With offers from the biggest celebrities and most determined local groups, Andlauer wins the bid
No, it’s not Ryan Reynolds. Or Snoop Dogg. Or The Weeknd. The Ottawa Senators sale was a long, drawn-out, public process that enticed many celebrities to tack their names onto bids – but the Sens finally have a new owner.
In the end, a quiet bid from a group led by 57-year-old Toronto billionaire and current Montreal Canadiens minority owner Michael Andlauer made more sense to the National Hockey League (NHL) than flashier bids with sexier names attached. Andlauer already had the upper hand on the other bids, with his 10 per cent ownership stake in the Canadiens and longtime solo ownership of the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs, making him an industry man.
Sportico valued the deal at just under a billion dollars, making the purchase of the Senators the highest price ever paid for an NHL franchise. The Toronto businessman brings along some local names to his ownership group: CEO of Farm Boy Jeff York, (and brother of former Sens defenceman Jason!), alongside Neil and Shawn Malhotra of Claridge Homes. Andlauer will be required to sell his stake in the Habs to complete the deal.
The process to sell the team started back in the spring of 2022, when longtime owner Eugene Melnyk passed away after fighting illness in hospital. Melnyk had bought the team and the Canadian Tire Centre (then known as the Corel Centre) in 2003 for $92 million dollars, saving them from bankruptcy. However, the sometimes-controversial businessman, philanthropist and sports owner had a rocky relationship with the Ottawa fanbase. Melnyk’s daughters will also retain a 10% ownership stake with the sale, which was non-negotiable for them.
Although the team enjoyed some success during the Melnyk ownership – including a 2007 Stanley Cup Finals run and a Game 7 double-overtime 2017 Conference Finals loss – fans will be more likely to remember their sometimes-beloved owner’s management style and penny-pinching.
Following a wholesale teardown of the Sens roster in the years following that 2017 playoff run, fans stopped showing up to games. Gone were fan favourites like Daniel Alfredsson, Kyle Turris, Mike Hoffman, and Marc Methot. One fan even started a GoFundMe campaign to purchase billboard advertisements around the city to encourage Melnyk to sell the team, worried that captain Erik Karlsson would be the next to be shipped off.
The fans then watched the two-time Norris Trophy winner Karlsson be shipped off during the 2018 off-season. To complete the teardown, star forward Matt Duchene and current Vegas Golden Knight Captain Mark Stone were also traded at the 2019 trade deadline.
But it wasn’t just the meddling in on-ice decisions where the ownership group came under scrutiny. Following a leaked Uber ride video in 2018 showing notable Senators insulting their team and their then assistant coach Matin Raymond, a Twitter bot army was unleashed. The bots were seemingly launched to provide positive commentary on Melnyk and the team, given the public’s opinion of them was nearing dumpster-fire levels of bad.
There’s also the arena issue, which is most pressing for some Senators faithful. Fans long to see the day they don’t have to make the hour-long (or more) rush-hour trek west on Highway 417 to Kanata to watch the team play. Back in June last year, a consortium including the Senators and the National Capital Commission reached a memorandum of understanding to build an arena surrounded by other mixed-use developments on a parcel of land at LeBreton Flats.
The fans certainly would have no problem with an arena at LeBreton Flats, home of the annual Bluesfest. Nestled at the edge of downtown near Pimisi train station, the arena would certainly increase attendance, especially among the younger, car-less demographic. However, any ownership group might bat an eye at the arrangement. Andlauer would simply be leasing the parcel of land, which sports owners often try to avoid.
Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe has some arena ideas of his own. Sutcliffe has brought up the idea of demolishing federal government buildings in the middle of downtown, to build a state-of-art arena blocks from Parliament – which would be a win for hockey fans but obviously has some logistical issues. Ottawa fans will have to wait with bated breath as all kinds of arena proposals are thrown about.
In the end, this is a happy day for Senators fans: a sometimes dark and hard-to-read chapter of the franchise has finally finished. The long and painstaking sale process of the franchise gives hope to fans that a competent ownership group is being put in place. Andlauer, a beer league goalie, is a lifelong hockey fan with many business successes. There is only one important question that fans want an answer to: who will Michael Andlauer cheer for when the Sens play the Habs?
