Greetings from south Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at the weather back home,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0quite fortunate to have spent\u00a0the past couple of days soaking in the sunshine and temperatures close to 30 degrees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But one thing\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0realized over the past week is that not all Sens fans are dealing with the\u00a0disappointing and inconsistent weather in Ottawa.\u00a0We launched our\u00a0Senators\u00a0app last\u00a0Monday, giving us access to\u00a0a whole new range of data. One of the cool things was seeing our app light up with\u00a0activity around the globe on game nights. We could see\u00a0our\u00a0fans were following along in Japan, Australia,\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0and a host of other locales that are significantly warmer than Ottawa this time of year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The credit for the launch of our app goes exclusively to\u00a0Matt Perry, who is our director of digital and social media. Matt\u00a0had the vision of launching this app\u00a0almost a\u00a0decade ago, when the Senators were\u00a0in the midst of\u00a0their magical run to the Eastern Conference final in 2017. But launching an app is not\u00a0a simple process\u00a0\u2013 especially when you want to nail\u00a0the launch and make it as flawless as possible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The organization prioritized launching the app last summer, so Matt negotiated the terms of a contract with\u00a0Yinz\u00a0Cam,\u00a0a Pittsburgh-based company that\u00a0handles\u00a0app duties for a wide range of NHL, NFL,\u00a0NBA\u00a0and other pro sports teams.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
From there\u00a0it was\u00a0months of testing\u00a0and dry runs, with a huge assist to Anisia Laporte\u00a0who worked closely alongside Matt to handle the\u00a0tedious and unglamourous behind-the-scenes minutiae that\u00a0allowed the app to launch seamlessly last week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve\u00a0received great feedback from our fans in the\u00a0first week of our app, with our\u00a0Sens Predictor Game being one of the most popular features to start. Fans\u00a0have to\u00a0predict the five things prior to each game: The final score, who will score Ottawa\u2019s first goal, how many hits the Senators will have, will Ottawa score a power play goal and how many saves will the Senators goalie make.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
You get credited with five points for each correct prediction and then a leaderboard\u00a0tracks the top performers. (I am currently in 20th\u00a0place overall,\u00a0but well behind Zachary who has accumulated 50 points already).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our goal is to make the app your daily destination to get Senators content. If you\u2019ve downloaded it already \u2013 and set up push notifications \u2013 you can follow along and watch the live post-game media sessions with our players and Travis Green.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For home game days,\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0find the Ticketmaster integration has been working smoothly, so you can do a single sign-on and access your Sens tickets through our app. There is an interactive venue map,\u00a0which can tell you where to find vegetarian, gluten-free and other dietary options.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
We\u2019re just scratching the surface and know that we have a lot of room to grow with this platform. We\u2019ve discussed the idea of launching some Senators-related games for the app, which has me very excited to come up with some unique puzzles and trivia for our fans.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t downloaded our app,\u00a0you can do so here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you have any ideas or questions about the app \u2013 especially if you want to see something integrated soon \u2013 please send us an email to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Trivia time:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, Jorian Donovan made his NHL debut\u00a0and in the process\u00a0became part of the first father-son combination to play with the Senators. His father Shean appeared in\u00a0177 games with Ottawa from 2007-2010.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The trivia question this week is also related to family\u00a0connections to the Senators. Can you name the only set of brothers to play for Ottawa? (Hint: They\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0play for the Senators at the same time).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Answer at the bottom of this column.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Final podcast episode on the horizon\u00a0<\/p>\n We are on the verge of recording our final episode in the inaugural season for the Absolute\u00a0Non Sens\u00a0podcast.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ve\u00a0released a\u00a0total of\u00a013 episodes so far this season, pumping them out on a bi-weekly basis.\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0made the decision to stop recording at the end of the regular season because our podcast tone is light\u00a0and fluffy with the players. If we make the playoffs (fingers crossed),\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not the\u00a0right time to be asking players about their cheat meals or if they take the Terry Fox or Palladium exit when coming to the rink.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ve\u00a0got no firm plans for a summer version of the show, but\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0not to say\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0not open to the idea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And we do have to figure out a way to\u00a0give away our table, which has been the centrepiece for our podcast all season. Generously given to us by our friends at Dala Decor,\u00a0the table has been autographed by every single guest that has dropped by the podcast.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0a unique\u00a0memorabilia item and would be the perfect fit inside the den or living room of a Senators fan.\u00a0We\u2019ll\u00a0make sure we blast out the contest details in the weeks ahead, because\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0certain this is going to be an item that a lot of\u00a0Senators\u00a0fans want.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0got an idea for a fun contest that we could run to give away this table, just let us know via email\u00a0\u2013\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Media roundup: Looking back at some interesting and fun Senators stories you might have missed over the past seven days.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Carter\u00a0Yakemchuk\u00a0jumped in his car Monday night for a 5-hour drive\u00a0from Belleville to Detroit. The next\u00a0day, he casually scored a goal and picked up an assist to help power the Senators to a win in his NHL debut.\u00a0NHL.com\u2019s\u00a0Nick\u00a0Cotsonika\u00a0has the behind-the-scenes details<\/a>\u00a0of Yak\u2019s memorable\u00a0night in the Motor City.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Shean Donovan had a chance to join Claire Hanna and Cheryl Pounder for a\u00a0fun intermission interview<\/a>\u00a0about Jorian breaking into the NHL last week. Make sure you stick around until the end for the fun twist involving Jamie McLennan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Senators blue line has been ravaged by injuries lately, but Artem Zub has\u00a0remained\u00a0a constant and steady presence. Our Andrew\u00a0Wilimek\u00a0has\u00a0the story of Zub\u2019s\u00a0impactful week<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 including a fight with Alex\u00a0DeBrincat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n