Here's Hoping....

[OmniSens]

Will purchase season seats the SECOND it's confirmed Melnyk sells the team.

 

[NyQuil]

Will purchase season seats the SECOND it's confirmed Melnyk sells the team.

I'm just picturing that day right now....waking up....finding out that Melnyk is no longer the majority owner...

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I'm just picturing that day right now....waking up....finding out that Melnyk is no longer the majority owner...

A little OT, but thank you Bugs Bunny for introducing a couple generations to classical music. Kinda funny how the tunes they chose for their cartoons fit in so well with so many 'life situations' like this.

 

[NyQuil]

A little OT, but thank you Bugs Bunny for introducing a couple generations to classical music. Kinda funny how the tunes they chose for their cartoons fit in so well with so many 'life situations' like this.

I have to thank the Royal Conservatory of Music.

God I hated those sight-reading tests.

Meanwhile, here is the soundtrack to the lead-up to this year's trade deadline:

 

[SpezDispenser]

The only thing that matters is that Melnyk sells.

Until that happens, there can be no lasting success.

Yep, until melnyk sells it's hard to even get excited about Brannstrom and chabot.

Please go away.

 

[OmniSens]

I'm just picturing that day right now....waking up....finding out that Melnyk is no longer the majority owner...

I really wanted to be your 10000th like!
Congrats!

 

[GrantLemons]

From the Business of hockey thread:

Pierre McGuire hinted today something big is expected to be announced this Thursday reference LeBreton flats development.

To paraphrase "I'm not supposed to talk about it but expect something big on Thursday"

Please. We need something good.

 

[NyQuil]

I really wanted to be your 10000th like!
Congrats!

We old farts have to stick together.

 

[harrisb]

From the Business of hockey thread:


Please. We need something good.

Can you imagine something big happening on the extended deadline of mediation, what a revelation, my mind is blown.

Let me guess at the possibilities
1) Lebreton deal is dead and lawsuits continue
2) They have come to a deal on Lebreton and we're going to get a new rink

Wow that was really hard

 

[NyQuil]

Can you imagine something big happening on the extended deadline of mediation, what a revelation, my mind is blown.

Let me guess at the possibilities
1) Lebreton deal is dead and lawsuits continue
2) They have come to a deal on Lebreton and we're going to get a new rink

Wow that was really hard

3) Melnyk is revealed to be an extra-terrestrial.

 

[JD1]

1) That attendance is so bad next year EM runs out of money and is forced to sell to someone like Guy Laliberte.
2) Laliberte cleans house and hires quality NHL people
3) That Sens win the draft lottery in 2020 and get to pick Lafreniere.
4) A bunch of the young guys like Brown, Batherson etc. become legit front line NHL players.
5) By 2022 the Sens are serious contenders again.

Here's to hoping that doesn't happen

guy laliberte doesn't have the kind of money needed to finance this market into the upper echelon of expenses either. not on his own he doesn't.

 

[Silencio]

Here's to hoping that doesn't happen

guy laliberte doesn't have the kind of money needed to finance this market into the upper echelon of expenses either. not on his own he doesn't.

He's too busy building literal pyramid schemes in Montreal.

 

[JD1]

Dorion painted himself into that leverage-less corner...

no I don't think he did at all

Dorion didn't create the MH EK affair. He didn't create the inability to financially compete. And he didn't personally create any of the ill will between EM and EK.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

From the Business of hockey thread:


Please. We need something good.

Do we ever. It's been nearly two years, I think, since we last had good off-ice news.

 

[HF Reader]

no I don't think he did at all

Dorion didn't create the MH EK affair. He didn't create the inability to financially compete. And he didn't personally create any of the ill will between EM and EK.

I've read your posts with interest and I wonder in part what you are saying about fans, revenue, etc.
I agree that the market here is collapsing. I have extremely limited experience in sales, and what I have is dated, but at one time the research into marketing success indicated that individuals are far more likely to buy from someone they like and trust. People will in fact pay more and travel a greater distance to avoid buying from a person they dislike.

If this "fact" is true then part of the collapse is surely related to the general consensus (on this site at least) that Melnyk and perhaps now Dorion are difficult to like and trust.

But putting this Chicken-and-egg point aside, you raise a very profound question. "Have we reached a cap threshold at which this market can't support a team even with 100% capacity paid attendance?".

Do you believe that the team would have signed Stone, Karlsson and Duchene if attendance had been strong over the past 12 months or so? Has the CBA bypassed Melnyk's ability to ice a competitive team regardless of fan support?

 

[JD1]

I've read your posts with interest and I wonder in part what you are saying about fans, revenue, etc.
I agree that the market here is collapsing. I have extremely limited experience in sales, and what I have is dated, but at one time the research into marketing success indicated that individuals are far more likely to buy from someone they like and trust. People will in fact pay more and travel a greater distance to avoid buying from a person they dislike.

