Kevin Francis: Why haven't the Sens added to their hockey ops yet?!

Because they’re cheap

Because they’re cheap
- BernardShakey

Well both Anthony Leblanc and Dorion need to stop selling the narrative that they're going to make all aspects of the org much better......due to the green light from the 3 person board to spend!

I believe Dorion has pretty much a free hand to make the on ice choices needed to improve the team.

I doubt he will have the same free hand when it comes to the off ice structure and staffing. My guess is the interim Board, headed up by a corporate restructuring specialist, is very conscious that any new substantial investor group might want to have a strong voice on the next round of off-ice hires.

I will be disappointed if the Sens do not create the position of President of Hockey Operations to oversee all player and on ice activities.

I have two nominees for the job. The first is obvious and that would be Daniel Alfredsson. He has deep connections with the Senators and the Ottawa community.

My second choice is Zdeno Chara. One of the smartest guys to ever put on an NHL uniform, a strong business orientation and still fondly remembered by many Sens fans.

Well both Anthony Leblanc and Dorion need to stop selling the narrative that they're going to make all aspects of the org much better......due to the green light from the 3 person board to spend!
- Kevin Francis

At the LeBreton press conference LeBlanc was asked a structuring/financial question. His evasive answer was vey clear about the absence of clarity. He said those type decisions would have to made by future partners/investors.

Seattle already scooped up Doug Wilson Jr. They recognized the chance to beef up their hockey ops department and acted quickly. Dorion is very controlling and it is doubtful he is confident enough to hire somebody who could be his successor. No surprise he snoozed on Wilson Jr.

Spatso.

I'm gonna say absolutely not to both your choices. I love them both. They're fantastic humans. Who....know...how much about running a hockey org?
Lets be polite and say they don't.

Smaller staff means less people questioning your decisions and choices. That's what PD is all about. While Dorion wasn't responsible for hiring his baby sitter the board bean counters are fully cognizant of how much Maguire is being paid to be somewhere else.


Lets get some bums in seats. Lets get some wins. Lets get this coach fired, so a real one can take over.

I believe that the lack of additions to the hockey operations is related to the challenged finances of the current owners and the intention to sell the franchise sometime in the next year or two.

I believe that the lack of additions to the hockey operations is related to the challenged finances of the current owners and the intention to sell the franchise sometime in the next year or two.
- SensFan25

Gord Miller said U.S attendance revenue was scary for the NHL. Leafs make $1.8 in gate revenue per game. Some U.S markets don't crack $300K.

When Sens iced a contending team they typically ranked top 5 in attendance. This market is really deep and exceptionally passionate about their hockey.

The attendance struggles of the past few years are directly related to the passion. I think fans (like me) have stayed away in frustration/protest. I believe (hope) the fans will be pouring back for a magic season of passion and renewal. Sens don't need to make the playoffs. They need to be close and they need to be fun.

Gord Miller said U.S attendance revenue was scary for the NHL. Leafs make $1.8 in gate revenue per game. Some U.S markets don't crack $300K.

When Sens iced a contending team they typically ranked top 5 in attendance. This market is really deep and exceptionally passionate about their hockey.

The attendance struggles of the past few years are directly related to the passion. I think fans (like me) have stayed away in frustration/protest. I believe (hope) the fans will be pouring back for a magic season of passion and renewal. Sens don't need to make the playoffs. They need to be close and they need to be fun.
- spatso

it's amazing what a little bit of hope can do to bring a market back to life.

That $300k number is suspicious to me. Even in Florida, who has the lowest ticket prices in the NHL, the average price per seat was $43 in 2021.

Unless they (and arizona) are giving away 3000+ seats per night...

EDIT: Which I guess is technically possible. That's what the Canes were doing from like 2011-2014, which is why their attendance numbers fell off a cliff in 14-15. When Waddell took over as president they immediately stopped juicing attendance figures because they were just cheating themselves, really.

