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

[AtlantaWhaler]

That's a way to get the fans excited about their team. Let them know that some "home" games will be played in another city. Great move.

 

[Fatass]

Negotiating ploy for better deal on new Ottawa arena?

 

[JianYang]

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.

I think having two homes in two different cities would make player attraction even more difficult. Which player would want that?

Its smart to try and grow the brand in Quebec, but the two home idea... not so much.

 

[ponder719]

I can't imagine playing too many games in QC would be a great idea, but I would love to see a 2027 Heritage Classic/Stadium Series/Winter Classic slate something like this:

Heritage Classic - Ottawa or Montreal vs. Colorado Avalanche (in Nordiques cosplay), Stade Telus, Quebec City

Stadium Series - Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets (in Thrasher cosplay), Truist Park, Cumberland, GA

Winter Classic - Boston Bruins or New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes (in Whaler cosplay), Dillon Stadum, Hartford, CT

I'll admit the stadiums for Hartford and QC are on the small side for what the league likely wants, but it would still be cool to have games in those cities again.

 

[NyQuil]

Andlauer is probably a habs fans too , that must give mixed feelings to sens fans

Not really, most players are probably fans of different teams than they play for when they were growing up.

Not to mention, their parents pretty much unilaterally become fans of the team their kids play for.

It comes up now and then when a player signs a deal in their hometown or childhood team, usually late in their careers, but I think it's overblown.

I wasn't always a Senators fan (I'm old) so I'm not going to begrudge people who have changed their loyalties for understandable reasons.

Virtually the entire fanbase over a certain age already did to become Senators fans in the first place.

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

Well, Lebreton Flats is empty so it's available, but it's a little far to walk from downtown (~20-25 mins) in the winter, so the area around it will have to build up to cater to the fans.

There's a train stop there but we all know how reliable our light rail is.

In any event, it's probably better than Kanata but it can't handle a lot of traffic/parking so a lot of people will have to take public transportation.

The new mayor had wanted to use the former National Defence HQ site attached to the Rideau Centre which is the hub of the city. Unfortunately, the parcel of land is probably too small to accommodate an NHL arena.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Negotiating ploy for better deal on new Ottawa arena?

Seems like it , bureaucracy moves slowly in Ottawa , putting pressure on the arena plan.

If it's not that then its pretty tone deaf by them

 

[NYRfan85]

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

The league did this in the mid-90s for two seasons, and I think this is an excellent idea. They upped the regular season to 84 games, with each team having 41 home, 41 away, and 2 neutral-site games. This would be the perfect opportunity to showcase the NHL across North America in cities without teams.

 

[Avs2022]

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.


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

Is my friend a guy or a girl?

 

[Oilslick941611]

Is my friend a guy or a girl?

your friend is what you dont it to be.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

I don't think it's a bad idea, honestly. Ottawa and Montreal were sort of building a small rivalry until both teams fall off. So playing into that established dislike by trying to hook Quebec fans is smart business. Pretty sure, the far east side of Ontario is also quite bilingual.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Stadium Series - Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets (in Thrasher cosplay), Truist Park, Cumberland, GA

There is no world where TNSE agrees to do this IMO. For whatever reason the Hurricanes are happy to have fun with the Whalers identity, but this is not going to happen with the Jets.

 

[ponder719]

There is no world where TNSE agrees to do this IMO. For whatever reason the Hurricanes are happy to have fun with the Whalers identity, but this is not going to happen with the Jets.

