Rally around the team?

[Alex1234]

View attachment 129005
“yeees renew your season tickets and pay for the over priced parking. ill steal 20s from you wallets as the boring game puts you to sleep”

8-1 games wont be boring
Not fun but not boring lol

 

[Rand0m]

Thing is, it seems that everywhere else in Canada , watching their team is a necessity to their fans. They have tremendous passion win or lose. I admire those fans and am happy for them because, like the Jets recently, they went through the lows, but never wavered in their support for the team and enjoyed the benefits of that support this year?

Here? They go deep in the playoffs only to return to an emptier arena. It doesn't make sense but people have many excuses, erm, theories as to why that is.

I just don't buy them. But I also understand that everyone is wired differently.

Interesting that you mention the Jets...

Jets lose home-ice advantage but that’s not likely to faze them

NOT A SELLOUT?
Perhaps the Jets are cutting into their own sales market with the whiteout street parties. There were unsold tickets for Game 2 last night and there were empty seats, with towels draped over them, for the whole game at the arena. There were still about 125 tickets available on Ticketmaster midway through the first period. It’s shocking but those tickets are expensive and clearly some people prefer to join the party outside and watch on big-screen TVs for free … So far in these playoffs there’s been a fairly simple formula for beating the Jets — get the first goal and check them into the ice. It worked twice for Nashville and it worked perfectly for the Golden Knights Monday night. The Jets are 8-1 in these playoffs when they score first and are now 1-4 when they don’t.

Granted that's not that many tickets officially left, but they also have a much smaller rink to start off with.

 

[Ray Kinsella]

Thing is, it seems that everywhere else in Canada , watching their team is a necessity to their fans. They have tremendous passion win or lose. I admire those fans and am happy for them because, like the Jets recently, they went through the lows, but never wavered in their support for the team and enjoyed the benefits of that support this year?

Here? They go deep in the playoffs only to return to an emptier arena. It doesn't make sense but people have many excuses, erm, theories as to why that is.

I just don't buy them. But I also understand that everyone is wired differently.

During our magical run 2 years ago, I couldn’t get the game on radio - note, I live in the sticks, am not a tv person, hence don’t own one, and I can’t afford to attend games, at least for now - I spent every single game of our playoff run in my car (at home) because i would get the perfect signal in there and there’s no way I was going to miss anything. I also get up at 5 am for work.

At the beginning, i’d occasionally have to turn on the engine for some heat (April is still chilly in the country during late evening), then in May, during the ECF, I had to open the windows because it was too hot but then i’d have to battle against a million mosquitoes.

With all due respect, let me know anytime if you know anyone who gives this kind of devotion and passion to his/her team. Friends who are not particularly hockey fans called me crazy.

I can’t sit here knowing how damn passionate I am about my team and then being told that I’m using a theory for losing faith in management because they’re so inadequate.

I really don’t appreciate that.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

During our magical run 2 years ago, I couldn’t get the game on radio - note, I live in the sticks, am not a tv person, hence don’t own one, and I can’t afford to attend games, at least for now - I spent every single game of our playoff run in my car (at home) because i would get the perfect signal in there and there’s no way I was going to miss anything. I also get up at 5 am for work.

At the beginning, i’d occasionally have to turn on the engine for some heat (April is still chilly in the country during late evening), then in May, during the ECF, I had to open the windows because it was too hot but then i’d have to battle against a million mosquitoes.

With all due respect, let me know anytime if you know anyone who gives this kind of devotion and passion to his/her team. Friends who are not particularly hockey fans called me crazy.

I can’t sit here knowing how damn passionate I am about my team and then being told that I’m using a theory for losing faith in management because they’re so inadequate.

I really don’t appreciate that.

The funny thing about all of this (at least to me)...these guys bashing the fanbase are turning me off the Sens more than all the drama surrounding the team! Like your post about the antique store earlier today...it it home because that's exactly how I feel. Those snotty city slickers want to look down on anyone not shelling out thousands per year...we live closer to Montreal than Ottawa.

A lot of them fail to realize just how life is outside their bubble.

 

[coladin]

Interesting that you mention the Jets...

Jets lose home-ice advantage but that’s not likely to faze them



Granted that's not that many tickets officially left, but they also have a much smaller rink to start off with.

And the last 250 games, how did they do at much higher prices?

Stop defending what cannot be defended.

