News Article: Quebec City, Andlauer and the Sparticat Fiasco

[DackellDuck]

Lol “expand our fanbase” or “take what’s ours in Quebec City”?

Who do people think we are? We’re a small market local team and that’s what we’ll always be. The investments need to be made in the capital region.

Regardless of what TV rights Bell gave us, people in Quebec City are not becoming Sens fans. Just like people in Halifax aren’t.

If Andlauer wants to make a few extra hundred grand selling out preseason games in a non-NHL market then go for it, but the idea of Quebec City becoming “Sens Country” is pure delusion. Most of the people in the building for those games won’t be cheering for Ottawa.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

There is not enough sens nationalism in this board

 

[DackellDuck]

Turning all of Quebec and the Maritimes into solid Sens land is a good thing to me. I'm just not frightened by hypotheticals of how we do it.

It’ll never happen. When we played in Halifax everyone came out to cheer for the Penguins. Nobody in Quebec City wants to cheer for the Senators. Habs jerseys will outnumber Sens jerseys 4-0.

“Sens land” outside of Ottawa will never exist, and playing a couple of preseason games isn’t changing that. It’s a delusional thought.

 

[GCK]

Oh it’s the fans fault, talk about a poster keeping alone the narrative from a dead man. That’s directly from Melnyck’s playbook, you’re the one that keeps bringing Melnyck up.

This is a franchise with history, it’s real and the fans have been so patient for so long and been though so much shit to get to a new owner who’s thinking of throwing games to another city 1 year after he bought the franchise isn’t the fans fault - it’s the idiots who run the teams fault.

We only ask for stable ownership, this is not it. Melnyck tried this 3 years ago and it blew up in his face, so to have the new owner come out and try it again, just stupid

And you of all people shouldn’t be telling fans to be quiet, you love talking Sens. Why suddenly is silence the best answer when your job is to talk Sens, makes no sense.

Melnyk

If the fans don’t start supporting the team I may relocate.

I want to play 5 games in Quebec as a threat to the fans in Ottawa.

I live in the Bahamas and only talk to Toronto media.

Andlauer

I bought the team but I’m the caretaker, the team belongs to the fans.

I want to grow the fanbase to include untapped regions of Quebec. 2 games in Quebec would be a step to growing the brand.

Bought a house in Ottawa and is regularly available to Ottawa media.


Not equivalent.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

It’ll never happen. When we played in Halifax everyone came out to cheer for the Penguins. Nobody in Quebec City wants to cheer for the Senators. Habs jerseys will outnumber Sens jerseys 4-0.

“Sens land” outside of Ottawa will never exist, and playing a couple of preseason games isn’t changing that. It’s a delusional thought.

This is it.

Their story doesn't pass the sniff test at all. They claim their motivation is to increase the TV audience, but anybody they don't have a willing audience ready to be captured in Quebec. Short of rebranding as the Ottawa-Quebec Hockey Club and playing half their games in Quebec, there is no upside to marketing 400km away to people who already have their fan allegiances.

Look at the progression of Senators fandom in Ottawa, where the team actually plays. It has taken multiple generations for the fanbase to build, and it is still split. They aren't going to walk into Quebec and convince five figures worth of people to follow Sens on TV.

Like I've said in my multiple posts, I do not think they will relocate - but I also think this is a serious threat to the team staying in Ottawa that fans should take seriously. I don't know what kind of look that takes. My suggestion would be a visible and public boycott of specific team partners until the team ceases a business relationship with the group that is the greatest threat to take this team out of Ottawa.

Swooning over the same people who screwed you around over them saying "sorry we thought we could get away with screwing you around!" is hilarious. I'm sure they are very relieved over how naive the fans are that all it took was Cyril Leeder saying "Isn't Anton Forsberg playing great!" for this to be swept under the rug.

 

[Micklebot]

There is not enough sens nationalism in this board

Sens nation is expanding, what's theirs is ours now!

 

[Micklebot]

It’ll never happen. When we played in Halifax everyone came out to cheer for the Penguins. Nobody in Quebec City wants to cheer for the Senators. Habs jerseys will outnumber Sens jerseys 4-0.

“Sens land” outside of Ottawa will never exist, and playing a couple of preseason games isn’t changing that. It’s a delusional thought.

