a dramatic 6-5 overtime loss<\/a> for the home team.<\/p>\nGenerous estimates had the sellout crowd of 18,020 at 80:20 Canadiens fans to Senators fans.<\/p>\n
And if Ottawa defenceman Jake Sanderson hadn\u2019t uncharacteristically criticized the performance of goaltender Leevi Merilainen post-game, his comments on the turnout would\u2019ve drawn much more attention.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re used to it, playing an away game at home,\u201d said Sanderson, looking totally defeated. \u201cIt happens quite often.\u201d<\/p>\n
No matter how stoic the elite athlete, hearing thunderous boos in your home arena during the starting lineup announcements can penetrate the psyche.<\/p>\n
Professional hockey in Ottawa is, at its core, community. Sandwiched between two historic hockey cities, there is a shared desire between fan and player to step out of the dark shadows cast by their bitter adversaries.<\/p>\n
What the team felt that regrettable evening was abandonment.<\/p>\n
And the marketing department\u2019s postmortem produced an astounding revelation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game in January,\u201d Leeder recalled, \u201cwhich was probably the most opposing fans we\u2019ve ever had at a game, there was over 6,500 season seat tickets transferred, which is a high number. We can\u2019t really verify who got them, whether they\u2019re Sens fans or Canadiens fans, but the general assumption is if you\u2019re transferring for that game, they probably went to a Canadiens fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leeder and company, noticing on the calendar three looming home games against the Habs and Maple Leafs staring daggers back at them, knew they had to act.<\/p>\n
Urging that \u201cit doesn\u2019t have to be this way,\u201d the Senators sent an e-mail to season seat members on Feb. 19, offering additional non-transferable mobile tickets to upcoming rivalry games at an \u201cexclusive price.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Essentially: Promise to bring some pro-Sens friends and family, and we\u2019ll give you an honest discount.<\/p>\n
By the time the Habs rolled in for a rematch three weeks later, the initiative hadn\u2019t made much of an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201c(We sold) hundreds of tickets, not thousands of tickets,\u201d Leeder admitted.<\/p>\n
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![\"Habs](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2266043186_301991179.jpg\")
Ivan Demidov #93 of the Montr\u00e9al Canadiens celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Photo by Chris Tanouye\/Freestyle Photo \/Getty Images<\/p>\n
On March 11, with Canadiens fans making up three-quarters of the arena\u2019s attendance \u2014 a minor improvement upon the original sin \u2014 frustration amongst the faithful hit a fever pitch.<\/p>\n
Aidan Proulx, in his third year as a season seat member, took the Senators up on their offer, but upon arrival realized that few others obliged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do feel like in the last few years it\u2019s gotten increasingly worse,\u201d Proulx said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember it being to this extent, where it just feels like a complete takeover. It used to be more of a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding to the embarrassment of the 3-2 defeat that night, Habs fans, confident as ever in their new home away from home, started doing the wave with six minutes remaining in the third period. Not too long after, a boastful chorus of \u201cOl\u00e9, Ol\u00e9, Ol\u00e9, Ol\u00e9!\u201d filled the arena.<\/p>\n
Moments after the game, Frank Pinto, the father of the team\u2019s third-line centre, wrote on X, \u201cSens Nation needs to be better to support our boys. Unacceptable home support. #StillBelieve\u201d (The post was deleted by the following morning.)<\/p>\n
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On local sports talk radio station TSN 1200\u2019s post-game show, half of texts and calls were focused on the turnout, or lack thereof, with one seething caller, Owen, stating, \u201cI hope Sens fans can maybe have a bit of a spine and not sell their tickets every single time they can make a buck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Online, popular Locked On Senators commentator Cam, who goes by Lalime\u2019s Martian on social media, took dead aim at Sens fans who did show up. Co-hosting the podcast\u2019s \u2018post-cast,\u2019 he claimed that Canadiens fans \u201cdominated\u201d the home team\u2019s \u201csoft\u201d supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be disrespectful, it\u2019s friendly banter, but get in their ears,\u201d pleaded Cam, who attended both Habs games this season at CTC. \u201cMake them feel like they\u2019re the (jerk) for yelling and screaming and cheering for their team. I had ladies screaming about Brendan Gallagher right in front of me, like, \u2018Come on Gally! Go Gally, go!\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018You\u2019re washed up, Gallagher!\u2019 Do stuff like that to make them realize that they\u2019re not just here saying whatever they want. They shouldn\u2019t be able to do what they want in our house, it\u2019s such horse\u2026 Honestly, it drives me bananas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forty-eight hours later, Cam spoke with the Citizen about his fiery rant.<\/p>\n
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\u201cJust with it being further down the stretch here,\u201d he said, \u201cthese games have a little more of an important feeling, this one in particular. I think what was in my head was just a little bit of anger. I take my fandom pretty seriously, as you know, right? So, when I\u2019m in the building, I\u2019m giving it my all as a fan. And I think a lot of our fans just left a little bit on the table there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other diehards and season ticket holders direct most of the blame towards the organization for not taking action sooner, and raising ticket prices to the moon for rivalry games (nosebleeds are a minimum $120.80 for the remaining two home contests against the Maple Leafs).<\/p>\n
Nick Spence, a full-season seat member, was six-years-old when Ottawa was awarded an NHL franchise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the first generation of kids that were like, \u2018OK, my parents were Bruins fans and Leafs fans and whatever, now I\u2019m a Sens fan,’\u201d he said. \u201cBut our generation doesn\u2019t have as much disposable income, right? So, you\u2019re still looking at a fairly old demographic going to hockey games, I would think, without having any data on it. \u2026 So, even if there are a lot of Sens fans, they maybe don\u2019t have the cash to go to a game, certainly not a Habs or Leafs game.\u201d<\/p>\n