 

[coladin]

During our magical run 2 years ago, I couldn’t get the game on radio - note, I live in the sticks, am not a tv person, hence don’t own one, and I can’t afford to attend games, at least for now - I spent every single game of our playoff run in my car (at home) because i would get the perfect signal in there and there’s no way I was going to miss anything. I also get up at 5 am for work.

At the beginning, i’d occasionally have to turn on the engine for some heat (April is still chilly in the country during late evening), then in May, during the ECF, I had to open the windows because it was too hot but then i’d have to battle against a million mosquitoes.

With all due respect, let me know anytime if you know anyone who gives this kind of devotion and passion to his/her team. Friends who are not particularly hockey fans called me crazy.

I can’t sit here knowing how damn passionate I am about my team and then being told that I’m using a theory for losing faith in management because they’re so inadequate.

I really don’t appreciate that.

Once again, I am not talking about you, or people in your predicament. I am talking about those who can afford but don't go. And they make every excuse in the book to not watch a player they profess undying devotion to. It is all BS. They will complain about everything in order to justify not supporting the team.

This is obviously not you.

 

[coladin]

The funny thing about all of this (at least to me)...these guys bashing the fanbase are turning me off the Sens more than all the drama surrounding the team! Like your post about the antique store earlier today...it it home because that's exactly how I feel. Those snotty city slickers want to look down on anyone not shelling out thousands per year...we live closer to Montreal than Ottawa.

A lot of them fail to realize just how life is outside their bubble.

Thanks for the reality check Nac. As I told Ray, I am not asking people to skip meals or rent . Those who cannot afford is one thing, those who can is another. And they choose not to go.

But you are always good at extremism.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Thanks for the reality check Nac. As I told Ray, I am not asking people to skip meals or rent . Those who cannot afford is one thing, those who can is another. And they choose not to go.

But you are always good at extremism.

lol "extremism." Sure thing.

 

[Ray Kinsella]

Thanks for the reality check Nac. As I told Ray, I am not asking people to skip meals or rent . Those who cannot afford is one thing, those who can is another. And they choose not to go.

But you are always good at extremism.

You’re not asking... I don’t need to “skip meals” nor rent for extra curricular activities. PS: My house is paid for.

I understand you’re trying to make a point. At the same time, your selection of words in your counter debate makes me question your intentions.

I’ve mentioned before that I appreciate some of your posts. Then again, it’s not black and white in terms of people who can spend thousands of dollars a year on games or people skipping meals to go to a game once a year. That’s pretty extreme in terms of reference.

The average fan is, and should be, extremely important to any business who gives a damn to their clientele. And those fans should never be excluded from dissatisfaction.

There is something very wrong with the current management of this franchise. Whether one can spend 10k or $200 a year in a season, doesn’t change that reality. The insider deal also doesn’t change that reality.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Worked in Toronto for more than 50 years.......

You're cool with me my man, wherever it is you come from.

 

[mysens]

Our revenues have been average, not at the bottom of the league as Melnyk would say.

I don’t care how much he used to spend when the cap was a fraction of what it is now. He can’t afford to keep up with the current NHL.

Can't afford? What business man would dig into this OWN pockets to support a losing cause because the fans do not go to games....yeah, sure, you would wouldnt you. He laid it out there, no fans, no re signing of players. Period. Fans can not handle the EK trade rumors because it is their fault. Stop denying people.

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

although next season probably won’t be the best for us I would still be open to meeting with fans on here and go to a bar to watch games

 

[JD1]

this is a unique market. you've got the montreal and Toronto overhang for people in my generation who also tend to be the people with higher disposable income. That's a problem because the percentage of fanatics within this generation is lower.

You've got season tickets that are low because the market itself is at the very low end of the spectrum in terms of businesses that could buy tickets.

And you've got the game day walk up crowd is negatively impacted by location and transportation

Lebreton solves the last one and as another 5 years goes by more of the younger generation will move up in age and have higher levels of disposable income.

I am exactly the type that Coladin refers to. I can afford to attend but I don't go that often. I dropped a bundle during the run years ago but went to 2 games last season. Too inconvenient from the east end. far easier to sit home watching on TV.