Honestly, I'd be surprised if any of these three things happens, for any number of reasons including that one, but I'd like to see these special games be held at neutral sites more often, and this seemed a good way to tie them together, doing a one-time revival of these old franchises. They'd also probably object, and for similar reasons, but maybe the Flames could be talked into playing in Atlanta for that game instead.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Truth be told, I do think that the NHL should strongly consider having every team play in one neutral city regular season game per year. Whether the be on a regular 83rd game per year or something else, I'm not sure. But I do think that having annual or semi-annual games in untapped markets would be a good thing. Say Hawks vs Wild in Milwaukee, or Bruins vs Rangers in Hartford, or Kraken vs Sharks in Portland, or Jets vs Flames in Saskatoon, or Stars vs Bolts in New Orleans, or a game like this in Quebec City, etc., etc., etc.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Truth be told, I do think that the NHL should strongly consider having every team play in one neutral city regular season game per year. Whether the be on a regular 83rd game per year or something else, I'm not sure. But I do think that having annual or semi-annual games in untapped markets would be a good thing. Say Hawks vs Wild in Milwaukee, or Bruins vs Rangers in Hartford, or Kraken vs Sharks in Portland, or Jets vs Flames in Saskatoon, or Stars vs Bolts in New Orleans, or a game like this in Quebec City, etc., etc., etc.

that's what the Winter/Heritage Classic is..... besides haven't some of these been done

 

[Golden_Jet]

that's what the Winter/Heritage Classic is..... besides haven't some of these been done

No the outdoor games aren’t played in new areas.
Agree with others, a game or 2 a season is probably a good idea, like they used to do during the 84 game seasons.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

No the outdoor games aren’t played in new areas.
Agree with others, a game or 2 a season is probably a good idea, like they used to do during the 84 game seasons.

there not doing 84..... most leagues have capped now at 72-76, where it used to be 80.

 

[Golden_Jet]

there not doing 84..... most leagues have capped now at 72-76, where it used to be 80.

I see a greater chance at 84 than not, it’s already been discussed, with the NHL and the PA,
The likelihood is 2 games added to regular season, and pre season games reduced,

Report: NHL, union discuss 84-game regular season

The NHL and NHL Players' Association have engaged in preliminary discussions about increasing the regular season to 84 games and modifying the league's calendar, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.Two more contests would be tacked onto the regular-season schedule, which has been set at 82 games...

www.thescore.com

Sources: NHL considering 84-game schedule

The NHL is considering expanding its regular-season schedule from 82 to 84 games in an effort to create more regional rivalry matchups and balance in divisional games, sources confirmed to ESPN.

www.espn.com

Likely happens in new CBA in a year, and then they’ll have games in other cities again like before.

What leagues changed from 80 to 72-76.?

 

[Voight]

Negotiating ploy for better deal on new Ottawa arena?

Hes dealing with the federal government on that one. Good luck getting a better deal.

 

[Barsky]

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.

You can't actually think this would remotely fly in any way, in any market. Wow, come on...

 

[FMichael]

Plus they are still a relatively young franchise. There’s a lot of people who were cheering for the leafs or Habs before the Sens were a team and they still cheer for them, that’s why there’s always so many of of them in Ottawa.

Young franchise?

This sounds like something AZ Yotes fans said over and over...

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

Yup

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

As do many other franchises (cough cough DETROIT cough cough).....

 

[starling]

The way it went, I bet they held some kind of brain-storming exercise on how to capture more Quebec and Atlantic fans where they hold TV rights. Somebody suggested preseason games, then someone else said why not play home-and-home regular-season series in Quebec. Before you know it, dumb idiot fans are talking about splitting the season with Quebec City. Literally nothing here.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

All teams need to play in Quebec.

 

[Barsky]

Hes dealing with the federal government on that one. Good luck getting a better deal.

Not just the federal gov, but the NCC. A completely useless organization that justifies its very existence by dragging every little thing they oversee out beyond belief. The sum total of their yearly accomplishments could be done in one business day. They are bureaucrats to the third power and it's absolutely infuriating that they even exist. They are the single biggest reason to not even consider Lebreton

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Writing is now officially on the wall for relocation.

Anyone who remembers what happened after the Montreal Expos started playing regular season games in Puerto Rico has already seen this story play out.

How's the construction on that new downtown Ottawa arena coming?

 

[Barsky]

Writing is now officially on the wall for relocation.

Anyone who remembers what happened after the Montreal Expos started playing regular season games in Puerto Rico has already seen this story play out.

How's the construction on that new downtown Ottawa arena coming?

No it's not Florida man, these aren't the Rays