Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer said Friday morning that his team’s proposed new home at LeBreton Flats will be just one part of a much larger development which will create a gathering place for the region’s residents on the west side of the city’s downtown core.
Andlauer met the media on Friday morning before teeing off in the annual Alumni Charity Golf Tournament. Almost 40 Senators alumni and retired NHLers who live in the Ottawa-Gatineau region were on hand at Canadian Golf and Country Club just west of Kanata on Friday morning for the annual tournament, which benefits the Soldier On and First Assist charities.
“It’s not just an arena, it’s a whole development. The arena, actually, in my opinion, is going to be a small part of the whole development. I’m trying to do something special here,” said Andlauer.
“To me, it’s a passion. To me, it’s about sustainability… I’ve always run my businesses in a way where I don’t look at next quarters and financial results, it’s about where we’re going to be in five years, I used to always tell my employees that. That’s my only job, and I look at it from that standpoint, is what’s going to make Ottawa able to continue to have an NHL team and be proud of it and have a hundred-plus million-dollar U.S. payroll and pay our fair share of taxes to all the governments.”
Andlauer said that he’s had meetings with the Algonquin people who are indigenous to southern Quebec and eastern Ontario, one of the many stakeholders of the project.
“This is bigger than an arena. For me, it’s not even about an arena anymore, it’s about what it represents to this city, to the region… I’m looking at it being a gathering place, a feel-good environment where people can get together for all kinds of different reasons, with restaurants, and commercial, and retail, and residential,” said Andlauer.
“And in talking to the Algonquins, the Grand Chief told me that Victoria Island was a gathering place for the Algonquins. For me, symbolically what it represents… this is their land, their tradition, so I’m excited about that, it just checks off so many boxes. I’m pretty stoked about it… it’s going to take a while, and you’ve only got one chance to do it right. But it’s nice to see that everybody, whether it be the [City of Ottawa] or the [National Capital Commission], the stakeholders, we’re all being more collaborative and understanding what it could be.”
In recognizing that the new arena is a longterm project, Andlauer said that more upgrades are on the way for Canadian Tire Centre, after the lower bowl seats were replaced last summer. Andlauer said the plan is to remove about 600 seats from the upper level and replace them with a lounge.
In terms of the on-ice product, Andlauer said he still hasn’t got over the Sens’ first round exit at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, who evened their Stanley Cup Final series with Vegas at one game apiece on Thursday night.
“It’s never over, because you look, and they’re still playing. Once the season’s over, then you look at it, [it’s] what-ifs, last night’s game went to overtime, Game 2, our Game 2, how many posts and crossbars and chances we had. What-if, right? Once the season’s over… I’m already starting to think about next year,” said Andlauer.
“I’m always looking for continuous improvement from our hockey club. And when we looked at it, we had a better roster than the previous year. We went through a lot of adversity last year, including in the playoffs, with how many injuries we had on the [defence] corps, and we persevered. I think as a fan, I’m happy with where we’re going, and also as an owner.”
Andlauer acknowledged that the rising salary cap and a small free agent class could lead to an active trade market this summer.
“Whatever it’s going to take to bring a cup to Ottawa… we’re staying the course, and there’s nothing urgent, but I think there’s areas that [Steve Staios] wants to improve on, and he’s focused on those things,” said Andlauer.
“Steve is always working, obviously he was at the combine in Buffalo, I went there to take the amateur scouts out for dinner and say thanks for all their hard work. All the GMs were there, so they’re chatting. He’s probably the hardest working Senator on our hockey club.”
Staios will have the 32nd overall draft pick in his arsenal this summer — a pick that the Senators will be unable to trade, after it was returned to the team in March following a sanction for a 2021 trade.
“It’s nice. I think it’s good for us. It’s good for our organization, it’s good for our fans. We had to show the league what kind of organization we are,” said Andlauer, speaking publicly for the first time since the pick was returned.
“A new owner and everything, just to make sure that we’re good corporate citizens, and I think a little persistence went a long way.”