I don't think that there is a huge opportunity on the season ticket side. maybe stabilized at 10000+ kind of thing but we're never going to get 15000 + at top dollar like some people. What we need is to get people that are going to a couple of games a year to go to 5 or 6 and to get those going to 5 or 6 to bump into flex packs. Do that en masse and attendance will improve dramatically. But this might also be the hardest to do. Fan alienation / engagement and on ice success are very important to achieve this objecttive and the team has made a mess of this.

I personally don't think that boycotting attending is in anyway helpful. at this point rolling forward if Melnyk is looking to sell but maximize his return then low attendance hurts.

@Ray Kinsella. ... kudos to you man that is an upper end level of crazy to sit in the car for 3 hours listening to the game on the radio.

 

[topshelf15]

I work nights so its tough for me to get out to anything other than weekend games...However my son loves to go ,and lots of his friends go with their parents....So I help facilitate him going,he owes me about 10 driveway snow shovelings..And countless amounts of lawn cuttings..But hey we parents are ATM,s lol

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

I will forever support the Senators, just not spending a dime on the franchise until Melnyk is gone.

"support" AKA buying tickets

Therefore you're not supporting the Senators

 

[Stylizer1]

If no one goes to the games the League understands why. Melnyk will go deeper into debt and eventually be forced to sell. 6 thousand fans a game would do the trick fairly quickly.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Professional sports is, by nature, cyclical. Most team will lose money during the down portions of that cycle. That is a problem for Melynk, and instead of weathering the storm, he cuts corners to the point of sabotaging the team. That is NOT on the fans. If Ottawa fans are "fairweather," then so are 90% of pro sports fans on the planet.

Edit: Just to add, calling fans "fairweather," is the most effective way to lose more fans. You never, ever question the integrity of your customers. Ever.

I did not get the impression that he was saying that EM called a segment of the Ottawa fan base "fair-weather fans", I'm pretty sure he was saying it, as I have as well.

There are a few people who post here who want the owner to Sugar Daddy the Franchise, to keep it afloat, and to sign all they players they want to stay of the team, or to join the team as an UFA, without putting their own money where their mouth are, in the form or ticket purchases.

Supporting the Senators, as a fan, only counts when you buy tickets and go to the games, it's a business.

You can't support a local restaurant by looking in their window, reading their menu online and talking to people about it...... you have to become a patron, and actually dig into your own wallet once in a while.

 

[Sensfan5]

"support" AKA buying tickets

Therefore you're not supporting the Senators

Supporting a team isn’t just buying tickets...

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

Supporting a team isn’t just buying tickets...

For some people here that's all it boils down to.

Besides, they need some metric by which to measure themselves vis-a-vis other fans so they can feel secure in their opinion that they're the "real fans" and that they're better than all those bandwagoners and fairweather people.

But hey, I guess we're the jerks for not paying Melnyk tribute so he can continue to cling to this franchise for another day longer.

 

[hawthy]

I've "rallied around the team" financially since I had disposable income, roughly 20 years ago. I think some people don't get it.

Melnyk (and the operation under him) has been adding straws to the proverbial camel's back for a long time. I'll state, for the record, that I can only speak for myself for certain, but I'd wager that there are others who share my mindset about the team....

....any one, or perhaps a few negative or embarrassing story lines that have come out of the dungeon at 1000 Palladium (or wherever Melnyk does his thing in Barbados) over the years would have been absorbed, no problem. It is the sheer litany of ridiculous happenings, some bordering on totally absurd, that has piled up, both big and small, that has caused the house to collapse. Embarrassing forensic investigation threats against Cooke (not defending Cooke, but it is and was mocked), endless availability for Toronto-based radio spots compared to availability to HIS market, reducing game day staff (I've posted here before about my intermission conversation with an usher who was quite candid in how things have changed for the worse for them and by extension the guest experience), no warm water in the washrooms, charging $20 to park in a farmer's field (they wonder why the upper bowl doesn't fill up when they are pricing parking near the price of the ticket itself) and turfing Cyril Leeder who was unequivocally the most liked man in our front office (save for maybe Murray) for not selling seats; the same seats he and Anselmi decided to tarp over as a "solution"....

