Posted by Roy Mlakar on October 24, 2007

While the media has a responsibility to cover the Senators, coach John Paddock was right when he corrected them from continuing to call their recent trip to the Muskokas a "team bonding" or "team building" excursion.

The team returns 18 players from last year's fabulous run for the Stanley Cup. Would you not think they are familiar with each other by now?  AND hardly do veteran additions (all from Ottawa) Luke Richardson, Randy Robitaille and Shean Donovan need to be introduced to their "new" mates, as they have skated at the Bell Sensplex with the other Sens during the summer months for years.

Nick Foligno, who scored his first goal as a pro against the Canadiens, has been to three Senators development camps and he, too, needs little introduction to the team. "We got this odd break in the schedule and felt different surroundings and a change from on-ice practices would be good for the group," Paddock added. It was good to get away and break the monotony of the "same old, same old" during a long season.

So the boys fished a day, golfed, maybe even played a little cards before an on-ice session on Tuesday. The weather was great, said Sens goaltender Martin Gerber; it was fun he concluded.

Now it's back to the grind at SBP on Wednesday and off to New Jersey to open the new 17,625-seat Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday. With 14 games in 29 days in November, "a grind" describes the heavy load ahead.

Posted by Roy Mlakar on October 22, 2007

We've been reading your comments and I thought I would try to answer some of the questions and talk a bit about the televising of our games. As you can imagine, there are a number of factors that go into the planning of the schedule each season.

The number of games available to fans in our broadcast territory has grown every season and is greater this year than any previous year. The only games that are not broadcast are some on Wednesday and Saturday nights, which have not been picked up by TSN or CBC but are exclusive to them as the NHL’s national broadcasters.  The only game we are permitted to broadcast but is not being aired this season is the March 6 game in Los Angeles, which is a 10:30 p.m. start on a weeknight.

We have looked at having a Sens channel and there may be a time in the future when we consider this again. But the costs are extreme and we need to have consistent success with Sens TV (pay-per-view) before considering such a major step. In addition, a Sens channel will not change the fact that Wednesdays and Saturdays are exclusive nights for the NHL's national broadcasters (CBC and TSN).

We are also restricted in our broadcast territory, which stretches from a line running from Belleville and Pembroke in Ontario and covers everything east of that, including Quebec and the Maritimes. At this time, we are not permitted to broadcast games in Ontario in any area west of the Belleville/Pembroke line.

Posted by Roy Mlakar on October 18, 2007

Upon clearing waivers and joining the Ottawa Senators, forward Randy Robitaille says "it's good to return home. It's always a hassle to find a house, schools, doctors etc. when going to a new team." For Randy, Ottawa will be his ninth team in his long career with the NHL.

The good news is, he lives in Kanata and knows his way around the city in which he grew up. His memories of the field where Scotiabank Place is now built are fond ones. "It's going to be especially fun joining a team that has as much success as the Senators," Robitaille says.

Randy becomes the third current Senators player who grew up in the Ottawa area, joining Luke Richardson and Shean Donovan. To think that Randy and his family can now actually live in their own home is a bonus! (for the record, former assistant coach Perry Pearn, now with  the Rangers,  was one of many of Robitaille's former tenants).

Good luck, Randy, and welcome home!

Watch for my next blog post, when I will answer many of your questions and comments regarding the Sens television broadcast schedule.

Posted by Roy Mlakar on October 5, 2007

Posted by Cyril Leeder on October 2, 2007

Well, the start of the NHL season is finally upon us. As busy as this time of year is for all of our office staff, we do look forward, with great anticipation each year, to the start of the NHL season. This year marks our 15th season in the NHL. We are proud of the fact that we have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, so there has been much to cheer about for Sens fans.

A couple of questions we have been getting asked:

1. What will be new for Sens fans this year when they come to Scotiabank Place?
We have invested substantially over the summer to enhance the fan experience at Scotiabank Place. The highlight of our work is two fully renovated restaurants. 

The Local Heroes Hockey Country Lodge (formerly the Silver Seven Brew House)
-  “The Lodge” is a fantastic gathering place for fans, pre, post and during the games. 

The Ledge Carvery and Bar replaces the Penalty Box and offers fans an opportunity to watch the game from the confines of a contemporary, upbeat restaurant environment. 
-  The Ledge offers mile-high carved sandwiches and all-you-can-eat specialty salads.  We have also reduced the price this year for fans by 20%. The Ledge really is one of our best kept secrets in the building.

In total, we have six restaurants in the building to serve you now on game night. For the first time ever, ALL SIX restaurants are accepting reservations for games. To make a dinner reservation, fans can call 613-599-2582.  More information about our restaurants can be obtained online at http://www.scotiabankplace.com.

We have made every effort to improve the dining options available for Sens Army fans at Scotiabank Place and we encourage you to try out one of our restaurants. 

We have also performed additional work throughout the building that we believe will be well received by the Sens Army faithful:
-  Lone Star Texas Grill has been added to the main food courts on the main concourse.
-  Chicken Chicken has added a second location at the main food courts.
-  111 Deli and Pub has been added at Section 111.
-  400 feet of LED animated signage has been added to the 200 level fascia.  This will allow us to more regularly post out of town scores, which many fans have been asking for
- Enhanced video equipment will allow us to show more replays during the game and to bring fans highlights, in real time, from games around the league

2. What are the things that have changed with the Senators over the years?
Since I have been here since the awarding of the franchise, this question gets posed to me often and came up again in the online response to my first blog posting.  The changes, as you would imagine, have been quite substantial. Some personal highlights:
- When we submitted our bid to the NHL for the franchise in 1989, Calgary had just won a Stanley Cup and they had a player payroll of $5 million Cdn.  Today, most payrolls are in the $50 milllion US range.
- Technology has advanced. When we were awarded the team, I did not have a cellphone.  Laptop computers were so expensive that we did not have any in our office. The Internet had not been invented yet. 
- Canadian dollar. When we bought the team, the Canadian dollar was worth $0.87 US.  It had fallen as low as $0.62 and languished at $0.67 range for a number of ‘difficult’ years. It is now at $1.01. What a huge swing.
- Player fitness levels. Players are bigger, faster, better and in much better physical condition than they were 15 years ago.  The amount of dollars on the line, the competitiveness of the teams and players and the will to win are all factors that have contributed to this.
- Scale.  The size of our organization has grown fantastically. When we first were awarded the team, we had 15 full-time employees with five part timers.  Now we have 200 full-time and over 1,000 part-time staff.

Just a little insight into what to expect at Scotiabank Place this year and how things have changed here over the past 15 years. I hope to see you, decked out in red at a game real soon.

Go Sens!

Cyril Leeder, COO