History of the Ottawa Senators (since 1992)
Founded and established by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey team is the second National Hockey League franchise to have the Ottawa Senators name. The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, had a famed history, winning 11 Stanley Cups and was a founding member of the NHL from 1917 until 1934. On December 6, 1990, after a two-year public campaign by Firestone to return the NHL to Ottawa, the NHL awarded a new franchise for an expansion fee of. The team began play in the 1992–93 season.
On the ice, the club finished last in the league in its first four seasons. Changes in hockey management led to a steady improvement of the team's play, resulting in the team finally qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1997. The team has since qualified for the playoffs in 16 seasons, most recently in 2017. Since 2017, the team has struggled to be successful on the ice and has not qualified for the playoffs. The team won the Presidents' Trophy in 2002–03, has played in three Eastern Conference finals, and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007.
The team has had three changes of ownership. The team changed hands from Firestone's Terrace Investments to Canadian businessman Rod Bryden in 1993 due to the arena development process and difficulties in financing. It was subsequently sold to Canadian pharmaceuticals businessman Eugene Melnyk after the team filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Melnyk died in 2022, eventually leading to the sale of the franchise by his estate to Canadian businessman Michael Andlauer for in September 2023. Melnyk's daughters retained 10%.
The "Bring back the Senators" campaign
At the weekly Terrace Investments Ltd. management meeting on December 4, 1987, manager Duncan MacDonald tabled the initial idea of the NHL returning to Ottawa after learning in the Ottawa Citizen about the league's expansion plans for three new franchises in the 1990s. Real estate developer Bruce Firestone privately entertained the idea for months. He decided to launch a bid for the Ottawa franchise through his development firm Terrace Investments. Firestone first told his fellow Terrace executives, Cyril Leeder, and Randy Sexton, after a game of shinny hockey in March 1988. Both were surprised; Leeder thought the idea was "ridiculous". They also added other key Ottawa stakeholders to the conversation, Jeff Kyle and Mark Bonneau. Leeder said "Myself, Bruce and Randy get all the attention. Jeff Kyle and Mark Bonneau were the two guys that did a lot of heavy lifting. I have no hesitation in saying they had a significant role in bringing the team to Ottawa and helping us to get it established."A major obstacle was that while Firestone believed that Ottawa was ready to once again support a franchise, Terrace did not have enough assets to finance a team, let alone build an arena. Firestone's belief was that they could do both as part of a development project. Their plan was to build a mini-city of 9,000 around a arena and hotel development on approximately. Getting an NHL club for the arena would drive up the price of the surrounding lands and Terrace's net worth would jump from to by 1997. The strategy was straightforward: "Buy the site, win the franchise, build the building." In 1989, Terrace found what seemed to be a suitable site west of Ottawa, of farmland, located on both sides of the 417 Highway west of Terry Fox Drive in the then City of Kanata, that had been a prospective site for the Central Canada Exhibition.
On June 22, 1989, Terrace publicly announced their intentions to acquire an NHL franchise and revive the Senators name. The name choice provoked threats of legal action, though Firestone obtained permission from original-era / 1950s era Senators club owner Tommy Gorman's descendants to use the old Senators name and settled with the Ottawa Jr. Senators' owners.
To kick off the "Bring Back the Senators" campaign, Terrace held a press conference on September 7, 1989, with special guests Frank Finnigan, representing the old Senators' players, and Joe Gorman, representing the Gorman family. Finnigan, the last surviving member of the Senators' last Stanley Cup championship, was presented with a new number 8 jersey and the promise to have him drop the first puck at the first game if they emerged victorious. Terrace unveiled drawings of the, 22,500 seat arena, then named the Palladium, designed by Rossetti Architects, architects of The Palace of Auburn Hills arena. Also unveiled was a logo for the team using a stylized Peace Tower and Canadian flag, designed by David O'Malley of Ottawa. The theme song for the franchise drive was Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."