....Then you have the players. One thing the Sens have more practice at than any other team in the league is making montage videos for departed star players. I don't have any inside knowledge and I won't claim to, but I don't have any doubts on why Alfredsson walked away (twice, actually), both as a player and in an office capacity. This isn't speculation, at least not anymore, as Alfie went on (or maybe off lol) record in saying the Sens needed a new owner. This is when I'll also bring the competency of our hockey operations team in to the mix, who I realize are puppeteer-ed by Uncle Scrooge largely, but who also share a lot of this. There has been a pattern of severely mismanaged assets that has left the team trying to salvage its immediate future with its most valuable current pieces. Again, I am the furthest thing from an "insider", but I did have a close family friend who worked in the organization quit due to the toxicity that left him looking (and finding) employment elsewhere. Apparently Melnyk was a "tyrant" when he was around.

Then, on a day when we were all feeling nostalgic, watching our past players (a lot of whom probably caused you to love the Senators so many years ago), our owner runs his dumb mouth, at the worst possible time, in the worst possible place. Some say he was serious, some say he was simply playing politics to obtain leverage in the ongoing Lebreton negotiations. Does it matter? Either he was threatening fans or using fans as pawns. I'm equally good with neither. When he said (loosely quoted) that people from Kanata wouldn't attend games downtown, all I could think of, as a Kanata-ite who has heavily supported the Sens with my $$$$ for 20-years, was "I don't recall you ever asking us". Spoiled as us west-enders have been since 1996, there is not one objective take I've heard from my fellow west-enders that didn't conclude that the Sens would be far better off downtown. Hell, it has even projected out into how much fun it would be to arrive at Lebreton on a train and how it would totally transform the experience. It really struck me that evening how out-of-touch the team has become with the fan base. It does great things community-wise, but the people who pay to go to games....totally disconnected. That's on the team.

Unless Melnyk or Doh-rion were behind the twitter harassment of Melinda Karlsson, they aren't on the hook for that. They are, however, responsible for allowing it to fester for as long as they knew it was brewing in and around the team, which I believe to be for a while based on the twitter reactions that came out after it surfaced from people not surprised of the allegation. Having the only other former "good guy" in the organization, Randy Lee, apparently being a weirdo at best is really just the cherry on the s**t pie we've been eating for a while now.

I've talked about the REDBLACKS in comparison before, but just the culture around that organization is like they took the Senators' playbook and did the opposite. The leagues aren't to scale; I recognize that. What is comparable, however, is that they both operate in the same market. This is why I hope and expect to see Jeff Hunt surface with (God-willing) a new ownership group.

The constant in Ottawa, in my years of attending (some as a young guy) Rough Rider, Senator, Renegade and REDBLACK games, isn't that Ottawa doesn't support building/rebuilding/"losing", teams; I've seen this market do enough of that. What it doesn't support is teams with weak or no direction, and incompetent ownership/management. The Rough Riders were in total shambles when they folded. Read "The Fumbling of the Ottawa Rough Riders" if you haven't already. Man, they even drafted a dead guy. I was a bit too young to remember the first go around, but when the grumbles started at the Gliebermans again owning the city's CFL team that was the beginning of the end of the Renegades, they were clearly justified in what followed. Look at CFL here now: the fans haven't changed (in fact, I'd say the fan base is YOUNGER now), but the team is run with direction, stability and people are proud of that. The Senators are the furthest thing from stable and proud, at the moment. Sports are cyclical (as I recently read someone on here comment). I can support a rebuild. In fact, rebuilds are extremely marketable when the fans trust you. Problem here is that the trust is gone. Closed-door, private "town halls" with the few people who will die on the hill with the Sens are useless. It did more damage than good because of how people perceived (IMO rightly) them.

I don't deny that the government pay-issues may have a place here, but I'm just not sure it is to the extent of what is being claimed.

Oh, also, we currently have ERIK KARLSSON on our team. You know what you do with Erik Karlsson? You sign Erik Karlsson, especially since it seems from all accounts, he somehow doesn't mind playing here for market value. You don't make him an offer below market value so you can trumpet that you kept a sham promise to your fan base so you can trade him with a clear conscience. I'd rather they just had not made the promise, because it's also annoying that most of us predicted exactly what is transpiring, leading me to believe they think I'm an idiot.

