Ottawa Senators TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Do you think a guy wearing an animal suit shooting hot dogs at the fans has anything to do with building a hockey team? Or having little kids skate around carrying flags before the game?

no but it probably keeps a few people from leaving if we're down 3 goals.

I agree. Remember, the NHL is a business based on entertaining fans. If the Sens lose a game, people are upset. Then they have to deal with the sub-par in-game atmosphere, parking issues, etc and say "eff this, I'm not driving all the way out to Kanata to see my team lose then sit idle in a parking lot for an hour. The beer is expensive, parking is expensive, just not worth it."

I think the organization needs to create a reason to go to games aside from seeing your team win. For instance, if you go to Toronto you expect your team to lose. People go to Leaf games not only because of the huge fan base, but they make an evening out of it. They go for drinks/dinner, HHoF, etc beforehand, they watch the game which are typically always exciting because the fans are into it, and they don't rush home right away. I realize it's hard to compare Ottawa and Toronto fans but it really shouldn't be. I mean, ask yourself why Leaf fans are die hards? For a corporate market, the ACC is loud and a really fun place to be.

On the flip side, look at New Jersey. A large majority of New York workers live in New Jersey and they're surrounded by the Rangers, Pens, Flyers, and Isles markets. Over the last decade, I'd argue that they and the Wings were the two most winningest teams in the NHL yet the Devils can't fill a stadium during the regular season. Why? Because they play a boring brand of hockey which creates a dull atmosphere. Fans don't get into it which makes it not worth going.

Ottawa should invest in their concession stands between periods, get the crowd more involved, and do whatever it takes to make the games more exciting. Ticket sales isn't always about the success of your team.

wprager wrote:Do you think a guy wearing an animal suit shooting hot dogs at the fans has anything to do with building a hockey team? Or having little kids skate around carrying flags before the game?

Neither of those are comparable to suggesting that you sign players based on who they are dating/married to with the desired outcome being more tickets sold.

Kovalfie wrote:I mean, ask yourself why Leaf fans are die hards? For a corporate market, the ACC is loud and a really fun place to be.

Toronto is a huge city compared to Ottawa and has several generations of fans of an Original Six team.

We've got a city of less than $1M population sandwiched between TO and Montreal and most of our fanbase is made up of displaced Leafs and Habs' fans. Maybe in a few hundred years when Ottawa is a metropolis and there's a generation or two of Sens' fans who were never alive when the Sens' didn't exist we'll have our own die hard fan base (and Scotiabank Place wont be the outskirts of town anymore).

As for NJ I thought them moving to that new arena in Newark was the biggest problem.

Edit: had to fix this one, too. For the record, I never said Toronto was a fun place -- not disagreeing, but I never said that; just mixed-up quote tags.

Hoags wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:I mean, ask yourself why Leaf fans are die hards? For a corporate market, the ACC is loud and a really fun place to be.

Toronto is a huge city compared to Ottawa and has several generations of fans of an Original Six team.

We've got a city of less than $1M population sandwiched between TO and Montreal and most of our fanbase is made up of displaced Leafs and Habs' fans. Maybe in a few hundred years when Ottawa is a metropolis and there's a generation or two of Sens' fans who were never alive when the Sens' didn't exist we'll have our own die hard fan base (and Scotiabank Place wont be the outskirts of town anymore).

As for NJ I thought them moving to that new arena in Newark was the biggest problem.

heck i thought that was a bad idea to start with. kanata? way to far. i think given the problem more thought they could of cleared some tape in order to get land closer to town. i mean it doesn't affect me much, i come to ottawa maybe once or twice a year to see games but i tell you being able to be downtown and catch the sens when they play the habs makes it a much different atmosphere. seriously that's an underestimated point.
when i go see the sens in montreal, i take the metro, there's bars very near, it's downtown, i make an evening out of it.
when i'm in ottawa, i get theere half an hour before(i'd get there before but my GF hates waiting around) i've never eaten at burts or the prior restaurents at scotia bank, i wonder around once the arena and maybe get a beer and some nachos.

if ottawa would of gotten something downtown, when melnyk bought the team he could of leased the land around it to bars, restaurent or even opened up his own place there. also he'd get way more walk ins. WAY MORE.

i know it's a different market but i know so many people that when in the vincinity of the bell center on game nights go check if there's any last minute tickets.

so good point kovalife. i'd plus you if we'd still have 'em.

Edit: Man, you really screwed up the quotes. I think this should fix it.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Carrie+Underwood+Mike+Fisher+honeymoon+over/3418890/story.html

OTTAWA — The National Enquirer says recently wed country singer Carrie Underwood and Ottawa Senators forward Mike Fisher are at war after Underwood changed her mind about moving to Ottawa.

The hot-selling gossip tabloid says Fisher was discussing plans for the nursery in the 5,000-square-foot home he's building in West Carleton when Underwood "told him it was pointless to build space for a baby because she has no intention of living there."

The Citizen giving the Sun a run for its money as the trashiest paper in town.

Hoags wrote:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Carrie+Underwood+Mike+Fisher+honeymoon+over/3418890/story.html

OTTAWA — The National Enquirer says recently wed country singer Carrie Underwood and Ottawa Senators forward Mike Fisher are at war after Underwood changed her mind about moving to Ottawa.

The hot-selling gossip tabloid says Fisher was discussing plans for the nursery in the 5,000-square-foot home he's building in West Carleton when Underwood "told him it was pointless to build space for a baby because she has no intention of living there."

The Citizen giving the Sun a run for its money as the trashiest paper in town.

well this is a ways from the spezza trade rumours... but still when i read about the sens, i'd rather it not be trash.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:Do you think a guy wearing an animal suit shooting hot dogs at the fans has anything to do with building a hockey team? Or having little kids skate around carrying flags before the game?