Now they give away a few hundred per night and are up to 17K per game at an average of $57 per ticket. Nowhere near Leafs territory, obviously, but $750k per game in gate revenue is respectable at least.

it's amazing what a little bit of hope can do to bring a market back to life.

That $300k number is suspicious to me. Even in Florida, who has the lowest ticket prices in the NHL, the average price per seat was $43 in 2021.

Unless they (and arizona) are giving away 3000+ seats per night...

EDIT: Which I guess is technically possible. That's what the Canes were doing from like 2011-2014, which is why their attendance numbers fell off a cliff in 14-15. When Waddell took over as president they immediately stopped juicing attendance figures because they were just cheating themselves, really.

Now they give away a few hundred per night and are up to 17K per game at an average of $57 per ticket. Nowhere near Leafs territory, obviously, but $750k per game in gate revenue is respectable at least.
- BINGO!

I have been to Canes games going back to the very beginning (visiting friends living in Wake Forest). Even in the early years the game experience was really good. Great home team fan support and over the years it has only become so much better.) During the same time frame I have attended lots of games in Florida and it is very different. I have been to Flyer, Ranger, Leafs and Canadiens games as well as several others and it often seemed like the Panthers were the visiting team.
The northeast teams are probably a critical part of the Panther ticket revenues.

Part of Ottawa's issue IMO is they charge patrons like we are a major Canadian market with a storied history as opposed to an expansion team that joined just 30 years ago. Covering seats in the arena and closing concessions instead of lowering prices when the team is riding the salary floor and iteratively losing all helps nurture fan antipathy. With a new ownership arrangement, one would hope they'd reflect on the past ten years of this franchise and invest just a bit of capital into the front office, if only to experiment and see what could come of it. Dorion strikes me as somebody who has a bit of an ownership/control pathology vaguely reminiscent of our past owner (RIP), albeit one not constantly hamstrung with a damaging obsession over dollars and cents. The reality of business is you need to spend money to make money, but there is also something to be said about placing trust in others to get things done and see outside the box. Beyond hockey ops in the front office, I'd love to see more being done to engage fans meaningfully, especially with the momentum of the summer's big moves pumping the sails.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.c...ng-win-win-191626117.html


This article is pretty dated but I believe he still follows this model. Granted the Atlanta Falcons have a few more fans and their owner has a bit more money. But he actually MADE more lowering concession prices at Falcons games.
TV revenue is great. Corporate support slowly returning is great. Sens fans in seats is great. But they need to do something. Let all the Tim's back in . Get some more local business in to promote/sell their foods --- and don't murder them on a simple food licence lease for being there. IN FACT let them in for free. If the Baton Rouge or wants to have a "rib kiosk" amen!...Let them(yes I know BR is not local). Take a 1% kick back and be happy. Don't be so concerned that Joe or Janet hockey fan buying 10$ worth of ribs is going to negatively affect your cold hotdog-warm beer bottom line. Be happy they leave the building talking about the great experience--oh they got Baton Rouge now, and the Timmy's are back....and there's this new food thing or that.

And for the love of pete, drop the parking price in half. For a season. Good press is good press.

Rant over.

Ottawa will have a couple problems that will never go away and always put them a bit behind:

1. Expansion team smack in the middle of the two most storied franchises in the NHL. While many families have parents that are habs or leaf fans and kids that have grown up Sens fans, many will never change

2. Corporate sector is half government. Many season ticket holders and people that get boxes are companies looking to wine and dine and in Ottawa only half those companies are private. This means less market for those buying and less people that those that do buy can actually bring to a game.

It doesn't mean it's impossible, it just means that there will always be some factors that hold them back a little.

I believe that the lack of additions to the hockey operations is related to the challenged finances of the current owners and the intention to sell the franchise sometime in the next year or two.
- SensFan25

But then what if more mistakes are made on the pro side that affects the Sens this season and next? As in, the mistakes are the difference between missing and making the playoffs? So instead of getting the playoff gate and everything that goes with it, additional season ticket sales....sponsorship, etc....by not spending on the pro side....you end up losing more!

