News Article: NCC very open to arena in new lebreton roll out

[ColinM]

Probably for the best anyway. The NHL still needs a few more years of pressuring governments for tax breaks as part of their standard operating procedure. And the arena is going to need a really well functioning LRT with all the bugs ironed out. If SNC Lavalin can no longer bid on govt contracts, i hope fixing all the issues with that doesnt become problematic too.

The catch though is it will likely be more expensive to build an arena 5 years from than it will be to build an arena right now. An arena at Lebreton is a great idea but I'm skeptical about whether anyone really wants to pay for it. (Owning it is a different matter). I suspect we are in for a long time at Kanata.

 

[KeithfromCanada]

Going to miss that window of "unparalleled success..."

LOL! Funniest and most depressing quote in the history of this city! What makes it worse - Melnyk actually thinks that Sens fans bought it!

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I think its probably safe to say the FYOUS is off since the UFA's didn't sign and there's no new arena coming. I'd be interested to see this question posed to them and see if they still stand behind that press release or if they dance around it.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I think its probably safe to say the FYOUS is off since the UFA's didn't sign and there's no new arena coming. I'd be interested to see this question posed to them and see if they still stand behind that press release or if they dance around it.

FYOUS always was a diversion because Melnyk knew the UFAs weren't staying and knew he wasn't getting a free arena.

Anything Melnyk says is does should be understood as mimicking Trump.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Probably for the best anyway. The NHL still needs a few more years of pressuring governments for tax breaks as part of their standard operating procedure. And the arena is going to need a really well functioning LRT with all the bugs ironed out. If SNC Lavalin can no longer bid on govt contracts, i hope fixing all the issues with that doesnt become problematic too.

Plus there's somewhere between 6 to 10 years life left in the CTC before it either needs to heavily refurbished, or left behind when the franchise re-locates to a new venue.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

I never understood why Melnyk was such a huge part of the overall development. He has a hockey team, great.

The NCC reached out to him, through John Baird, and got him involved.


Field of broken dreams: The inside story of how Ottawa’s $4B landmark development deal fell to pieces

"According to sources familiar with events, the summer before, staff from the office of foreign affairs minister John Baird, the Ottawa West MP who was also the minister responsible for the NCC, as well as representatives of the commission itself, had courted Melnyk to anchor the development. (Baird said he doesn’t recall whether such a meeting took place.)
The idea was enticing to Melnyk given that the Senators’ current home, 30 minutes outside the capital in Kanata, has long been a problem — often blamed for the team’s attendance woes. The Senators is one of the few NHL teams to play in the suburbs and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said a downtown arena is “vital to the future” of the franchise."

 

[Stylizer1]

The NCC reached out to him, through John Baird, and got him involved.


Field of broken dreams: The inside story of how Ottawa’s $4B landmark development deal fell to pieces

"According to sources familiar with events, the summer before, staff from the office of foreign affairs minister John Baird, the Ottawa West MP who was also the minister responsible for the NCC, as well as representatives of the commission itself, had courted Melnyk to anchor the development. (Baird said he doesn’t recall whether such a meeting took place.)
The idea was enticing to Melnyk given that the Senators’ current home, 30 minutes outside the capital in Kanata, has long been a problem — often blamed for the team’s attendance woes. The Senators is one of the few NHL teams to play in the suburbs and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said a downtown arena is “vital to the future” of the franchise."

 

[dumbdick]

In melnyk's defence (ducks head), the lebreton deal is a huge investment that was basically tossed at him by a bunch of policy planners who decided to develop the area. They want the rink downtown but this deal forced some partnerships on huge money deals that probably wasnt on the sens timeline as they still have a viable building in kanata. I suspect sens had some kind of plan originally for eventually going downtown on their own terms and timeline, either alone or with partners. And they maybe still had this in mind when they walked away from the deal. Pulling off deals like this can't be easy. Glad to hear that they still see value of putting the rink downtown.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

It would be a bad idea to move downtown when they'd be leaving a very committed season ticket base in Kanata. People always rag on Melnyk, but he knew what he was doing with the original arena deal. Do you know how long it takes to drive from Kanata to Lebreton....on a weekday? Most people from Kanata aren't going to take public transit either. That is for the unwashed masses.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

In melnyk's defence (ducks head), the lebreton deal is a huge investment that was basically tossed at him by a bunch of policy planners who decided to develop the area. They want the rink downtown but this deal forced some partnerships on huge money deals that probably wasnt on the sens timeline as they still have a viable building in kanata. I suspect sens had some kind of plan originally for eventually going downtown on their own terms and timeline, either alone or with partners. And they maybe still had this in mind when they walked away from the deal. Pulling off deals like this can't be easy. Glad to hear that they still see value of putting the rink downtown.

Also, once the details of the future of the condo market became clear, the financial risks appeared to be bigger than originally thought ........ it probably became apparent that a bad deal was worse than no deal.

