Ottawa Senators are trying "European style" supporter sections

[frankgrimes 1,836]

http://senators.nhl.com/club/blogpost.htm?id=31305#&navid=OTT-search

allow the fans that want to be rowdy and have a good time more of a European hockey atmosphere. This is common in Europe. It's been said that Djurgardens in Sweden have the best fans in the world and the reason is they're standing and cheering the whole game. That's not the North American style and I think if we tried to do that in our building we'd be disappointed with the results but we're going to start with one section this year for 10 games. Our supporters in the Red Scarf Union are helping us with that and if people are interested in being part of those games and having a good time and bringing that European hockey mentality to Ottawa we encourage them to get in touch with the Red Scarf Union. We've given them access to tickets at a great price so they can pass those on to people and really have a great time in those sections. We hope to start that this year and build on it each year and if we can get one section really rocking then maybe next year we can expand that to two or more sections.

I always felt like real noise, not that plasticlike "clap your hands on the jumbotron" has been missing in NHL arenas. If the best league in the world can get european style support sections I think the sport and atmosphere would benefit greatly from it.

Here are some example (Sweden and Switzerland are the top dogs in icehockey support):

Djurgardens (Stockholm Sweden)

Bern (Switzerland)

Also something we have going on in Europe is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKBGIvCvokw, basically it's against modern hockey and more support for local heroes/talents instead of selling out and adding too many foreigners to a team.

For those not knowing what the term "choreo" means: It's a shortcut for choreography it basically means supporters are preparing either a very big banner, picture or some small pyro-things before a game to show support and showcase themselves :-)

disclaimer: I'm not disrespecting the NHL style here I just think having SOME sections for that is a good idea.

Edited September 8, 2014 by frankgrimes

[kipwinger 8,675]

I predict the games will be more fun...right up until fans from the supporter sections start beating the hell out of opposition fans. I get the feeling that in North America this will turn violent. Then again, maybe not. The Canadiens already have an atmosphere very much like this, and as far as I know nobody had been injured.

[frankgrimes 1,836]

I predict the games will be more fun...right up until fans from the supporter sections start beating the hell out of opposition fans. I get the feeling that in North America this will turn violent. Then again, maybe not. The Canadiens already have an atmosphere very much like this, and as far as I know nobody had been injured.

That's common misconception about eurpean style support:

Supporters = they are going to the game to support their team loud and with all the other stuff

Hooligan = the onces going to the game in order to search/find fights they couldn't care less about the team home fans or away fans. So if you can keep those type of "fans" out all will be fine

Edited September 8, 2014 by frankgrimes

[Echolalia 2,961]

I was at the game against Anaheim a couple years back when the "you got Kronwalled" chant was born, which followed a raucous "Todd Bertuzzi" chant, and there were tons of other cheers going on during the game. It by no means was as elaborate as European chants, but we were on our feet most of that game in our section, and that was by far the most fun I've ever had at a sporting event (WIngs won in OT, btw). I didn't have a voice for the next seven days. If Ottawa can get this thing off the ground I think it could be huge for the game

[wings4thecup06 504]

I predict the games will be more fun...right up until fans from the supporter sections start beating the hell out of opposition fans. I get the feeling that in North America this will turn violent. Then again, maybe not. The Canadiens already have an atmosphere very much like this, and as far as I know nobody had been injured.

Having been to many a football (sorry, soccer) game here in England, and then seen the contrast at Rugby games, I am tempted to classify most football fans as hooligans, but I shall refrain. That being said, I tend to feel that segregating home and away fans breed hatred and animosity (at least it does here in my experience). Most fans spend most of the game exclaiming profanity towards the referees, or other fans, or the teams.

Contrast to the many games of rugby i've seen, where fans are freely integrated, and convivial with each other. The same I've seen at the 10 or so NHL games i've seen in the states and canada. I also went to a Swiss National League game a few years back and they were chanting the entire game. It's nuts.