Ottawa will have a couple problems that will never go away and always put them a bit behind:

1. Expansion team smack in the middle of the two most storied franchises in the NHL. While many families have parents that are habs or leaf fans and kids that have grown up Sens fans, many will never change

2. Corporate sector is half government. Many season ticket holders and people that get boxes are companies looking to wine and dine and in Ottawa only half those companies are private. This means less market for those buying and less people that those that do buy can actually bring to a game.

It doesn't mean it's impossible, it just means that there will always be some factors that hold them back a little.
- CooCooKaChoo

Well said! When Roy Mlakar was here we were always in the top 5 for suite sold and attendance but that's what winning does!

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/cheap-beer-good-press-falcons-fan-friendly-pricing-win-win-191626117.html


This article is pretty dated but I believe he still follows this model. Granted the Atlanta Falcons have a few more fans and their owner has a bit more money. But he actually MADE more lowering concession prices at Falcons games.
TV revenue is great. Corporate support slowly returning is great. Sens fans in seats is great. But they need to do something. Let all the Tim's back in . Get some more local business in to promote/sell their foods --- and don't murder them on a simple food licence lease for being there. IN FACT let them in for free. If the Baton Rouge or wants to have a "rib kiosk" amen!...Let them(yes I know BR is not local). Take a 1% kick back and be happy. Don't be so concerned that Joe or Janet hockey fan buying 10$ worth of ribs is going to negatively affect your cold hotdog-warm beer bottom line. Be happy they leave the building talking about the great experience--oh they got Baton Rouge now, and the Timmy's are back....and there's this new food thing or that.

And for the love of pete, drop the parking price in half. For a season. Good press is good press.

Rant over.
- Octavarium

Good piece and solid comments from you regarding what the team can do! I see the amount of promos the Jays do throughout the season on TV, man the giveaways or the cheap food nights or the cheap ticket nights. Yes, they have more inventory to move each season but they really do a good job of getting people in the stands! Ian Mendes wrote a piece to end the season talking about what the org could do to engaged the fanbase more....Leblanc is on Twitter.....you should message him with this!

Gord Miller said U.S attendance revenue was scary for the NHL. Leafs make $1.8 in gate revenue per game. Some U.S markets don't crack $300K.

When Sens iced a contending team they typically ranked top 5 in attendance. This market is really deep and exceptionally passionate about their hockey.

The attendance struggles of the past few years are directly related to the passion. I think fans (like me) have stayed away in frustration/protest. I believe (hope) the fans will be pouring back for a magic season of passion and renewal. Sens don't need to make the playoffs. They need to be close and they need to be fun.
- spatso

I saw that on overdrive tsn1050 yesterday too.....he is usually pretty accurate with what he says.

At the LeBreton press conference LeBlanc was asked a structuring/financial question. His evasive answer was vey clear about the absence of clarity. He said those type decisions would have to made by future partners/investors.
- spatso

They have a year to sell the team or the arena deal falls through again because the current ownership doesn't have the means/funds to get this done, that much is very clear from those inside the org.

Seattle already scooped up Doug Wilson Jr. They recognized the chance to beef up their hockey ops department and acted quickly. Dorion is very controlling and it is doubtful he is confident enough to hire somebody who could be his successor. No surprise he snoozed on Wilson Jr.
- punchanello77

My bad, I was off the grid for over a month lol! But you are correct, PD doesn't want anyone questioning him but that has been his downfall! Good on Seattle for grabbing Doug Jr.