Loser talk. When we were winning presidents trophies, we had Sens fans showing up in other peoples barns all the time and we did sweet f all to help grow from that. Halifax is where Crosby is from, nobody cheered for the Pens there before him, and they'll likely die off once he retires. Hockey fans just need a reason to cheer for a team, give them a reason.

 

[Micklebot]

Like I've said in my multiple posts, I do not think they will relocate - but I also think this is a serious threat to the team staying in Ottawa that fans should take seriously. I don't know what kind of look that takes. My suggestion would be a visible and public boycott of specific team partners until the team ceases a business relationship with the group that is the greatest threat to take this team out of Ottawa.

This is the scar tissue talking, there's no threat here, acting like there is just shows weakness. Boycotting team partners because of your active imagination is cutting your nose off to spite your face.

 

[Golden_Jet]

This is it.

Their story doesn't pass the sniff test at all. They claim their motivation is to increase the TV audience, but anybody they don't have a willing audience ready to be captured in Quebec. Short of rebranding as the Ottawa-Quebec Hockey Club and playing half their games in Quebec, there is no upside to marketing 400km away to people who already have their fan allegiances.

Look at the progression of Senators fandom in Ottawa, where the team actually plays. It has taken multiple generations for the fanbase to build, and it is still split. They aren't going to walk into Quebec and convince five figures worth of people to follow Sens on TV.

Like I've said in my multiple posts, I do not think they will relocate - but I also think this is a serious threat to the team staying in Ottawa that fans should take seriously. I don't know what kind of look that takes. My suggestion would be a visible and public boycott of specific team partners until the team ceases a business relationship with the group that is the greatest threat to take this team out of Ottawa.

Swooning over the same people who screwed you around over them saying "sorry we thought we could get away with screwing you around!" is hilarious. I'm sure they are very relieved over how naive the fans are that all it took was Cyril Leeder saying "Isn't Anton Forsberg playing great!" for this to be swept under the rug.

Why are you so insecure about this,
Boycotts , nice satire.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Leeder claimed their TV viewership in the Quebec region is pretty good, and they really need to grow the base so as to hopefully one day break the label of basically being the ugly red-headed step child franchise of Canada, so I think it makes some sense to go after it a bit in this way. Not a bone in my body believes that Bettman will ever allow a franchise in Quebec City again, so I don't see it as a threat and I really think there's an angle to get young people on board that don't want to cheer for the big 2. Be the underdog love story of the region with much cooler jerseys than both of the demon franchises.

 

[DackellDuck]

Loser talk. When we were winning presidents trophies, we had Sens fans showing up in other peoples barns all the time and we did sweet f all to help grow from that. Halifax is where Crosby is from, nobody cheered for the Pens there before him, and they'll likely die off once he retires. Hockey fans just need a reason to cheer for a team, give them a reason.

Lunacy. We never had a thriving fanbase outside of our local market, even during periods where we were one of the best and most exciting teams to watch. You’ve made up fiction. We were in the Stanley Cup Finals and nobody else in Canada cared. We got way less attention than the Oilers or Flames runs.

This is a small market, local team. Always has been, always will be. We’re not the Leafs or Knicks.

I get playing preseason games in other markets. Go somewhere that doesn’t have a team, sell the game out, and make a few extra bucks. No big deal.

But expanding “Sens land” in the preseason? Like I said, a delusional thought.

Two preseason games will not have a meaningful impact on growing the Sens fanbase in Quebec City. There’s no shared history. There’s no connection. There’s nothing there. The people of Quebec City would have the same reaction if the Nashville Predators played preseason games there. “Oh that’s nice. Whatever.”

If I was counselling Andlauer, I’d tell him to double down on the “community team” angle. Have open practices in Gatineau. Go into the Ottawa Valley. Host fan fest and have some open scrimmages at Lansdowne. Make the team much more visible within the region where you play. Foster an “us against the world” narrative.

But spreading Sens fandom across the country? He can try but it’ll never work.

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

 

[coladin]

LOL .

Big deal!

Relax!

Mendes is communications boss… it went across everyone’s desk.

Total overreaction

Maybe too far, but the reaction of some fans is ridiculously insane.

I love the overreaction.

It means we have real fans, not transplanted fans . If this happened 25 years ago there would have been a meek shrugging of the shoulders. Now , we have a whole generation that is rabid...and I am here for it!

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

 

[coladin]

So, I think the Sparty jersey was a misstep for sure. I don't care personally, nordiques are long gone, but obviously some people do.

The home game thing though, here's my take on that.

