Community looking forward to Sens’ return: president
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 Monday to continue preparations for the start of the 202021 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 novel coronavirus the Senators don’t even know if they’ll have fans in the stands when they do return to play. Newlyappointed Ottawa 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 the seven teams that weren’t included in the Return to Play that got under way last month with 24 franchises 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 suited up. Leblanc said the team may be off the radar screen at the moment but 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 formal press conference to announce the club’s new foundation at Brewer Park. “I defer to Eugene and Pierre 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.