Neither of those are comparable to suggesting that you sign players based on who they are dating/married to with the desired outcome being more tickets sold.

I didn't say/imply that, and neither did anyone else. The original comment was said tongue-in-cheek but if you take a situation where all other things are equal then it can -- and should -- make a difference. In a city like Toronto or New York it may not matter, because they often have more celebrities than the cameras can handle, but I have to admit, when I was there and the camera showed us the Dufferwood I certainly had something to talk about at the coffee-station the next day. And word-of-mouth *is* one of the best ways to advertise.

Unless you are the Glibermans (Glibermen?) in which case just get out of town.

Flo, Montreal and Ottawa are very different cities. The residential population of the Ottawa downtown is tiny (relative to Montreal), and there is no subway anyway -- OC Transpo runs lots of buses to SBP on game nights.

And if you want to make a night of it there are tons of restaurants around Kanata that will let you park the car and shuttle you to SBP. And if you think getting out of the parking lot is a problem, it would be much worse if the arena was in Lebreton.

wprager wrote:Flo, Montreal and Ottawa are very different cities. The residential population of the Ottawa downtown is tiny (relative to Montreal), and there is no subway anyway -- OC Transpo runs lots of buses to SBP on game nights.

And if you want to make a night of it there are tons of restaurants around Kanata that will let you park the car and shuttle you to SBP. And if you think getting out of the parking lot is a problem, it would be much worse if the arena was in Lebreton.

oh i know how ottawa is, i was born there and spent on and off 18 years of my life. but even if kanata has restaurents you have to admit that to most it has very little atmosphere. when i'm out in kanata the last thing that's on my mind is what am i going to do after the game here. true there is public transport but it's a long drive back downtown or an even longer drive if you live in the opposite side of town. ottawa may differ plenty from montreal of that you are right but let's not kid, no one makes there plan to have a night on the town in kanata.

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Flo, Montreal and Ottawa are very different cities. The residential population of the Ottawa downtown is tiny (relative to Montreal), and there is no subway anyway -- OC Transpo runs lots of buses to SBP on game nights.

And if you want to make a night of it there are tons of restaurants around Kanata that will let you park the car and shuttle you to SBP. And if you think getting out of the parking lot is a problem, it would be much worse if the arena was in Lebreton.

oh i know how ottawa is, i was born there and spent on and off 18 years of my life. but even if kanata has restaurents you have to admit that to most it has very little atmosphere. when i'm out in kanata the last thing that's on my mind is what am i going to do after the game here. true there is public transport but it's a long drive back downtown or an even longer drive if you live in the opposite side of town. ottawa may differ plenty from montreal of that you are right but let's not kid, no one makes there plan to have a night on the town in kanata.

I used to live in Beaconsfield and it would take me between 2 and 3 hours to get to an Expos game. So I'm not going to have much sympathy to people who have to drive "across Ottawa" -- all 30 km of it. Hell, it takes me longer to get from Morgan's Grant to Emerlad Meadows on a bad day.

Remember when the visiting players refused to stay at the Comfort Inn because it was a 4-start hotel and the CBA called for 5 stars? Anyhow, the only 5-star place was downtown, and they Wing Dang Doodle and moaned that they had to be driven across town to get to the rink. I wonder how long it takes to get from their hotel in NYR to MSG?

Now they stay at the Brookstreet, and they are probably complaining that it's hard to get hookers to come out that far. Well, some of them do, probably.

Hoags wrote:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Carrie+Underwood+Mike+Fisher+honeymoon+over/3418890/story.html

OTTAWA — The National Enquirer says recently wed country singer Carrie Underwood and Ottawa Senators forward Mike Fisher are at war after Underwood changed her mind about moving to Ottawa.

The hot-selling gossip tabloid says Fisher was discussing plans for the nursery in the 5,000-square-foot home he's building in West Carleton when Underwood "told him it was pointless to build space for a baby because she has no intention of living there."

The Citizen giving the Sun a run for its money as the trashiest paper in town.

LOL wtf? first off that pretty damn detailed for a fight between a husband and a wife. and I'm sure fisher wouldn't sa¥ in front of apparently enough people that 'I'm staying in canada with or without you' LOL damn this is stupid.

Maybe Peter Regin should start dating Jordin Sparks... just for insurance.

SeawaySensFan wrote:Maybe Peter Regin should start dating Jordin Sparks... just for insurance.

I expected something along the lines of "fisher should listen to carrie and stay in nashville" from you SSF. For shame

Michallica wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Maybe Peter Regin should start dating Jordin Sparks... just for insurance.

I expected something along the lines of "fisher should listen to carrie and stay in nashville" from you SSF. For shame

Reading Fisher's own quotes about Nashville, it wouldn't take much convincing.

The Citizen article starts off by saying:

Rumours that marital bliss may have ended early for Ottawa Senators forward Mike Fisher and country singer Carrie Underwood are unfounded, says his agent, Todd Reynolds.

Then it proceeds to name the source of the rumour as being The National Enquirer - we *all* know what that means. Maybe I have an advantage over some, because I lived in an age (the '70s) where there was pretty much nothing beside The National Enquirer. We all knew it and smirked smugly whenever we saw someone even looking at the headlines.

Anyhow, the point is it must be a terribly slow news day for them to make this into a story, but they are clearly on the side that the rumour is not true. So, yeah, tough choice -- who do you believe is more correct?

Pre-season tickets and 3&5 game packs go on sale 10AM today.

wprager wrote:Pre-season tickets and 3&5 game packs go on sale 10AM today.

Hockey's coming!

A lot of people talking about Petersson in the J-SEL right now. He's on a mission to make people notice his wrister I think.