I f***ing hate that I hate my favourite sports team right now. When I get called a bad fan or get spoken for without being asked by an ignorant owner, it tells me things. I don't regret any of my earned dollars I've spent on the Sens, but it has been a pattern of everything I've written here and some stuff I haven't that have caused me to pull out for now. Think what you will of that, but I don't believe in the team right now. Rebuilds? Absolutely, sign me up. We stayed competitive for so long because of smart asset management and patience. I'll pay to watch the next wave of Sens develop and hopefully bring a Cup to Ottawa some day. Under the current ownership, with the current hockey people in place, I don't see it happening. Whether you are more moderate on the issue or are full on anti-Melnyk, it's clear he can't be the person here for much longer. We should all unite under that. The man used his position to canvass his fan-base (and by extent, the internet) for a new organ to save his life then takes a dump in our mouth before the scar is healed? As a fan, I'm not going anywhere. As a paying-fan for two-decades, I'll be back when Melnyk sells. The talk of "he'll move the team" are hogwash. He won't....and can't. He's broken me.

 

[Peptic Balcers]

I can get behind a fun, young, scrappy team. I think the most fun I've had as a fan was during the #PeskySens run in 2012/2013 It was a good mix of a couple vets and a lot young guys in key roles getting a chance to prove themselves. They even won a play-off series.

This does not feel the same.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Looks like there's some old codgers in here who just want to watch their damn Senators play no matter what. Melnyk could literally spit on their birkenstocks and they'd just smile and move along. Well, you do you and the rest of us will demand ownership that actually gives a damn about the team and fanbase.

You’re really going to let some asshole make you stop watching the team you love lol. Pretty much the only thing that will make me boycott is if it comes out randy lee has a history of what he’s being accused of outside the org and inside and management and ownership have covered it up. Then I will boycott. I’m not going to stop enjoying my team because our owner is broke and a common prick.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

View attachment 129005
“yeees renew your season tickets and pay for the over priced parking. ill steal 20s from you wallets as the boring game puts you to sleep”

What overpriced parking.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Brian Murray was part of the Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza debacles. Hey, those guys would be a great line, wouldn't they? He ****ing straight up lied to Alfredsson. He signed Hasek which ended up being a disaster and Ray Emery...that was great too. Who else can I bring up under his watch...hmm Kovalev? Shall I go on?

Now , all of a sudden, people are pontificating about Brian Murray like the glue, the legend and "no one of this would have happened under his watch" BS. BS. Which makes me smirk at so many here. Zero credibility.

And for the millionth time, place was papered because this city could barely sell out even in its greatest of times. This city bailed back in 03 with empty seats against Philly. I was there. The Isles too. This fanbase is what it is.

The owner brought "us" down? Such terrible, terrible takes. He just reacts to the lousy revenues kid.

You keep going on about this fanbase but when people give you legitimate reasons you still bitch and moan. What population of the city are Sens fans? Are you that dense to remember we didn't have a team for a while? That a large contingent of the population cheers for other teams? You go to many games don't you? How many opposing teams fans are in the arena when you go watch? Tons right? Corporate support is garbage compared to other cities.

We probably are the weakeast fanbase in Canada based on sheer numbers but so what? Why do you needlessly need to compare us to Oiler, Leaf, etc fans? Teams that have been around for way longer than the Sens. Maybe step back a little and actually try to understand some of the reasoning instead of absolutely dismissing any possibility that there may be legitimate reasons for attendance issues etc.

I think we have a great and passionate fanbase, the numbers aren't as comparable to other Canadian fans but it can only grow. Its probably stagnating right now due to the current mess but its better than it was before.

You also need to stop with this holier than thou attitude that you seem to give off. Not every fan can afford season tickets let alone smaller ticket packages, makes them no more less of a fan than you are.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Brian Murray was part of the Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza debacles. Hey, those guys would be a great line, wouldn't they? He ****ing straight up lied to Alfredsson. He signed Hasek which ended up being a disaster and Ray Emery...that was great too. Who else can I bring up under his watch...hmm Kovalev? Shall I go on?

Now , all of a sudden, people are pontificating about Brian Murray like the glue, the legend and "no one of this would have happened under his watch" BS. BS. Which makes me smirk at so many here. Zero credibility.

And for the millionth time, place was papered because this city could barely sell out even in its greatest of times. This city bailed back in 03 with empty seats against Philly. I was there. The Isles too. This fanbase is what it is.

The owner brought "us" down? Such terrible, terrible takes. He just reacts to the lousy revenues kid.

I’m pretty sure Muckler was the GM for Hasek.

Alfie and Murray clearly made up, interesting after Murray left Alfie soon followed. Geez I wonder why, definitely for family reasons right? It’s not like Alfie said we need a new owner or anything...

Alfie > Crapnyk