Personally I prefer things the way they are right now, and am against segregation, but that's only due to my previous experiences here. Whether they would turn into that if its tried in the NHL, who knows

Edited September 8, 2014 by wings4thecup06

[kipwinger 8,675]

That's common misconception about eurpean style support:

Supporters = they are going to the game to support their team loud and with all the other stuff

Hooligan = the onces going to the game in order to search/find fights they couldn't care less about the team home fans or away fans. So if you can keep those type of "fans" out all will be fine

It wasn't a critique of European support. It was a critique of how aggressive North Americans can be when fueled by a healthy dose of booze and groupthink.

[Euro_Twins 4,485]

Having been to many a football (sorry, soccer) game here in England, and then seen the contrast at Rugby games, I am tempted to classify most football fans as hooligans, but I shall refrain. That being said, I tend to feel that segregating home and away fans breed hatred and animosity (at least it does here in my experience). Most fans spend most of the game exclaiming profanity towards the referees, or other fans, or the teams.

Contrast to the many games of rugby i've seen, where fans are freely integrated, and convivial with each other. The same I've seen at the 10 or so NHL games i've seen in the states and canada. I also went to a Swiss National League game a few years back and they were chanting the entire game. It's nuts.

Personally I prefer things the way they are right now, and am against segregation, but that's only due to my previous experiences here. Whether they would turn into that if its tried in the NHL, who knows

Unless I am wrong, I don't think it has anything to do with segregation of fans. I think it's just them selling one section to be completely loud and crazy the whole game.

[number9 3,297]

They already have an awesome support section: http://www.bonksmullet.com/2014/02/the-clapper-man-archives.html

[Seraph 240]

The silence in the pauses during the Djurgarden chants is eerie and awesome. When we get chants going here it's never so precise.

For a long time I've wanted to try and put together some sort of European style song for Wings fans to sing at games. I think that would be a cool thing to pioneer in the league other than clap-clap clap-clap-clap or go "one syllable team name" go. Sadly I don't think it would stand much of a chance to catch on unless it came directly from Wings marketing and was played on the jumbotron.

[RyanBarnes! 293]

I predict the games will be more fun...right up until fans from the supporter sections start beating the hell out of opposition fans. I get the feeling that in North America this will turn violent. Then again, maybe not. The Canadiens already have an atmosphere very much like this, and as far as I know nobody had been injured.

It is not exactly a friendly environment in Europe either. This is just a bad idea and it could turn sour really quick.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

I know old thread, but I think Ottawa's demise is hilarious and worth documenting. I had to type it all just to get my head around it. 

2017 playoffs - The Senators lose in game 7 of the eastern conference final. They have a young team just entering their prime and after the deep playoff push the future looks bright in Ottawa.

Since that time:

• Bryan Murray dies
• Melynk threatens to move the team
• Melynk tells reporter Brent Wallace "I will bury you" after being questioned about withholding bonuses from employees
• Assistant GM Randy Lee is accused of and pleads guilty to sexually assaulting a male shuttle bus driver
• Randy Lee steps down and months pass before another AGM is hired
• Mike Hoffman's girlfriend allegedly goes on a cyber campaign of harassment towards Erik Karlsson and his wife
• Hoffman is traded to the Sharks to keep Hoffman out of the eastern conference
• The Sharks immediately flip Hoffman to the eastern conference and get a better return
• By dumping Mikael Boedker on the Sens in the first Hoffman trade, the Sharks have now freed up enough space to chase a certain Swedish Dman
• Arguably the most talented player Ottawa has ever had, Erik Karlsson, is put on the trade block
• Budding young player Kyle Turris is traded away because Melynk does not want to pay him
• 2019 1st round pick is traded away for one year of Matt Duchene
• Fans start paying for billboards to get #MelynkOut
• In disgrace Daniel Alfredsson steps down from the Senators front office (his second time walking out on the Sens)
• Alfredsson tells the media he hopes a new owner will take over the team soon
• Melynk proceeds to fire his CEO
• Melynk names himself CEO
• Tragically, Erik Karlsson's first son is stillborn
• Craig Anderson asks for a trade
• The team can no longer afford to pay for ushers in the third deck of the stadium, and simply goes without them
• Team decides to hold a media event, but bans recording devices and cameras from the event, promises made to not trade Karlsson
• Erik Karlsson is traded to the Sharks
• Karlsson tells media that he believes he would have been traded anyway, even if he had signed the Sens offer
• Karlsson cold shoulders Melynk on his way out of town and does not thank him
• Team refuses season ticket refunds after Karlsson trade
• Season ticket sales drop by 4,000
• Clarke MacArthur is forced to retire due to concussion symptoms
• Dion Phaneuf is traded, but he is currently still the 2nd highest paid Dman on the Sens roster due to retained salary
• Cody Ceci has booze fueled party at his home and a woman gets set on fire and severely burned
• Hidden Uber camera catches multiple Sens players roasting their coaching staff
• Keith Tkachuk publicly announces he wants Mark Stone signed so that he can keep helping his son Brady
• Mark Stone is traded
• Duchene is traded
• Dzingel is traded
• Duchene and Stone tell the media they received fair offers from Ottawa, but did not want to sign them
• Stone signs new deal with Vegas about 30 minutes after the trade is announced stating he likes the owners commitment to winning
• Video of Melynk surfaces in which he says he had been planning to trade Stone for a long time
• GM Dorion states the Stone trade was his proudest moment as GM
• At this point, 7 of the Sens top 10 scorers from the 2017 ECF run have been traded away
• GM Dorion states the team will keep Boucher on as coach and reassess in the summer
• 24 hours later Boucher is fired
• Melynk sues former lebreton co-developer for 750 million, is counter-sued for 1 billion
• Doug MacLean and Brian Burke roast Melynk and Dorion publicly on sportsnet

There is no god in Ottawa, only chaos. This fact should bode well for our lottery chances...

[F.Michael 4,590]

The Sens mgt/ownership have every right to be looked upon as a complete joke.

I'm all for the BoG to take control of that franchise, and sell it off to QC...Yeah - I know it's a pipe dream.

[Dabura 12,228]

15 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

I know old thread, but I think Ottawa's demise is hilarious and worth documenting. I had to type it all just to get my head around it. 

2017 playoffs - The Senators lose in game 7 of the eastern conference final. They have a young team just entering their prime and after the deep playoff push the future looks bright in Ottawa.

Since that time:

