NHL season 2017/2018

[J.OT13]

NHL 100 Classic in Ottawa.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Wait a second. Couldn't Ottawa solve all of their downtown arena problems just by playing all of their games outdoors? After five or ten home games, the home ice advantage would be ridiculous.

[J.OT13]

Someone in the Ottawa forum rounded out the Sens attendance numbers from the last 25 years. I've added two events to the list (in bold).

It seems that the Phoenix pay system, affecting thousands of public servants, seems to be a huge factor. The downtown arena proposal might also be playing a role.

Originally Posted by ars

Using HockeyDB's numbers here: http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=7328

I put together a list of all the Sens seasons, their attendance, their rank in the league in terms of attendance numbers and the result of the season.

92-93 10485 22/24 Missed Playoffs
93-94 10300 26/26 Missed Playoffs
94-95 9879 26/26 Missed Playoffs
95-96 13252 22/26 Missed Playoffs
96-97 15377 22/26 Quarterfinal
97-98 16750 12/26 Semifinal
98-99 17219 10/27 Quarterfinal
99-00 17508 9/28 Quarterfinal
00-01 17793 10/30 Quarterfinal
01-02 16919 15/30 Semifinal
02-03 17198 14/30 East Final
03-04 17758 13/30 Quarterfinal
05-06 19474 5/30 Semifinal
06-07 19372 5/30 SC Final
07-08 19821 3/30 Quarterfinal
08-09 18949 7/30 Missed Playoffs
09-10 18269 12/30 Quarterfinal
10-11 18378 11/30 Missed Playoffs
11-12 19356 6/30 Quarterfinal
12-13 19408 6/30 Semifinal
13-14 18109 14/30 Missed Playoffs
14-15 18247 16/30 Semifinal
15-16 18085 17/30 Missed Playoffs
16-17 16744 21/30 East Final
17-18 15228 26/31

Some key events that may have affected attendance and/or team spending(if you see anything I missed, feel free to let me know):

October 8, 1992 - Sens play their first game in the NHL at the Ottawa Civic Center(~10k capacity)
1993 - Rod Bryden becomes Chairman and Governor
January 17, 1996 - Sens play their first game at the Corel Center(now CTC)
02-03 - Owner Rod Bryden plagued with bankruptcy concerns
August 26, 2003 - Eugene Melnyk purchases the team and the arena
June 30, 2007 - Eugene Melnyk retires as Chairman and CEO of Biovail
December 1, 2010 - Eugene Melnyk starts divorce proceedings(Divorced with his wife shortly thereafter)
13-14 - Alfredsson signs with the Red Wings
Spring 2015 - Melnyk's liver transplant
December 2015 - LeBreton Flats proposals, including Rendez-Vous Lebreton's (RVL) Ice district type concept, revealed
February 24, 2016 - Phoenix Pay System goes live
November 2016 - RVL chosen as preferred bidder

Just looking at the attendance numbers, Ottawa is a fairly strong market and were in the top half of the league's attendance for 15 seasons straight. The past couple of seasons have been an anomaly since attendance numbers really haven't been this bad since the 96-97 season, and it really does coincide with the introduction of the Phoenix Pay System.

It doesn't help that the team has been really inconsistent for the better part of a decade now. Since the SC finals appearance, they've made the playoffs in consecutive years only once.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I don't know. Teams need to stop relying on the playoffs as being necessary for fan support. In a 31 team and soon to be 32 team league. You are statistically bound to miss the playoffs every other year and only make the Stanley Cup once every couple of decades. Not making the second round is a 3 tiime out of 4 year probability. Not sure why people get so bent out of shape on a season. Ottawa has been a very successful market in terms of performance. Sure they haven't won a Stanley Cup, but it is statistically regular for them not to have.

Attendance appears to have dipped first when Ottawa decided to give the butt end of the stick to Alfredsson. So you know what Melnyk, you got what you deserved attendance-wise. Go suck donkeys.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

In a 31 team and soon to be 32 team league. You are statistically bound to miss the playoffs every other year and only make the Stanley Cup once every couple of decades.

Not if we increase the number of teams that make the playoffs.

[Denscity]

Why did the Leafs play at 2pm today??

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Not if we increase the number of teams that make the playoffs.

Is this the CFL or something?

[Andy6]

The Jets 6-4 thriller in Nashville had the feel and quality of a Stanley Cup final game. Those two teams are pretty to watch. The Jets' little slump definitely seems to be over. Laine and Ehlers both hit the 17 goal mark.

[logan5]

Canucks drop another place in the standings! One step closer to...


https://rakapuckar.com/blog/XkzKpjzRJjOYQaP

That's Adam Boqvist by the way. There's no way the Canucks are going to win the 1st pick so I hope we can at least land the 2nd best defenceman in the 2018 draft.

Jesus christ we need defencemen bad. Canucks have given up 36 goals in the last 7 games. Boeser still rolling along nicely though. 1G 1A.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Someone in the Ottawa forum rounded out the Sens attendance numbers from the last 25 years. I've added two events to the list (in bold).

It seems that the Phoenix pay system, affecting thousands of public servants, seems to be a huge factor. The downtown arena proposal might also be playing a role.

The Phoenix pay fiasco seems to be a should-have-been-a-no-brainer in terms of being a cause for the drop in attendance. At least for me. *slaps forehead*

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Is this the CFL or something?

I don't know, but there's a lockout coming in a few years and it wouldn't surprise me at all for the NHL to introduce divisional wildcard games for playoff berths.

Awful idea, but increased revenue is increased revenue

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

The Phoenix pay fiasco seems to be a should-have-been-a-no-brainer in terms of being a cause for the drop in attendance. At least for me. *slaps forehead*

Once the system is fixed, or replaced by something that actually works, I expect the place to be near capacity every night. The owner just has to be patient. This is not our (the fans) fault.

[Calgarian]

Is the Phoenix Pay that big of a factor?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Is the Phoenix Pay that big of a factor?

Yes. Some civil servants are literally not being paid and they make up a significant percentage of Ottawa's workforce and people who would be going to games. I don't think some people understand just how numerous and important federal workers are to Ottawa's overall economic health.

I contend the biggest factor is always going to be the arena's location, but Phoenix Pay has not helped whatsoever.

[Calgarian]

That's crazy, there's no way something like that would stand in the private sector, whoever came up with Phoenix Pay would have been sued and the company would have folded.

[Hybrid247]

It doesn't seem like the issue is going away anytime soon either. The Libs aren't going to replace it and its going to take a lot of money and time to fix. Harper and friends made a big mistake in contracting IBM for this and the Libs are just making it worse by trying to cover up the extent of the problems instead of actually fixing it. Incompetence all around...

[Coldrsx]

The Oilers have decided they want to be in the playoffs.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

The Oilers have decided they want to be in the playoffs.

Maybe they were still scared of Vancouver, but now that the Canucks are pretty much bowing out of the race, they see hope!

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Maybe they were still scared of Vancouver, but now that the Canucks are pretty much bowing out of the race, they see hope!

And their schedule sees a lot of remaining games against the Pacific. It's going right down to the wire. They're back from the dead.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

The Oilers have decided they want to be in the playoffs.

Two games do not a change in mindset make?

or

Want and can have are two different things?

or

Start the parade?


Five points back of WC2, -1 games in hand on that team, five other teams between them and that team.