A Great Game No One Saw

The Sens just wrapped up their 5 game homestand, going 4-0-1, good for 9 out of a possible 10 points. Also with last night's win, they have won 4 in a row and have taken over 1st place in the division. Add to that, they're playing some pretty entertaining hockey, while missing key players like Kovalev and Volchenkov. So why are the fans staying away?

Last night's attendance as shockingly low, considering Alexander Ovechkin was in town and we were going for our 4th win in a row. Check that, it was shockingly low period! I mean 16,210 to see the best player in the NHL, when the team is on a win streak, playing well and going for 1st in the div, it's shocking. I would have been shocked to see such a small crowd for a Carolina game, but for the Caps?

Unfortunately, it seems to be a growing problem. On their homestand, the Sens played an original 6 team in the New York Rangers, the provincial rival Toronto Maple Leafs, the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins with Crosby and Malkin, the hated division rival Buffalo Sabres and Ovechkin and the Capitals. A great run of games and a great run of star players. Ya well guess what, we didn't crack 18,000 for any of them.

Even with the wins racking up, the fans are staying away even though we're winning, which has to worry the brass of the Senators. So what is causing the migration away from SBP? There are a few reasons, but none of them are really new issues, and none of them seemed to matter in years past when we were packing the place.

The first issue is the parking lot. Of course it is a disaster. I have been to arenas all over North Amercia and never have I seen the parking situation been handled so poorly, in fact it isn't even close. It takes anywhere from 15mins to an hour to get out of there and that is ridiculous. This has been a problem since 1996 when it opened. So for all of you scoring at home, the Sens have failed to correct a massive problem for 13 years now. Bravo! What a well run organization. Adding to the insanity is that this is usually listed as the #1 reason people don't want to attend games and they haven't done a thing to fix anything parking related in 13 years. Wait, that's not true, they have raised parking prices, so they are capable of change after all. The Mayor has some ideas how to fix it, give me a week and I will solve it for you Sens organization. Contact me.

The 2nd issue is the schedule this year, which is ridiculously unbalanced and just plain dumb. We have now played 21 games this year, 15 of them have been at home. Last night's game was our 5th in less then 10 days, all at home. Even the biggest fan might admit that's a bit much. imagine the casual fan. Especially in a city like Ottawa, that relies heavily on walk up sales. They just aren't going to come that often, no matter who they are playing.

The third issue is the pricing and economy. The Senators had it good for years and got greedy. We had a very talented team and played an exciting style. We had star players like Martin Havlat, Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara, Alfie, Spezza, Heatley, Wade Redden and even Dominik Hasek. It was good to be a Sens fan. Then we had the epic rivalry with the Leafs, where people were willing to sell their first born for a ticket, not wanting to miss a legendary moment or game. Well that was a long time ago now. The Leafs are the worst team in the NHL and yet they still want to charge platinum prices? In a way, I'm glad people were fed up and said enough is enough.

Then take into consideration that people are just spending less and being more cautious with their money. While it hasn't affected Canada as much as the United States, it's still a very big issue. I can't really blame people either. I'm as big of a fan as there is, but if you have to choose between rent or food or a Sens game, there isn't much of a choice. Also contributing to the problems is the 1758 different price points and different values of games. It's just confusing and annoying. Call me old fashioned but I liked the old days when tickets were the same price to every game. I go to see Ottawa play, not the visitors.

Fourthly, I think this team doesn't have an identity and many people might find it hard to cheer for them so quickly. I mean look at our roster. Half of these guys weren't here 2 years ago. The Dany Heatley fiasco didn't help at all either and caused many people in the city to simply be fed up with spoiled millionaire athletes, and spend their money elsewhere.

Can we turn this all around? Of course we can. We are still doing pretty well in overall attendance and I'm positive things will pick up if our play stays the same. I mean 80% of the teams in the league would love to have our attendance issues at the moment. We are down around 1000 fans a game from last year and I think many fans we taking a wait and see approach. Well the team has delivered the goods so far and I think the fans will return. Once the games are a little more spread out and we get more attached to newcomers like Pascal Leclaire and Milan Michalek, the fans will feel like they have a team they can care about again.

Are we where we'd like to be? Absolutely not and anyone with the Sens saying they're pleased with the attendance is lying, but it is a situation that can be fixed and that is great news. Sens Army have some great fans and I have complete faith they will return in droves very soon. Just remember, despite all the noted problems, nothing cures attendance issues like entertaining hockey and wins, which both are coming in abundance at the moment.

-The Mayor

Thoughts?