Ottawa Senators owner wants to play regular season games in Quebec City

[thadd]

Gary Batman is going to love this.

 

[Bounces R Way]

 

[FMichael]

Gary Batman is going to love this.

 

[Golden_Jet]

If they are having trouble getting enough ticket sales in Ottawa, splitting with Quebec City might provide some relief since those in Ottawa would only have to buy half the tickets, and likewise those in Quebec City would only have to buy half the tickets.

Probably would have to get NHLPA clearance of course, but it's only a 1-hour flight, i.e., half the time that it takes players from LA to get to or from a game in traffic, and that would only be for 21 games per year.

Lol
You jumped from an exhibition game, to test to see if got one more game.

From that you jumped to a a 50/50 split, didn’t think you were that gullible.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Lol
You jumped from an exhibition game, to test to see if got one more game.

From that you jumped to a a 50/50 split, didn’t think you were that gullible.

Nah, splitting home games is a great idea.

 

[Section 104]

What little history there is on teams playing a number of games in two cities (NBA Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 1970s, MLB Brooklyn-Jersey City Dodgers in the 1950s come to mind) isn’t very good. Maybe an Ottawa game a year in Quebec.

I wouldn’t mind if Quebec got its own team but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

I thought the Sens had a new arena lined up?

Was I mislead? Why would they be talking about playing elsewhere if the ground is still too frozen to start digging? Isn't it just as cold in Quebec City?

Someone help me understand.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Just move the team to Houston already

The league should have some regular season games be played in QC though. Count it as a road game for both teams.

 

[JianYang]

It makes sense to try to capture some of the anti-Montreal sentiment if you know for a fact that market is never getting another team of their own.

That's the way I look at it too. It's the closest market to QC in Canada that isn't Montreal, which is a polarizing team in the area.

But the optics are not good with the uncertainty that the Ottawa market has been dealing with for a while. They probably could have handled it better.

 

[Korpse]

I thought the Sens had a new arena lined up?

Was I mislead? Why would they be talking about playing elsewhere if the ground is still too frozen to start digging? Isn't it just as cold in Quebec City?

Someone help me understand.

They kinda do, it’s a whole thing with the NCC. Probably not a coincidence this is announced just after Andlauer expressed some frustration about how slow things are moving on that front. They are genuinely interested in growing the brand in Quebec but this also seems like a move to get the ball rolling on a land deal. NCC is targeting the end of 2025 to finalize the land deal.

 

[eojsmada]

They kinda do, it’s a whole thing with the NCC. Probably not a coincidence this is announced just after Andlauer expressed some frustration about how slow things are moving on that front. They are genuinely interested in growing the brand in Quebec but this also seems like a move to get the ball rolling on a land deal. NCC is targeting the end of 2025 to finalize the land deal.

100% this. It's a viable relocation market, but it's kind of a toothless move as Andlauer just doesn't like how slow the deal is going. Not sure why NCC is dragging their feet as Andlauer is already the preferred bidder. Guessing that folks at NCC wouldn't get paid in full, for the year, if the deal gets done early.

 

[NyQuil]

I really think it was an ill-conceived marketing attempt as opposed to a Machiavellian power move.

 

[The Panther]

Ottawa strikes me as a difficult city from a N.A. pro-sports' perspective.

It's not tiny enough to be really 'small market', but it's much too small to be a safe territory for the NHL. 80% of the fanbase grew up as Leafs or Canadiens' fans and a lot of French-speakers in the region are from Hull and/or grew up Montreal fans. It's a really conservative (i.e., government staffed), fairly dull, milquetoast city, with nothing 'sexy' to attract big-name athletes. Plus it has Canadian winters, though not as bad as in Winnipeg or Edmonton (and arguably Montreal and Calgary).

That said, it's a Canadian market, so you'd think it would be easier. But hockey is expensive.

Everyone misses Quebec City in the NHL! Why not change the Sens to be 1/2 based in Ottawa and 1/2 based in Quebec City? In Ottawa, they'll be called the St. Lawrence Senators and in Quebec City they'll be called les sénateurs de st. Laurent.