Quebec City is technically our territory, so it makes sense that we market there,
I want Sens fans everywhere. I want them invading the Mtl arena when we are there. So if playing a mid February home game in Quebec city against the Utah Hockey club, or Clb or whoever can help get people get excited in that region for the Sens, I think it's great.

There are 41 home games in the reg season, and until we're selling them all out, we aren't actually taking much away from the city of Ottawa (sorry full season ticket holders that actually attend every game, I acknowledge that you loose out on something)

The reality is Quebec to the Maritimes is our territory (minus Montreal), it's time we start treating it as our territory, this is a step towards that, and if a couple home games out there can help cement the brand in the region, I fail to see how that's a negative. We need to take what is ours.

So what you're saying is everyone out east watched TSN5? And the numbers for viewership are still very low considering...

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

Are people like this being dense on purpose and don't want to see the context for some reason?

Its not just the preseason games.

-The owner quoted " In the future, I hope we can play a few regular season games in Quebec City," Andlauer said."
-The team mascot showed up on 2 occasions rocking the nordiques/sens hybrid jersey
-This is happening as the same time that the report of a downtown arena is still not done and that the owner is frustrated with the NCC process.
-Going back to the previous owner, the Quebec relocation threats were always there.

So no, its not because 'its just preseason games'. You gotta be going out of your way not to see the context why it upset people or just plain stupid.

 

[DackellDuck]

I think Cyril Leeder should come out with a guideline of just how passionate and irrational Sens fans should be. Perhaps Ian Mendes can help him draft it up.

"We want Senators fans to be so passionate and irrational that they continue spending hundreds of dollars on tickets even if the on-ice product is often bland and middling. But we don't want Senators fans to be so passionate and irrational that they criticize the owner when he makes public flirtations towards a city and business community that has been very up front about their desire to relocate an NHL team (and specifically the Ottawa Senators) to their own backyard."

 

[GCK]

Are people like this being dense on purpose and don't want to see the context for some reason?

Its not just the preseason games.

-The owner quoted " In the future, I hope we can play a few regular season games in Quebec City," Andlauer said."
-The team mascot showed up on 2 occasions rocking the nordiques/sens hybrid jersey
-This is happening as the same time that the report of a downtown arena is still not done and that the owner is frustrated with the NCC process.
-Going back to the previous owner, the Quebec relocation threats were always there.

So no, its not because 'its just preseason games'. You gotta be going out of your way not to see the context why it upset people or just plain stupid.

I can definitely see how insecure fans would get triggered.

 

[PlayersLtd]

Lol “expand our fanbase” or “take what’s ours in Quebec City”?

Who do people think we are? We’re a small market local team and that’s what we’ll always be. The investments need to be made in the capital region.

Regardless of what TV rights Bell gave us, people in Quebec City are not becoming Sens fans. Just like people in Halifax aren’t.

If Andlauer wants to make a few extra hundred grand selling out preseason games in a non-NHL market then go for it, but the idea of Quebec City becoming “Sens Country” is pure delusion. Most of the people in the building for those games won’t be cheering for Ottawa.

This is it.

Their story doesn't pass the sniff test at all. They claim their motivation is to increase the TV audience, but anybody they don't have a willing audience ready to be captured in Quebec. Short of rebranding as the Ottawa-Quebec Hockey Club and playing half their games in Quebec, there is no upside to marketing 400km away to people who already have their fan allegiances.

Look at the progression of Senators fandom in Ottawa, where the team actually plays. It has taken multiple generations for the fanbase to build, and it is still split. They aren't going to walk into Quebec and convince five figures worth of people to follow Sens on TV.

Like I've said in my multiple posts, I do not think they will relocate - but I also think this is a serious threat to the team staying in Ottawa that fans should take seriously. I don't know what kind of look that takes. My suggestion would be a visible and public boycott of specific team partners until the team ceases a business relationship with the group that is the greatest threat to take this team out of Ottawa.

Swooning over the same people who screwed you around over them saying "sorry we thought we could get away with screwing you around!" is hilarious. I'm sure they are very relieved over how naive the fans are that all it took was Cyril Leeder saying "Isn't Anton Forsberg playing great!" for this to be swept under the rug.

Respectfully thats a narrow, small minded vision. Any franchise owner knows that expanding their brand is king, you do this by tapping into new markets. Right now an entire generation of Nordiques and Canadians faithful are turning over and a new generation of 'neutrals' are growing up. They are in our broadcast region so it makes perfect sense to go after that, its a missed opportunity not to.

