A New Era for the Senators: Moving to LeBreton Flats and the Challenges Ahead

It’s been almost a decade in the making, but the Ottawa Senators have finally reached an agreement with the National Capital Commission to purchase land for their new LeBreton Flats arena.

The arena will have multiple purposes, but its main home will be to the Ottawa Senators NHL team.

Although it will likely be another handful of years until the Senators make the move from Kanata to downtown Ottawa, this is a big first step in the relocation.

While the change is exciting, the new location may not solve all the problems fans think it will. The main concern with the Senators’ current home arena, the Canadian Tire Centre, is the parking situation.

The CTC is about half an hour outside of the city, and while being accessible by bus, the majority of fans travel to games via car. Despite there being ample parking at the arena, due to the location, getting out is quite a hassle and can take hours.

The main reason for the traffic getting out is the fact that the CTC is surrounded by auto parks and empty lots. There is nowhere for fans to hang around after exiting the arena, making for a quick rush to the car once the game is over.

However, the hope that the new LeBreton Flats arena will make for a better escape is not all that promising either. It will turn downtown Ottawa into a grid-lock and the public transportation situation is not strong enough to support the busy streets.

The ideal situation is a working LRT that can shuttle fans home after games. However, the train has proven to be anything but reliable and doesn’t even go as far as the old arena in Kanata. On top of that, the OC Transpo is becoming less reliable as well, with buses being behind schedule or simply not showing up at all.

On top of that, the currently empty Flats don’t have any more in the “things to do after the game” department. Like the arena, the idea of developing the flats into something more has been around for over a decade. However, even less progress has been made on that front.

The positive is that the move to LeBreton Flats is still years out, giving OC Transpo time to fix the train and improve the buses to support the increase in people traveling to the Flats, and maybe even add some excitement to the surrounding area.

Another large complaint about the arena was how far out of the city it was. That’s a fair argument for fans in the Ottawa/Gatineau area. However, all of the young hockey families in the Stittsville/Kanata area filled that arena day in and day out.

A common misconception about the Senators is their assumed “poor attendance.” Last season at the Canadian Tire Centre, the Sens averaged 95.5% attendance, tallying 18 sellouts even when the team was far out of playoff contention.

Many of these fans were families who lived in the surrounding suburbs. Having the arena outside of the city brings in fans from as far as Perth, Ontario on the regular while also being accessible enough for fans who do live downtown.

This is a double-edged sword as the new arena is more accessible on the east side of the city and may draw in more Gatineau fans, a push that the organization has been trying to make. It also may play a key part in bringing in the university/college demographic that the club has been working at over the past few seasons.

Last season, the Senators implemented the “Milk Zone,” a cheap standing area made for university/college students. This area was a key part of their 5.9% increase in attendance and is likely something they will continue to push in the downtown area.

While the new arena being built is something that has been a long time coming, it is a sad day for the west-end fans who have loved being so close to the action, seeing the NHL players practice at their local rink in the Sensplex, and even getting to be neighbors with their heroes.

Some of the best stories have come from the Sens players making friends with their hockey-loving neighbors in Kanata, something I think the players will miss too.

When the new rink first opens, I predict a rise in attendance among the excitement of the move, however, it will be interesting to see what the long term brings. We could potentially be looking at a big demographic change in the fans, hopefully not in the direction of Toronto’s suits filling the seats.

What was so loveable about games at the CTC was that it was always a fan-first atmosphere. Hockey families filled the seats, and because of the “difficult” location, you knew everyone actually wanted to be there. There was a certain charm to the community around the Kanata arena that at least I will miss when the Sens have moved on.