Chicago Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner is not scared to speak his mind. Lehner, who was drafted by the Ottawa Senators 46th overall in 2009 and spent parts of six seasons with the organization, returned to his old building last night as Chicago took on the Senators. Asked to describe the current state of support the team, Lehner said it was "sad to see."
"When I played here it was packed buildings all the time," said Lehner, who backstopped Chicago to a 3-2 overtime victory Tuesday night. "It was a great atmosphere and stuff, so it's kind of, it's just kind of sad to see what it is right now."
Ottawa's empty seats have been much talked about this season. We had a story last October that talked about a game against the defending Stanley Cup Champs, the St. Louis Blues, which drew around 9,200 fans. Capacity at the Canadian Tire Centre is 17,000. Attendance has been steadily dropping since the 2014-15 season, from an average of just over 18,000 fans per game then, to under 15,000 last year. It's likely the average number will be much lower this season.
Ottawa was once in the top five teams for attendance in the NHL. That was all the way back in 2005-06. It has since dropped to the bottom five, a feat unheard of for a team based in the hockey-crazed Canadian market. A sure fire way to get attendance back up would be to ice a contender, or at least a team with a chance of making the playoffs. Unfortunately for Ottawa, that could be a few years away yet.
One thing Ottawa currently has going for it as it sits 29th overall in the league out of 31 teams is the fact that the Senators also have San Jose's first-round draft pick, acquired in the Erik Karlsson trade. San Jose has been having a horrible season and sits in the 26th overall spot, just three places ahead of Ottawa. The Sens currently have a good chance at two high lottery picks in the next draft, which is said to be one of the best in a while when it comes to the depth of talent available.
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