Part of Ottawa's issue IMO is they charge patrons like we are a major Canadian market with a storied history as opposed to an expansion team that joined just 30 years ago. Covering seats in the arena and closing concessions instead of lowering prices when the team is riding the salary floor and iteratively losing all helps nurture fan antipathy. With a new ownership arrangement, one would hope they'd reflect on the past ten years of this franchise and invest just a bit of capital into the front office, if only to experiment and see what could come of it. Dorion strikes me as somebody who has a bit of an ownership/control pathology vaguely reminiscent of our past owner (RIP), albeit one not constantly hamstrung with a damaging obsession over dollars and cents. The reality of business is you need to spend money to make money, but there is also something to be said about placing trust in others to get things done and see outside the box. Beyond hockey ops in the front office, I'd love to see more being done to engage fans meaningfully, especially with the momentum of the summer's big moves pumping the sails.
- Bartacus

The marketing side of things has failed and continues to fail with the Sens. Do you see a single Sens billboard or commercial on TV or on hear one on the radio?! Like Ian Mendes said, when you arrive at the airport there should be a huge sign welcoming people to Ottawa with Brady and Thomas on it! You bring up many great points. The Redblacks engage with their fanbase WAY MORE than the Sens....the Sens could take a cue from their counterparts across the city!

marketing costs money but it can makes a whole lot more than what your spending, OTT has others means of revenue than ticket sales, merchandise is bigger revenue stream than tickets, when ppl are engaged with the team, merchandise sales goes up, leafs, habs and pretty much every team have events, giveaways, all sorts of gimmicks to boost merchandise sales, OTT...not so much. When OTT had the pizza line...remember why that was called the pizza line.

also OTT being a government town, it is recession proof as government workers will till get paid in a recession and depression. OTT needs more than a small add on OC Transpo buses, they should have a team going to random neiborhoods before home games with a bus that is decked out with activities for kids and have some giveaways of tickets, hats and T-shirts ECT, OTT is a small market town and needs more unconventional ways to get ppl in the doors and buying merch.

I didn't get to respond to the last blog about the coaching. Listening to DJ today, I have already heard enough of him on the radio this morning and he was quiet for months. Not one mention of Kastelic, instead he rants and raves about Parker Kelly more than any player during his appearance on the radio today. This is the problem with him, he is a knuckle head and just loves his grinders. I wish the 2 from the morning show had of given him a follow up question when he said the best players will play this year. Why didn't he do that last year? Kastelic had more of an impact in far fewer games than Gambrell last season.

I was glad to hear JR ask him about the slow starts the last 2 years. In typical DJ style, he literally goes back to the Covid excuse for November. Seriously enough of the excuses DJ. October and early November you were a miserable 3-9-1 with only 3 players out with covid. Other teams had more injuries than that during the season and dealt with it.

marketing costs money but it can makes a whole lot more than what your spending, OTT has others means of revenue than ticket sales, merchandise is bigger revenue stream than tickets, when ppl are engaged with the team, merchandise sales goes up, leafs, habs and pretty much every team have events, giveaways, all sorts of gimmicks to boost merchandise sales, OTT...not so much. When OTT had the pizza line...remember why that was called the pizza line.

also OTT being a government town, it is recession proof as government workers will till get paid in a recession and depression. OTT needs more than a small add on OC Transpo buses, they should have a team going to random neiborhoods before home games with a bus that is decked out with activities for kids and have some giveaways of tickets, hats and T-shirts ECT, OTT is a small market town and needs more unconventional ways to get ppl in the doors and buying merch.
- Mithos

Well thought out post. The problem is this team won't put dollars into marketing or hiring a proper front office staff to understand how to promote the team. This has been known for years, it's time they step up and start figuring it out, listening to fans.

If Sens take 12 points in the first 10 games, Sens fans will be exuberant.

There is no marketing device more important than putting an entertaining and winning product on the ice.

I believe the Sens are just one top 4 Dman away from a magical season.

I don't think Dorion can risk going into training camp without adding a quality top four skater.

It would be a huge waste of all the great hype if a move is not made to elevate the quality of the defensive corps