REPORT: NHL insiders address embarrassing situation in Ottawa

While the Ottawa Senators’ terrific on-ice performance at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa last night was applauded by the hockey media, its fans dismal performance in terms of ticket sales was not.

A quick scan of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook exposed some embarrassing news for the team:  thousands of unsold playoff tickets. In a building that seats 18,572 people, the Senators managed to only sell 16,744 tickets. In “hockey mad” Canada, how could this happen? 

Some of the NHL’s most respected reporters called the situation, “not a good reflection on the city and the hockey fans.” Elliotte Friedman of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada commented on lack of sales saying, “If that had happened in Arizona or Carolina or anywhere, you name it, we’d be killing them. We would absolutely be killing them.”

TSN’s Bob McKenzie, perhaps hockey’s most trusted inside reporter, echoed Friedman’s sentiments and added, “It doesn’t look great. It doesn’t sound like it’s one of those cases where the ticket prices are right out of sight. I think there were plenty of $50 tickets yesterday and they didn’t get scooped up, so that’s been a tough one.”

Whatever your take on the situation in Ottawa, both the team and the league can’t be happy with the lack of support from one of its model “small market” franchises.