Senators getting back to business (end of things)
Life is slowly returning to normal for the Ottawa Senators.
About 15 of the club’s employees, mostly those in the marketing and communications departments, returned to the Canadian Tire Centre on Monday to continue preparations for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
While the employees will return to their jobs in phases, the Senators will likely kick the business back into high gear around mid-September when the Stanley Cup final is held in Edmonton. At this point, free agency is expected to start in early-October, the draft is tentatively set for Oct. 9-10, training camp in mid-November and the season is supposed to start Dec. 1.
Because of the threat of the coronavirus, the Senators don’t even know if they’ll have fans in the stands when they return to play. Newly appointed president of business operations Anthony Leblanc is confident people will be excited to get to the rink when the organization is allowed to have spectators in the seats.
The Senators were one of seven teams not included in the restart that began last month with hubs in Toronto and Edmonton. If the league does begin next season on Dec. 1, then it will have been nearly nine months since Ottawa last played.
Leblanc said the team may be off the radar screen at the moment, but it isn’t forgotten.
“I think it’s actually going to be the opposite. People are going to be so starved for their local team to come back that there’s going to be a tremendous level of excitement,” Leblanc said Tuesday after a news conference to announce the club’s new foundation at Brewer Park. “I defer to (owner) Eugene (Melnyk) and (general manager) Pierre (Dorion) on what they’re doing with the club.
“I can tell you as a fan, I’ve really liked what I’ve seen happening with the Senators, so I think things are going in the right direction. Yes, it’s not optimal to go from March until God knows when, be it December or some other date, without your team playing. I do think under these unusual circumstances, people will be excited and they will come back.”
Right now, nobody is certain how next season is going to look, but the excitement will build before the NHL draft is held. Not only do the Senators have the No. 3 and No. 5 picks in the first round, they also hold the New York Islanders top selection as part of the Jean-Gabriel Pageau trade at the deadline.
That will help Leblanc and his group in the marketing department to try to help raise the season-ticket base.
“We face a similar challenge to other clubs and that’s what is next season going to look like?” said Leblanc, a former president and co-owner of the Arizona Coyotes. “It’s very uncertain and very fluid. We’re planning in multiple ways and looking at different models of what things will look like.
“From a Senators perspective, my job is to get more fans in the building. How do we do that? It’s multiple factors. The performance on the ice is one thing, but we can’t control that on the business side. So from my perspective, it’s getting back out the community — do things like we’re doing today.”
Leblanc isn’t sure what measures will have to be taken to get fans in the Canadian Tire Centre, but nothing will happen before health authorities give the green light.
“We appear to be on the right track in Ontario and Canada, but we’re at the mercy of when they feel it will be the right time for gathering,” said Leblanc. bgarrioch@postmedia.com