We b1tch and moan about leafs and habs fans taking over the CTC and this is a building block in the long process of rectifying that. You're talking about a billion dollar business, if you aren't thinking big you are getting overshadowed and left behind. Let's ditch the inferiority complex and let Andlauer expand the sphere of influence. After 30 years the sens deserve a new outlook

Also. Everyone assume for a moment the arena gets built. I know we don't feel that way with recent news but an arena WILL get built. Dwell on that. Your attitude toward this move in QC completely shifts right? All of a sudden it feels pretty good that we are looking to grow outward.

All the people insecure about this will do a 180 when good news comes out about the arena.

 

[DackellDuck]

Respectfully thats a narrow, small minded vision. Any franchise owner knows that expanding their brand is king, you do this by tapping into new markets. Right now an entire generation of Nordiques and Canadians faithful are turning over and a new generation of 'neutrals' are growing up. They are in our broadcast region so it makes perfect sense to go after that, its a missed opportunity not to.

We b1tch and moan about leafs and habs fans taking over the CTC and this is a building block in the long process of rectifying that. You're talking about a billion dollar business, if you aren't thinking big you are getting overshadowed and left behind. Let's ditch the inferiority complex and let Andlauer expand the sphere of influence. After 30 years the sens deserve a new outlook

Also. Everyone assume for a moment the arena gets built. I know we don't feel that way with recent news but an arena WILL get built. Dwell on that. Your attitude toward this move in QC completely shifts right? All of a sudden it feels pretty good that we are looking to grow outward.

All the people insecure about this will do a 180 when good news comes out about the arena.

It's a realistic view. Not every franchise is the Dallas Cowboys or Real Madrid. "Expanding your brand" is not king for every organization. For some, you just need to focus on winning in your local market.

Are the Charlotte Hornets out there trying to "expand their brand"? That's what we are.

The Senators are not a billion dollar business. We do less than $200M in revenue per year. It is a medium sized, local business.

There are lots of opportunities to grow the brand within this market, especially considering what's taken place over the last 8 years. They don't need to waste their time trying to grow their reach 400km away in a city where they have no history or connection.

"Sphere of influence". Crazy talk. Some people have an inferiority complex, sure. Others are completely out to lunch. If Andlauer wants to make a few extra grand on a couple of preseason games, go for it. But the only way Quebec City will be "Sens Country" is if the team is renamed the Quebec Nordiques and plays 41 home games at the Videotron Centre.

Also Andlauer made it pretty clear that his intention is to play regular season games in Quebec City, he just needs the NHL to sign off on it. So chalking this up as just "preseason games" is inaccurate, considering what the owner explicitly said during the press conference. How many regular season games? Time will tell.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It's a realistic view.

seems like an insecure view to me.

 

[DackellDuck]

seems like an insecure view to me.

Can you provide an example of another "best-in-class" franchise (in any sport) who had their owner hold a press conference in a city 400km away and talk about how excited he is about playing regular season games there in the future?

Only one I can think of is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays... and they're certainly not best-in-class.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Can you provide an example of another "best-in-class" franchise (in any sport) who had their owner hold a press conference in a city 400km away and talk about how excited he is about playing regular season games there in the future?

Only one I can think of is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays... and they're certainly not best-in-class.

You haven’t convinced me, about being insecure.

 

[DackellDuck]

Your not convincing me, about being insecure.

What does being an "insecure fan" even mean?

You can bury your head in the sand, but there's a realistic chance that one day, this franchise moves. Some people want to hold up Andlauer as some sort of saviour who'll always only be committed to Ottawa, but he's not that. That's just realism.

He's a businessperson who bought an NHL franchise (probably the only one he could afford), and this move signals that he's already looking at options for down the road if things don't go his way on the arena front.

So yeah the people who spend thousands of dollars a year supporting this team in Ottawa will be pissed off that the owner wants to play fewer games here, and is telling them to be excited about it.

For the record, I think going to play games in Sweden is stupid too.

 

[Stylizer1]

Quebec City is in our region, so is Atlantic Canada. They get to see the same games we do. Why not take advantage of that.

The main thing is we need to win a championship to keep fans for all of those markets. That's what makes life long fans, not losing for 15+ years, trading away your generational superstar, or a mascot wearing some jersey.