If this "fact" is true then part of the collapse is surely related to the general consensus (on this site at least) that Melnyk and perhaps now Dorion are difficult to like and trust.

But putting this Chicken-and-egg point aside, you raise a very profound question. "Have we reached a cap threshold at which this market can't support a team even with 100% capacity paid attendance?".

Do you believe that the team would have signed Stone, Karlsson and Duchene if attendance had been strong over the past 12 months or so? Has the CBA bypassed Melnyk's ability to ice a competitive team regardless of fan support?

I think there are a whole bunch of contributing factors

You have to start with the premise that we aren't generating enough revenue to spent amongst the top teams. If you took the average expenses from team 6 thru 15, forgetting the ig spenders, we dont generate enough revenue to spend at those levels. And Melnyk clearly appears unable or unwilling to spend at those levels.

To answer your question.... 100% paid attendance at Ottawa's ticket prices... i think we still have a problem although ckearly not the problem we currently have.

This new bonus heavy contract structure is a real challenge

 

[otown]

A little OT, but thank you Bugs Bunny for introducing a couple generations to classical music. Kinda funny how the tunes they chose for their cartoons fit in so well with so many 'life situations' like this.

For those old enough to remember the Sens free fall is kinda like Wiley Coyote's face plant everytime he falls off a cliff!

 

[foggyvisor]

From the Business of hockey thread:


Please. We need something good.

Well yeah, Thursday is the deadline. What a scoop.

Guess what, Melnyk will still be majority owner.

 

[TheNewEra]

that liver needs to start failing

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Well yeah, Thursday is the deadline. What a scoop.

Guess what, Melnyk will still be majority owner.

True, but at least having a new arena will remove slightest small chance that he picks up the team and moves it.

We can still boycott after shovels are in the ground.

 

[GrantLemons]

Well yeah, Thursday is the deadline. What a scoop.

Guess what, Melnyk will still be majority owner.

I never insinuated that he wouldn't be.

Sure, it's not earth shattering that there will be "big" news, but there's always the possibility there won't be. For example, another extension or something along those lines where a resolution has not yet been reached.

 

[DueDiligence]

I don't think people not showing up will be enough. The Forbes estimate for gate receipts from their 2018 write-up was about $35 million. Even if literally not a single person buys any tickets for all of the home games that year he'll lose about $35 million. That's nothing against the $500+ million in capital gain he's already made on the team. It will take at least 5 years of not a single person paying for a ticket before it starts to make a difference and that's assuming the value of the team remains where it is.

He won't run out of money that way. And again that's assuming that literally not one person buys another ticket for the next 5 years.

Yes he will . He may be asset rich but cash poor. It's like owning your house but you don't have the cash to buy food!

 

[DueDiligence]

I’m not sure why people don’t understand this (I guess lack of business/life experience). Lowering gate revenues just reduce the team cash flow. It’s obvious with the stars firesale that there’s already a cash flow problem. All it does is encouraging/force him to reduce operation costs further more.

My theory (and I think it’s logical and evident) is that he will pay the team debt loans while making the Lebreton project work to ensure he makes the best ROI when he sells. When does that happen? That’s hard to say, it could be tomorrow, next year, 2 years, 3 years, more? We’ll see, if I had to guess maybe 2 years

All this « not going to games » is cute and everything but really doesn’t change much in the end, Melnyk’s plan was already made. It’s a business straightening plan, a preparation for a sale.

Selling the team after Seattle expansion fee, after the lockout, when the team debt is paid, when the team is starting to rise again and a brand new arena downtown project is underway (casino/condo towers etc is just gravy)... it makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint.

In the meanwhile, his operation costs (roster, coaching, management, etc) are so low (relatively speaking) that it’s naive to think gate revenues will affect him much (plus CTC makes money from other venues). He’s already prepared for this. Just on the roster, he will save 25 M$ per year vs precedent budget. Plus, I even think Boucher might be kept 1 or 2 more years if cheap. Dorion already re-upped 3 years.

Yes he reduced expenses but the Sens still have to spend to the NHL cap floor which next year will be over $60 million US. So in effect he is only cutting salary maybe $15 million from this year and that could be completely offset by a huge drop in gate receipts. Add in the loss of corporate sponsorships etc EM's pockets will have even less money than now.

 

[coladin]

I have to thank the Royal Conservatory of Music.

God I hated those sight-reading tests.

Meanwhile, here is the soundtrack to the lead-up to this year's trade deadline:

That's funny, I had blocked all that out until you brought it up!

What grade did you play to?

 

[NyQuil]

That's funny, I had blocked all that out until you brought it up!

What grade did you play to?

I think the last ones I did was Grade 8.