TSN 1200 host AJ Jakubec, who was on air for that rage-filled post-game show last week, believes there\u2019s no easy solution.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf you put a Major League Baseball team in Hartford, it\u2019s probably the only comparable to what Ottawa deals with here,\u201d he said. \u201cLike, imagine all of these people in Connecticut that have had these long-time ties to either the Yankees or Red Sox, which are two of the most important but also biggest fan bases in the MLB, and say, \u2018Well, cheer for Hartford now.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 30 years later, and from that perspective, I think Ottawa\u2019s carved out a pretty good fan base here, but there\u2019s still work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"Sens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ottsensoct14_88162080.jpg\")
Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs fans both showed up in numbers for the 2021 home opener at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Photo by Tony Caldwell \/Postmedia<\/p>\n
That work, Leeder says, began in January after the first infamous Habs game.<\/p>\n
The Senators organized focus groups and met with influencers, presenting proposals and asking for ideas.<\/p>\n
The aforementioned e-mail to season ticket members was sent out in February, and the organization also released \u201cPlayoff Push Packs\u201d on Monday, offering two sets of three-games for a discounted price, each of which includes a Toronto game.<\/p>\n
Those are the quick fixes. There are many more audacious initiatives on the horizon.<\/p>\n
One of them will be called \u2018Verified Sens Fans,\u2019 a database of confirmed supporters that the organization can market to.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a strategy inspired by the enormous effort from super fan and long-time season ticket holder Kevin Lee<\/a> in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\nArticle content<\/p>\n
During the first-round series against Toronto, Lee took on what he called a \u201cpart-time job\u201d trying to keep CTC red. The Senators sold him 50 discounted tickets for each of the three home playoff games, and he found Sens fans to sell and transfer tickets to at no markup.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy DMs were a mess,\u201d Lee recalled.<\/p>\n
![\"keivn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/OttSensApril23-e1745464403634.jpg\")
Ottawa Senators fan Kevin Lee poses for a photo in front of the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Cyril Leeder gave Kevin 50 standing-room-only tickets to sell for Game 3, to get more Sens fans in the building. Photo by Tony Caldwell \/Postmedia Network<\/p>\n
News of the agreement spread quickly, and the Senators connected with additional season ticket holders to facilitate more exchanges.<\/p>\n
For Game 3, Toronto fans arguably outnumbered Ottawa fans, but by Game 4, the home crowd had taken back its barn.<\/p>\n
And Game 6? Red as a tomato.<\/p>\n
The Sens will begin verifying friendly fans this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t rely on the Kevins of the world to do this for us,\u201d Leeder said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do some of that in advance. It won\u2019t be perfect, but if we get it 95 percent right and you\u2019ve got a database, say, in three years of 5,000 people, well, that really will be the difference, if you can get 4,000 tickets to your own fans for those games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Lee: \u201cWe have to create a path, otherwise Leafs fans will just grab them, even if the Sens set ticket prices really low and open them up to the public right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leeder acknowledges that long-term success here will come with a significantly larger season ticket base \u2014 hopefully 13,000-14,000 members \u201cthree years down the road\u201d \u2014 and those fans actually wanting to go to rivalry games.<\/p>\n
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In the meantime, ambitious measures must be taken.<\/p>\n
Have you ever been to a European football game?<\/p>\n
The vast majority of stadiums overseas have designated sections for visiting team supporters, fully segregated in order to avoid conflict between uber-passionate fans.<\/p>\n
Of course, any attempt to cram every Leafs and Habs fan into a section or two would prove futile, but perhaps the inverse endeavour could suffice.<\/p>\n
In the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers\u2019 Intuit Dome features a 51-row, 5,000-seat section behind the visiting team\u2019s basket designated solely for home fans. The Wall, aptly named for its steep face, is for Clippers fans only; if you wear away colours, you will be kicked out.<\/p>\n
That sort of scale may be a pipe dream for the Senators, but they intend to begin somewhere, and soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be ideal to start with a section and then, if that takes off, just keep making it bigger over time,\u201d Leeder said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re looking at maybe creating some kind of section in the upper bowl next year, renovating and really doing something right. You know, having a requirement that you can only wear Senators gear in that section. We are looking at that, for sure, for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an idea the Citizen discussed with Sens fans even before Leeder revealed the team\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou\u2019re definitely going to get some diehard fans in there and they\u2019re going to be loud enough that they can fight some of those (opposing) chants,\u201d Cam said \u201cIf their job is just to be loud and be kind of rowdy and get their chants going and get the Go Sens Gos going, I mean, man, that\u2019s one way you can combat it, where you just limit that section and condense the fandom a little bit so everybody doesn\u2019t feel like they\u2019re alone in the stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could help them with that if they wanted it, y\u2019know? Using my platform, I could make sure that we get more Sens fans in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leeder admits that January\u2019s takeover, and the uproar that ensued, caught the team off guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt, coming out of the playoffs last year that we really had a fix,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we had the fan base kind of say, \u2018OK, look, we understand, we want to go to those games and it\u2019s incumbent on us to buy the tickets and show up.\u2019 And that is true, but we\u2019ve got to do our part as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave we done enough? I guess you can always second-guess yourself. We\u2019re doing a lot of that obviously right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Leafs fans at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa before Game 3 of their playoff series against the Sens. Photo by Tony Caldwell \/Postmedia<\/p>\n