Silver Seven The Senators are the NHL's francophone team

[AchtzehnBaby]

The Senators are the NHL's francophone team

It's a joke online, but our collab with La Brigade confirms it

www.silversevensens.com

The Sens currently boast five francophone roster players: Derick Brassard, Julien Gauthier, Claude Giroux, Mathieu Joseph, and Thomas Chabot. The Habs list six players from Québec on their roster, but two of those are recent call-ups (Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Alex Belzile) all part of a concerted effort to push the notion that they're the most francophone.

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[TeamRenzo]

We may have five francophones but we have like ten US-born players

 

[Norris4Norris]

Hey if we can corner the market on French speaking players I am all in.

The Montreal Canadiens kept all of the leagues francophone players and won 24 cups doing it.

 

[Larionov]

Marketing this team on the other side of the river has always been a challenge, so to the extent this helps to grow our fan base in Gatineau, all the better. I have always joked that Gatineau regards itself as a suburb of Montreal - as soon as you cross the bridge it is all Habs, all the time. That is because, of course, the Habs have always been Quebec's team. We aren't going to turn around those allegiances overnight, but you often got the sense that the Sens haven't tried very hard in Gatineau in the past. Maybe we can change that now...

 

[aragorn]

Marketing this team on the other side of the river has always been a challenge, so to the extent this helps to grow our fan base in Gatineau, all the better. I have always joked that Gatineau regards itself as a suburb of Montreal - as soon as you cross the bridge it is all Habs, all the time. That is because, of course, the Habs have always been Quebec's team. We aren't going to turn around those allegiances overnight, but you often got the sense that the Sens haven't tried very hard in Gatineau in the past. Maybe we can change that now...

They have tried hard with every francophone player they have had, the Hab fans don't want to & won't change allegiance. Is it any different with Leaf fans or fans of other teams or our team. Fans of teams rarely change allegiance unless they are bandwagon fans & they watch French TV which mostly talks about the Habs so they are bombarded with Hab news constantly. It happens occssionally that a fan will change allegiance, but it's rare.

We just have to accept it & we have to keep advertising there because some of them do come to more than just Montreal games. We have to continue to play meaningful games, we have to continue to imptrove & we have to keep playing an entertaining style of play as they have been lately. Ottawa population has grown enough this past decade that they don't really need Gatineau, but the more the better for the health of the franchise. I also think that Ryan Reynolds will help increase the fan base & attendance, but I doubt that most Hab or Leaf fans will change allegiance just because of him either.

 

[Larionov]

They have tried hard with every francophone player they have had, the Hab fans don't want to & won't change allegiance. Is it any different with Leaf fans or fans of other teams or our team. Fans of teams rarely change allegiance unless they are bandwagon fans & they watch French TV which mostly talks about the Habs so they are bombarded with Hab news constantly. It happens occssionally that a fan will change allegiance, but it's rare.

We just have to accept it & we have to keep advertising there because some of them do come to more than just Montreal games. We have to continue to play meaningful games, we have to continue to imptrove & we have to keep playing an entertaining style of play as they have been lately. Ottawa population has grown enough this past decade that they don't really need Gatineau, but the more the better for the health of the franchise. I also think that Ryan Reynolds will help increase the fan base & attendance, but I doubt that most Hab or Leaf fans will change allegiance just because of him either.

You're never going to get anyone to change allegiances - agree fully on that one. You have to start with kids, and build from there. Even that is tough, though, because I guarantee you that dad/grandpa/uncle is a huge Habs fan. In the context of the Yankees/Mets in New York, we are the Mets. But, that doesn't mean that we can't have full arenas, winning teams, and a good rivalry...

 

[ChurchOfAlfie]

Travis Hamonic is also francophone, so Ottawa has at least 6, not 5.

 

[NyQuil]

I know that this will irk some fans of les Glorieux, which is surprising in this day and age.

My favourite players over the years have included two Swedes and an American.

The entire roster could speak esperanto for all I care as long as they won hockey games.

 

[Cosmix]

The Senators are the NHL's francophone team

It's a joke online, but our collab with La Brigade confirms it

www.silversevensens.com

The Sens currently boast five francophone roster players: Derick Brassard, Julien Gauthier, Claude Giroux, Mathieu Joseph, and Thomas Chabot. The Habs list six players from Québec on their roster, but two of those are recent call-ups (Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Alex Belzile) all part of a concerted effort to push the notion that they're the most francophone.

I think we would need the reincarnations of Maurice Richard, Jean Belliveau, Guy Lafleur, Doug Harvey, Henri Richard, Jacques Plante, Howie Morenz, Dickie Moore, etc. to even have a sniff at changing the allegiances of French Canadians who have supported the Montreal Canadiens over the decades. Montreal has the greatest record in the NHL history and their fans are legion and loyal.

PS: I have seen all but one of those players play games for Montreal on TV for decades too.

 

[Micklebot]

The entire roster could speak esperanto for all I care as long as they won hockey games.

That would be awesome...

 

[NyQuil]

That would be awesome...

Ĝi estus mirinda!

 

[jbeck5]

We are the only team with a bilingual name.

Every other team is the English name said in french and the Habs use the french name in English.

Only do the senators/senateurs actually change their team name depending on the language.

 

[Adele Dazeem]

We are the only team with a bilingual name.

Every other team is the English name said in french and the Habs use the french name in English.

Only do the senators/senateurs actually change their team name depending on the language.

That's why Ottawa is Canada's team.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Ĝi estus mirinda!

motlhHa'

 

[L'Aveuglette]

They would actually have a big fanbase in Quebec if for years they hadn't largely ignored the market and failed to promote the team properly in the Outaouais region.

I'm not sure if that has improved recently but there has practically been no presence there considering the Sens are right there across the river. Gatineau specifically should be treated like an extension of Ottawa but to me the marketing team seems to have conceded the "territory" to the Habs and have the bare minimum presence there.

Hopefully this improves under new ownership.

 

[aragorn]

They would actually have a big fanbase in Quebec if for years they hadn't largely ignored the market and failed to promote the team properly in the Outaouais region.

I'm not sure if that has improved recently but there has practically been no presence there considering the Sens are right there across the river. Gatineau specifically should be treated like an extension of Ottawa but to me the marketing team seems to have conceded the "territory" to the Habs and have the bare minimum presence there.

Hopefully this improves under new ownership.

This is not true they have had all kinds of events in Gatineau with Canadian Tire & other events & they still do. They have done commercials on French TV with most of their francophone players & with businesses in the Gatineau region. The only player who brought the most fans with him from Gatineau in this team's history was JG Pageau. At his first development camp there were more Quebec plates in the parking lot than at any other development camp that I was at & I have been at most from the start.

They have tried with french GMs, french coaches & french players & they continue to try. Some people would come out to see the team & bring their kids, but most had Hab jerseys on & the Ottawa players are signing the Hab hats & jerseys. The vast majority of francophones are Hab fans period, just like there are so many Leaf fans & they won't change their allegiance either. Maybe now that the Habs are sucking so much some will come over, but the Leafs haven't won in 60 some yrs & their fans haven't left them yet & IMO probably never will. Having Reynolds will definitely help market the team, kind of reminds me when John Candy & Gretzky were involved with the Argos, they sold out a lot of games with those guys on the sidelines. But whether that changes anything with francophones is anyone's guess.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Sens need to market out here in Prescott-Russell. There are a ton of hockey allegiances here (you can find fans of a good 30 teams out here when you ask around), but the allegiances are NOT set in stone. And yes, having francophone players definitely helps.

 

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