2013: The NHL season that almost wasn't

No ways Habs fans aren't a problem there too, no? Montreal is a lot closer to Ottawa than Toronto is.

 

What I meant is that it will encourage more Habs fans to show up.

Every time there's a Habs vs. Senators game at the Scotiabank it's about 65% Montreal fans, and 35% Senators fans.

 

I got that, my point is the Sens have a problem with another team other than Toronto. Wonder what kind of uproar there would be from the Montreal media - French language especially - if they tried this with Habs fans.

 

Maybe Leafs (Ontario) and Habs (Quebec) fans could form a coalition and burn the place down.

 

;D

 

Props to Allen...undressed on the first goal -- great hands by Tatar in tight. Second goal was a lousy one. But the kid battled...key save on Dan Cleary late in the first...if that one goes in, game over and the kid is probably yanked. Instead, the Blues get a shortie late in the first and climb all the way back. They dominated the second and shut the Wings down in the third...24 blocked shots is the team buckling down in front of the kid and earning the win. Willing to cut the kid some slack for the start -- he was born in a town of 5,000, grew up in a city of 45,000...NBC rivalry night...on the road in a historic building, an Original Six team with all those banners, all that history...you could hardly blame the kid if he was a little nervous making his first start in that environment. So...nice recovery. Yeah...I'm a Jake Allen fan.

 

Not alone there.

A few years back, when the Washington Capitals were playing against Pittsburgh in the playoffs, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis told his ticket people not to sell to people with a Pennsylvania address or area code.

I have mixed feelings about this. In any sport, you are going to have teams with a large fan base and following that live outside of the team's geographic area and go see their team when it comes to town. Heck, I'm doing the same thing next month, because I don't want to travel 1,300 miles to watch a home game when I can see them play here. So, from that standpoint, I empathize with the fans.

However, I also understand the frustration of players and coaches and team execs when you have more fans of the visiting team in your home building than you do of your own fans.

This situation, it should be noted, is certainly not unique to hockey. Happens in college sports as well.

 

I honestly don't know why this is considered a bush league move. A team trying to fill their own building with their own fans? How dare they! Considering the tickets are being offered at a discount, it's not like they are making a bundle off of it, they're rallying the fan base. The Senators have also operated at a 99 per cent capacity this year for their home games, so really this is costing them money. I have zero problem with this. There is no guarantee it will work, and it may just back fire, but this is far from bush league. Only stipulation is tickets cannot be resold. Considering they are being offered to Sens Insiders, the theory is most Sens Insiders will actually be Senators fans. There is nothing, however, stopping Maple Leafs and Canadiens fans from signing up as Sens Insiders and taking advantage of the deal or buying them when they go on sale to the general population. Beyond that, it's ownership offering their fan base a deal on regular season tickets.

Maybe Leafs fans should worry about the operations of their own ownership and inability to make the playoffs while having the highest ticket prices in the NHL (more than twice the NHL average), than the in-house deals their provincial rival is offering their own fans.

But, yeah, bush league all the way. Boo fucking hoo.

And the Senators are far from the only team that has issues with large numbers of Leafs and Habs fans showing up at other Canadian buildings. I remember being at Rexall Place -- then Sky Reach Centre or Edmonton Colliseum -- in 2001 to watch the Oilers play Montreal and the building was probably a third Canadiens fans. And I know it's the same in Calgary and I'm willing to bet Winnipeg too. Vancouver, I have to be honest, I am hard pressed to watch a Canucks game if they aren't playing Edmonton, so maybe JC can answer that. They come out of the woodwork. It's not a bad problem, per se, but it is always at least a little embarassing for the home team. But out West it only happens once or twice a year.

 

I always figured Leafs fans were a bigger problem in Buffalo - where they just take over the place - than they were in Ottawa.

 

I'm not a big Canadiens fan, but I do enjoy watching Carey Price in nets. Have been watching the kid for a long time.

Is it me or does he remind anyone else of Ken Dryden? In the sense that he's so calm out there, and makes it look so easy. Without even breaking a sweat?

 

Toronto and Montreal fans show up in Vancouver as well. I always thought it added to the atmosphere of what otherwise is just another regular season game.

Vancouver fans are all over the place now, especially in Phoenix. It is dirt cheap to fly to Phoenix, you can get a return flight out of Bellingham which is just across the line for as little as 120 bucks. and tickets are next to nothing in Phoenix that the cost of a game in Phoenix, with airfare and hotel can be done for not much more than going to a game at Rogers arena where upper bowl tickets can be a 170 per person.

 

It absolutely adds an intersting atmosphere to the arena, I quite enjoy it.