Did he bite off more than he could chew, probably, but it only became an issue as the process inched along and the market realities of the Trinity development on the edge of the Lebreton Project, appeared to him, whether real or perceived, was perhaps the trigger to scuttle the deal.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

It would be a bad idea to move downtown when they'd be leaving a very committed season ticket base in Kanata. People always rag on Melnyk, but he knew what he was doing with the original arena deal. Do you know how long it takes to drive from Kanata to Lebreton....on a weekday? Most people from Kanata aren't going to take public transit either. That is for the unwashed masses.

100,000 of the "unwashed masses" take public transit every workday into the Downtown core, where the Arena would have been located.

Many of those would also be from Kanata, and catching a weekday game, on the way home, would have kept a lot of that "committed base" on board with the Senators.
Any loss of fans living in Kanata would have been more that offset by those living in Gatineau, South Ottawa and the East, as now they'd be about an hour closer to the Senators (distance and traffic) games than they are currently.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Egan: Is LeBreton Flats really a housing hotbed waiting to happen?


Reevely: Melnyk's right to be worried about financing LeBreton project with condos

 

[bert]

In melnyk's defence (ducks head), the lebreton deal is a huge investment that was basically tossed at him by a bunch of policy planners who decided to develop the area. They want the rink downtown but this deal forced some partnerships on huge money deals that probably wasnt on the sens timeline as they still have a viable building in kanata. I suspect sens had some kind of plan originally for eventually going downtown on their own terms and timeline, either alone or with partners. And they maybe still had this in mind when they walked away from the deal. Pulling off deals like this can't be easy. Glad to hear that they still see value of putting the rink downtown.

Yeah they are good at planning, kinda like rebuilding and tanking without your first then coming out the next season and saying they are going to compete for a playoff spot. Clearly they are an organized group of intelligent people that know how to put together a a well thought out plan then excecute it to the best of their abilities.

 

[OmniSens]

We won't get a new arena until 2027 at the earliest. That's what I heard on tsn1200.

Everything in Ottawa & Sensland is slow. New arena, signing players, trading players at the last hour, LRT.... We live in a slow town where everything gets done at a snails pace.

We should be an established team by then and competing for a deep playoff run.

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

Oh my god who cares anymore. It's dead.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

In melnyk's defence (ducks head), the lebreton deal is a huge investment that was basically tossed at him by a bunch of policy planners who decided to develop the area. They want the rink downtown but this deal forced some partnerships on huge money deals that probably wasnt on the sens timeline as they still have a viable building in kanata. I suspect sens had some kind of plan originally for eventually going downtown on their own terms and timeline, either alone or with partners. And they maybe still had this in mind when they walked away from the deal. Pulling off deals like this can't be easy. Glad to hear that they still see value of putting the rink downtown.

Life doesn't wait.

The opportunity was there, the people wanting to partner were there.

Melnyk screwed the pooch, this is entirely on him failing to leverage what he has because he doesn't understand that the 90's are over, he can't con people like he used to.

"I have a team and they want a team? That means my terms or GTFO"
"Ok well we will go ahead without you then"

What an inept moron.

 

[BatherSeason]

We should be an established team by then and competing for a deep playoff run.

Or we could be on rebuild #4 by that point.

 

[BatherSeason]

Is this in the news again? Or are we looking for more Melnyk debates?

 

[branch]

Is this in the news again? Or are we looking for more Melnyk debates?

I'm guessing someone is having a slow work day.

 

[Engineer]

Is this in the news again? Or are we looking for more Melnyk debates?

I'm guessing someone is having a slow work day.

Isn't it curious how every single time there is a necro bump it's obvious who bumped it without even needing to look?

It's also curious how every necro bump thread revolves around the exact same Senators organization person, and trying to make sure everyone here is aware how he has been incorrectly portrayed.

 

[BonkTastic]

Looks like SOMEONE missed this thread while on "vacation".

Posting 6 month-old articles without any context or argument is of... questionable value to this discussion. Or any discussion. Every single time it happens.

 

[branch]

100,000 of the "unwashed masses" take public transit every workday into the Downtown core, where the Arena would have been located.

Many of those would also be from Kanata, and catching a weekday game, on the way home, would have kept a lot of that "committed base" on board with the Senators.
Any loss of fans living in Kanata would have been more that offset by those living in Gatineau, South Ottawa and the East, as now they'd be about an hour closer to the Senators (distance and traffic) games than they are currently.

 

[BonkTastic]

 

[danielpalfredsson]

100,000 of the "unwashed masses" take public transit every workday into the Downtown core, where the Arena would have been located.

Many of those would also be from Kanata, and catching a weekday game, on the way home, would have kept a lot of that "committed base" on board with the Senators.
Any loss of fans living in Kanata would have been more that offset by those living in Gatineau, South Ottawa and the East, as now they'd be about an hour closer to the Senators (distance and traffic) games than they are currently.

My post was satirical.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Looks like SOMEONE missed this thread while on "vacation".

Posting 6 month-old articles without any context or argument is of... questionable value to this discussion. Or any discussion. Every single time it happens.

Meanwhile, we're closing threads about a goalie being signed for 2 years when the discussion goes towards the Sens' overall goaltending situation. Very legal & very cool