• Bryan Murray dies
• Melynk threatens to move the team
• Melynk tells reporter Brent Wallace "I will bury you" after being questioned about withholding bonuses from employees
• Assistant GM Randy Lee is accused of and pleads guilty to sexually assaulting a male shuttle bus driver
• Randy Lee steps down and months pass before another AGM is hired
• Mike Hoffman's girlfriend allegedly goes on a cyber campaign of harassment towards Erik Karlsson and his wife
• Hoffman is traded to the Sharks to keep Hoffman out of the eastern conference
• The Sharks immediately flip Hoffman to the eastern conference and get a better return
• By dumping Mikael Boedker on the Sens in the first Hoffman trade, the Sharks have now freed up enough space to chase a certain Swedish Dman
• Arguably the most talented player Ottawa has ever had, Erik Karlsson, is put on the trade block
• Budding young player Kyle Turris is traded away because Melynk does not want to pay him
• 2019 1st round pick is traded away for one year of Matt Duchene
• Fans start paying for billboards to get #MelynkOut
• In disgrace Daniel Alfredsson steps down from the Senators front office (his second time walking out on the Sens)
• Alfredsson tells the media he hopes a new owner will take over the team soon
• Melynk proceeds to fire his CEO
• Melynk names himself CEO
• Tragically, Erik Karlsson's first son is stillborn
• Craig Anderson asks for a trade
• The team can no longer afford to pay for ushers in the third deck of the stadium, and simply goes without them
• Team decides to hold a media event, but bans recording devices and cameras from the event, promises made to not trade Karlsson
• Erik Karlsson is traded to the Sharks
• Karlsson tells media that he believes he would have been traded anyway, even if he had signed the Sens offer
• Karlsson cold shoulders Melynk on his way out of town and does not thank him
• Team refuses season ticket refunds after Karlsson trade
• Season ticket sales drop by 4,000
• Clarke MacArthur is forced to retire due to concussion symptoms
• Dion Phaneuf is traded, but he is currently still the 2nd highest paid Dman on the Sens roster due to retained salary
• Cody Ceci has booze fueled party at his home and a woman gets set on fire and severely burned
• Hidden Uber camera catches multiple Sens players roasting their coaching staff
• Keith Tkachuk publicly announces he wants Mark Stone signed so that he can keep helping his son Brady
• Mark Stone is traded
• Duchene is traded
• Dzingel is traded
• Duchene and Stone tell the media they received fair offers from Ottawa, but did not want to sign them
• Stone signs new deal with Vegas about 30 minutes after the trade is announced stating he likes the owners commitment to winning
• Video of Melynk surfaces in which he says he had been planning to trade Stone for a long time
• GM Dorion states the Stone trade was his proudest moment as GM
• At this point, 7 of the Sens top 10 scorers from the 2017 ECF run have been traded away
• GM Dorion states the team will keep Boucher on as coach and reassess in the summer
• 24 hours later Boucher is fired
• Melynk sues former lebreton co-developer for 750 million, is counter-sued for 1 billion
• Doug MacLean and Brian Burke roast Melynk and Dorion publicly on sportsnet

There is no god in Ottawa, only chaos. This fact should bode well for our lottery chances...

This should go viral on the world wide web.

[F.Michael 4,590]

On 9/8/2014 at 9:17 PM, number9 said:

They already have an awesome support section: http://www.bonksmullet.com/2014/02/the-clapper-man-archives.html

 

12 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

I know old thread, but I think Ottawa's demise is hilarious and worth documenting. I had to type it all just to get my head around it. 

2017 playoffs - The Senators lose in game 7 of the eastern conference final. They have a young team just entering their prime and after the deep playoff push the future looks bright in Ottawa.

Since that time:

• Bryan Murray dies
• Melynk threatens to move the team
• Melynk tells reporter Brent Wallace "I will bury you" after being questioned about withholding bonuses from employees
• Assistant GM Randy Lee is accused of and pleads guilty to sexually assaulting a male shuttle bus driver
• Randy Lee steps down and months pass before another AGM is hired
• Mike Hoffman's girlfriend allegedly goes on a cyber campaign of harassment towards Erik Karlsson and his wife
• Hoffman is traded to the Sharks to keep Hoffman out of the eastern conference
• The Sharks immediately flip Hoffman to the eastern conference and get a better return
• By dumping Mikael Boedker on the Sens in the first Hoffman trade, the Sharks have now freed up enough space to chase a certain Swedish Dman
• Arguably the most talented player Ottawa has ever had, Erik Karlsson, is put on the trade block
• Budding young player Kyle Turris is traded away because Melynk does not want to pay him
• 2019 1st round pick is traded away for one year of Matt Duchene
• Fans start paying for billboards to get #MelynkOut
• In disgrace Daniel Alfredsson steps down from the Senators front office (his second time walking out on the Sens)
• Alfredsson tells the media he hopes a new owner will take over the team soon
• Melynk proceeds to fire his CEO
• Melynk names himself CEO
• Tragically, Erik Karlsson's first son is stillborn
• Craig Anderson asks for a trade
• The team can no longer afford to pay for ushers in the third deck of the stadium, and simply goes without them
• Team decides to hold a media event, but bans recording devices and cameras from the event, promises made to not trade Karlsson
• Erik Karlsson is traded to the Sharks
• Karlsson tells media that he believes he would have been traded anyway, even if he had signed the Sens offer
• Karlsson cold shoulders Melynk on his way out of town and does not thank him
• Team refuses season ticket refunds after Karlsson trade
• Season ticket sales drop by 4,000
• Clarke MacArthur is forced to retire due to concussion symptoms
• Dion Phaneuf is traded, but he is currently still the 2nd highest paid Dman on the Sens roster due to retained salary
• Cody Ceci has booze fueled party at his home and a woman gets set on fire and severely burned
• Hidden Uber camera catches multiple Sens players roasting their coaching staff
• Keith Tkachuk publicly announces he wants Mark Stone signed so that he can keep helping his son Brady
• Mark Stone is traded
• Duchene is traded
• Dzingel is traded
• Duchene and Stone tell the media they received fair offers from Ottawa, but did not want to sign them
• Stone signs new deal with Vegas about 30 minutes after the trade is announced stating he likes the owners commitment to winning
• Video of Melynk surfaces in which he says he had been planning to trade Stone for a long time
• GM Dorion states the Stone trade was his proudest moment as GM
• At this point, 7 of the Sens top 10 scorers from the 2017 ECF run have been traded away
• GM Dorion states the team will keep Boucher on as coach and reassess in the summer
• 24 hours later Boucher is fired
• Melynk sues former lebreton co-developer for 750 million, is counter-sued for 1 billion
• Doug MacLean and Brian Burke roast Melynk and Dorion publicly on sportsnet

There is no god in Ottawa, only chaos. This fact should bode well for our lottery chances...

Whoa.....

 

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

22 minutes ago, F.Michael said:

The Sens mgt/ownership have every right to be looked upon as a complete joke.

I'm all for the BoG to take control of that franchise, and sell it off to QC...Yeah - I know it's a pipe dream.

It's a lot worse than the Islanders were IMO. The fanbase hates Melynk so much I can't understand how he can even show his face anywhere near Ottawa.

16 minutes ago, Dabura said:

This should go viral on the world wide web.

I really wanted to put it all in exact chronological order, but too daunting for me to align all the dates

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Dorion got asked if the Sens would have an internal budget on a new coach... he declined to answer

Boucher was supposedly the lowest paid coach in the league already

Guts team, fires coach

Team plays bad

 

Edited March 2, 2019 by ChristopherReevesLegs

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Doug MacLean: "I used to listen to Bryan Murray when Melnyk was being unbelievably hard on Bryan and us (GMs). I wanted to go ballistic. Bryan was calm. He would listen. He would take the heat. And slowly work it back and calm the owner down... And then decisions were made"

Doug says Murray once got 7 calls between the end of the game and the time it took to get to the lockerroom to fire the coach, and Murray didn't end up firing the coach lol

Ottawa's mayor (I think that's who it was) recently also stated Melynk is a very difficult person to deal with

Edited March 2, 2019 by ChristopherReevesLegs

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

But I thought we were supposed to keep putting teams in Canada cuz thats where the traditional markets are. Hockey only fails in nontraditional US markets, not in Canada.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

3 minutes ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

But I thought we were supposed to keep putting teams in Canada cuz thats where the traditional markets are. Hockey only fails in nontraditional US markets, not in Canada.

I know you're being sarcastic, but I'll answer seriously.

The Canadian market is already captured and saturated. The NHL has ZERO desire to expand in Canada. If the Senators went bankrupt tomorrow (which somehow wouldn't surprise me at this point) and the team folded, that market would be instantly swallowed up by Toronto & Detroit, and maybe some Sens fans would become Buffalo or Montreal fans too. Canadians already watch hockey. You don't need more teams to convince them. Adding a team in Quebec City wouldn't create new/more hockey fans, it would simply cannibalize existing Montreal fans.

