The Ottawa Senators and their fans find themselves in a good position right now, celebrating in the afterglow of a successful regular season and first playoff appearance in eight years. The team boasts a solid young core, a veteran coach who’s been a key contributing factor in turning the ship around and cap space to manoeuvre with this coming offseason.
Everyone in the organization deserves a great deal of credit for reaching this position after what was as embarrassing an eight-year stretch as any organization in professional sports has faced in recent memory from both an on and off-ice standpoint.
Success starts from the top and works its way down throughout any organization. And for the Senators, the process began with owner Michael Andlauer and general manager Steve Staios. If there’s anyone who deserves the most recognition for this franchise’s turnaround, it would have to be them.
Andlauer’s Impact
The impact was felt immediately upon Andlauer’s arrival to the Senators back in September 2023. On the same day he was welcomed by commissioner Gary Bettman, he made the move to reinstate the former president and co-founder of the franchise, Cyril Leeder. Leeder and his business team went to work on a project to finalize a new arena, which seems to be progressing quite well.
While he did say recently that it will be five more years of the Senators playing at Canadian Tire Centre, it’s definitely a positive development to have a rink in the downtown core, making it more accessible and helping to grow the fanbase. This had been an issue for many years under Eugene Melnyk and is something Andlauer made a priority to address.
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He’s also done a much better job at limiting the off-ice noise, not drawing any unnecessary attention to himself and standing up for his own players. For instance, back in December when Brady Tkachuk was the subject of numerous trade rumours to the New York Rangers, Andlauer would not stand for it.
He publicly lashed out and dismissed the rumours, even accusing the Rangers of soft tampering. Again, not something likely to have occurred during the Melnyk era. He sent a message of belief to his team about the direction they were heading in, and it paid off.
Staios’ Impact
Andlauer later brought on Staios to lead the hockey operations department, who then hired himself to be the team’s general manager. Staios and Andlauer have a history together, dating back to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), when they won two championships together with the Hamilton Bulldogs as owner and team president. He promised Staios that if he ever became the owner of an NHL team, he would bring him on, and it has proven to be very beneficial.
Staios went on to acquire Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark in addition to other veterans like David Perron and Nick Cousins. It was the same mentality as their junior days; establishing a level of professionalism was a goal right from the start.
Andlauer praised Staios for the players he brought in. “Not just people who had won, it’s people that had character, the right kind of character, to be mentors for this young, great core we have.” Staios then went on to hire Travis Green, who preached an attention to detail from his players and defensive accountability, a key factor in the Senators’ return to the playoffs.
Limiting the Distractions
Aside from player transactions, Staios has been great at limiting distractions and handling himself well in the media. At his end-of-season media availability, he conveyed a strong message and outlined his priorities for the offseason, but didn’t give the media anything to run away with.
It was quite different, again, to the Melnyk era where he would call into local radio stations to make inflammatory comments about his own team or others in the league or use a media availability to divulge state secrets. It is a welcome change from constantly hearing embarrassing soundbites.
That was one of the constants that the organization had to eradicate, that being opening themselves up to criticism by putting their own foot in their mouth, which time and again proved to be an issue. Compounded with the on-ice struggles, it caused a significant headache that could have been entirely avoided with a different approach.
The Results Have Been Positive
As a result of their run, the Senators added new season-ticket holders down the stretch and in the first round. It’s not yet at the league average, but Andlauer remains confident that the number will grow. There’s no reason to believe it won’t if this run of success continues.
“When I purchased this team with my partners, I knew the grassroots of hockey ran deep in Ottawa-Gatineau. But I have come to realize that this is by far the most underrated hockey market in the world,” Andlauer said. “Our fan base is authentic and it’s the perfect match for this roster, which we’ve built on honesty, genuine care and work ethic.”
Andlauer and Staios have done a great job of stabilizing the organization and cultivating a fan base that had every reason to drift away after years in the wilderness. They’ve given the Senators just what they’ve been craving all this time. And that’s got to feel good if you’re a fan.
