so we are going to have to put our dislike for him aside and support the team if we still want to have a team imo.

Sadly....i agree with you....I think i started this round of "moving" discussion by mentioning the article i read citing us playing at 65% capacity. That can't go on forever.

The NHL makes the rules. And it makes them as it goes along. The current US TV deal expires after the 2021 22 season. Id be enquiring how having a team in Houston might impact those discussions. It's a logical discussion to have. It's a huge market without a team

Anyway....i don't wush to start a flame war but i dont think we are long for this world in a 65% capacity scenario

 

[JD1]

1. why would the NHL owners forgo a $600 million expansion fee in Houston?
2. The debt on the team is up in the $250-$300 million vicinity, exactly who is going to buy his ‘real estate holdings’ for a fraction of that?
let alone close to all of it.

so no, the team is not relocating. Sold? Sure. Relocating? Based on all previous evidence of Bergman’s tenure the NHL would exhaust all possible options before moving it.

300 million? Where you getting that from?

 

[Fandlauer]

I just picked up on this comment.

Can you send me a link to the threats to the TSN employees. I must have missed that story.

TRAIKOS: Senators ban Ottawa reporter from team’s charter flight after Uber-gate

Also on the Senators’ growing no-fly list is TSN reporter Brent Wallace who, prior to the team’s Parliament Hill alumni game last December, had the audacity to ask owner Eugene Melnyk about a report that suggested he had been withholding bonus money from his employees.

Once the cameras were turned off, bystanders saw him turn to Wallace and say, “I’m going to bury you.”
Since then, Wallace’s seat on the charter has also been revoked, leaving Sylvain St-Laurent of French-language newspaper Le Droit with one of the remaining few seats. Well, until he writes something that Melnyk doesn’t like.