America on the other hand does not watch hockey. Even hockey dominant markets like Michigan, Minnesota, and the north east are still predominantly NBA and NFL markets. America also has a boat ton more people in general.

The NHL doesn't care about what market fans consider "traditional" they care about selling their product to new people and growing their market share. The U.S. is where they can do that.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

8 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

I know you're being sarcastic, but I'll answer seriously.

The Canadian market is already captured and saturated. The NHL has ZERO desire to expand in Canada. If the Senators went bankrupt tomorrow (which somehow wouldn't surprise me at this point) and the team folded, that market would be instantly swallowed up by Toronto & Detroit, and maybe some Sens fans would become Buffalo or Montreal fans too. Canadians already watch hockey. You don't need more teams to convince them. Adding a team in Quebec City wouldn't create new/more hockey fans, it would simply cannibalize existing Montreal fans.

America on the other hand does not watch hockey. Even hockey dominant markets like Michigan, Minnesota, and the north east are still predominantly NBA and NFL markets. America also has a boat ton more people in general.

The NHL doesn't care about what market fans consider "traditional" they care about selling their product to new people and growing their market share. The U.S. is where they can do that.

This guy gets it. Bettman material.

Seriously tho. I hate when people come up with a million excuses why teams fail in Canada and then argue to put more teams there. And then argue that teams shouldn't be put in nontraditional American markets even tho the teams that have failed there have some of the same reasons for failing as the Canadian ones.

 

[kickazz 5,459]

1 hour ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

This guy gets it. Bettman material.

Seriously tho. I hate when people come up with a million excuses why teams fail in Canada and then argue to put more teams there. And then argue that teams shouldn't be put in nontraditional American markets even tho the teams that have failed there have some of the same reasons for failing as the Canadian ones.

 

Vegas so far has been a success. People predicted failure but their avg attendance % has been better than all Canadian teams including Toronto. 

Plus I mentioned this in another post but American talent has been increasing in the last decade or so and closing the gap with Canada. More and more players in the UNTDP and eventual translation into the NHL. It's the perfect time to sell and expand to the US and also to continue recruitment. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by kickazz

[DickieDunn 2,571]

1 hour ago, kickazz said:

Vegas so far has been a success. People predicted failure but their avg attendance % has been better than all Canadian teams including Toronto. 

Plus I mentioned this in another post but American talent has been increasing in the last decade or so and closing the gap with Canada. More and more players in the UNTDP and eventual translation into the NHL. It's the perfect time to sell and expand to the US and also to continue recruitment. 

Actual attendance or tickets sold?  I always figured a lot of tickets would be bought, and a lot of them would go unused, or people would show up late and leave early

[kickazz 5,459]

1 hour ago, DickieDunn said:

Actual attendance or tickets sold?  I always figured a lot of tickets would be bought, and a lot of them would go unused, or people would show up late and leave early

ESPN lists it as actual attendance. 

NHL also provided hockey sticks and equipment to kids in Clark County schools in Nevada and games are available in spanish radio and television since a lot of the population is hispanic. 

They're going hard to recruit the next generation of fans. It's good marketing. Whether it works is another story. So far, it's been successful. These regions that lack major sports teams is the perfect place to bring in a sport so the kids have something to root for/get into.  

Edited March 2, 2019 by kickazz

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

I think Ottawa is the only hope for QC to get a team. Relocating one Canadian based franchise to another Canadian city doesnt really change a whole lot for the league. QC getting an American based franchise thru relocation or getting an expansion team are pretty remote IMO.

[Jonas Mahonas 1,872]

I was thinking this was about jock straps...

On 9/8/2014 at 7:17 PM, number9 said:

They already have an awesome support section: http://www.bonksmullet.com/2014/02/the-clapper-man-archives.html

You owe me 20 bucks, #9