 

[MardyBum]

I really think it was an ill-conceived marketing attempt as opposed to a Machiavellian power move.

Makes sense to try and capture some of that market. If this was a game in Halifax or St. Johns no one would care. Obviously the mascot thing was an oof though.

Jets played a heritage classic in Regina, which was a regular season game. Iirc the Jets were the home team.

 

[Nineteen67]

Quebec City is closer to Ottawa than the arena they play at now, so why not?

 

[Voight]

Because the people in NA hockey hotbeds already watch the NHL

The NHL has plenty of fans in Europe already. Unlikely to get that many more given the time difference.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

It makes sense to try to capture some of the anti-Montreal sentiment if you know for a fact that market is never getting another team of their own.

This.

Might as well tap into the QC market. The NHL is never going back there. They wine and dine them every few years when they're trying to woo another expansion market for a higher fee.

The essential comparison is they're kissing the average girl to make the smoking hot chick they wanna bang jealous.

 

[Warden of the North]

Ummm, that would be a deal breaker for me as a fan. Your team is one foot out the door.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Poor Sens. That franchise is turning into the Canadian version of the Arizona Coyotes.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Plus it has Canadian winters, though not as bad as in Winnipeg or Edmonton (and arguably Montreal and Calgary).

1- Calgary has far worst winters than Montreal

2- Ottawa is barely a 2 hour drive from Montreal. I go there often. Winters are about the same as Montreal. Winters have been shorter and warmer in the last decade, for both cities.

 

[hypereconomist]

Ottawa strikes me as a difficult city from a N.A. pro-sports' perspective.

It's not tiny enough to be really 'small market', but it's much too small to be a safe territory for the NHL. 80% of the fanbase grew up as Leafs or Canadiens' fans and a lot of French-speakers in the region are from Hull and/or grew up Montreal fans. It's a really conservative (i.e., government staffed), fairly dull, milquetoast city, with nothing 'sexy' to attract big-name athletes. Plus it has Canadian winters, though not as bad as in Winnipeg or Edmonton (and arguably Montreal and Calgary).

That said, it's a Canadian market, so you'd think it would be easier. But hockey is expensive.

Everyone misses Quebec City in the NHL! Why not change the Sens to be 1/2 based in Ottawa and 1/2 based in Quebec City? In Ottawa, they'll be called the St. Lawrence Senators and in Quebec City they'll be called les sénateurs de st. Laurent.

It'd be a logistical nightmare, but that sounds like an interesting idea.

Alternatively, the Senators could "moonlight" by branding themselves as the Nordiques and play a dozen of their home games out of Quebec City each season

 

[NyQuil]

Poor Sens. That franchise is turning into the Canadian version of the Arizona Coyotes.

We don’t all get generational players dropping out of the sky.

 

[Svechhammer]

Reminds me a lot of the Tampa Bay Rays wanting to play home games in Montreal.

Its a stupid idea that will crater fan interest in the home market

 

[Oilslick941611]

Much ado about nothing.

This website has led me to really question what is going on in Michigan.

If this does worry Sens fans, the phenomenon might not be localized in Michigan afterall.

Not a new thing. I’ve been to a few sens games over the years and it’s always like this for toronto games and some Montreal games going back to the late 90s.

I don’t know why it’s become an issue now.

The Nordiques jersey is awesome. I actually think it's a great idea. I would love to see the Av's play a regular season game there against Montreal as well.

lol that would be like wanting your ex to come over and sleep with your friend in your bed.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

To be fair TVA shows a bunch of sens games. and alot of people from more rural regions and eastern quebec dont love the habs.

It sucks for ottawa fans to be on the butt end of a joke but they are looking for TV money from this. Alot of people tune in to miscellaneous hockey games in quebec when TVA or RDS broadcast them so why not try to make them into pure sens fans

Andlauer is probably a habs fans too , that must give mixed feelings to sens fans Weird for him to publicly say he wants reg season games in quebec though

The real travesty here is what they did to Spartacat....borderline unforgivable

Hope ottawa can get their downtown arena and kill all this noise lol