Jim Durrell, the mayor of Ottawa at the time, but later part of the Senators' front office, said, "It's not that the area isn't a big enough market to support a professional hockey team, it's just that we're not going to get it." National Hockey League Players' Association head Alan Eagleson was quoted as saying, "Local fans are being led through the petunia patch if Bruce Firestone thinks he can land an NHL expansion franchise for Ottawa this century, well into the next or ever." Despite the naysayers, 11,000 fans sent in non-refundable pledges toward season tickets by November 1990.
Having already awarded a franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area that would become the San Jose Sharks, in December 1990 the NHL held a meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, to consider the remaining expansion applications. A well-financed bid from Tim Hortons founder Ron Joyce for Hamilton, Ontario, where an NHL-size arena was already in place, was considered a front-runner, and it was widely assumed the NHL would not add more than one franchise in Canada. Beneficial factors included that Ottawa was Canada's capital, had several television stations, had a reasonably large metropolitan population, and had a history of ice hockey.
The apparent decisive factor was that Firestone, along with the Tampa Bay group, was willing to pay the franchise fee without reservations, unlike the other proponents. The size of the expansion fee, which is approximately $ million in dollars, had come as a shock to many observers and would-be owners. In nominal terms, this was more than eight times the that owners paid for expansion franchises in the 1970s, which was less than a quarter the NHL's proposed franchise fee even when adjusted for inflation. Moreover, it was also considerably more than the purchase price of the existing Minnesota North Stars, which had then recently sold for.
On December 6, 1990, NHL President John Ziegler announced that the Terrace group was approved to purchase one of the two franchises to start play in the 1992–93 season.
The Palladium project
Since the location for the new arena was on land designated for agriculture, the arena and development needed approval by the Government of Ontario. The then-new Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae was openly hostile to the conversion of farmland and refused to offer any assistance to the project. As the rezoning hearings dragged on, Firestone was offered to relocate to Anaheim, which had an arena, but no team. Firestone turned it down, claiming, "I didn't bring back the Ottawa Senators to play in Anaheim."Eventually, the rezoning was approved with conditions. The Palladium's size was reduced to 18,500, and Terrace had to pay for a necessary highway interchange. Terrace had to suspend its plans for the rest of the "West Terrace" development, which limited the site's value. Only the lands to the south of the 417 were allowed to be developed, and the lands on the north side of the 417 were to remain farmland. According to Firestone, Terrace's investment lost in value to secure the zoning. Eventually, the strain to complete the payment on the franchise to the NHL and to build the arena led to Firestone's resignation on August 17, 1993, after Terrace missed mortgage and development payments, and the team turned to Rod Bryden, who would lead the franchise until the bankruptcy in 2003.
The government-imposed restrictions made financing of the arena project difficult to secure. Terrace had four financing deals fail. As it became clear that the Senators could not finance a needed highway interchange without government backing, the Government of Ontario was persuaded successfully to provide a loan for the highway interchange construction. In the end, the firm of Ogden Entertainment, a New York City facilities management firm, backed the project with a loan in exchange for a 30-year contract to manage the facility. In addition, American banks loaned, the federal government gave the Senators, from Terrace and from a Canadian pension fund.
The new arena would not be ready for the 1992-93 season. As planned, the team would play its first seasons at the Ottawa Civic Centre arena. The Civic Centre was expanded to seat about 10,000 fans, luxury boxes were built, a new press box and new player benches were installed.
Once construction actually started the project went smoothly, and the Palladium was completed on budget within 18 months. The Senators played the first game at the Palladium on January 17, 1996. The event was much more subdued than their franchise's first game. The Cup banners were raised, but the winches jammed, blocking the view of many fans. There were no entertainment big names, and only Firestone and Bryden participated in the ceremonial face-off. The pre-game entertainment included a 3D laser light show and the raising of a banner for the late Brian Smith.
One month after opening, Corel Corporation bought the naming rights in a ten-year deal and the arena was renamed the Corel Centre. In 2006, the naming rights were then purchased by Scotiabank in a 25-year deal and the arena was re-branded Scotiabank Place. Seven years later, Scotiabank sold the naming rights to Canadian Tire Corporation in a deal which saw the facility become the Canadian Tire Centre, which is its current name.