'The future looks very bright': New Ottawa Senators owner introduces himself

Michael Andlauer's introductory news conference the day after officially taking over the Ottawa Senators had all the laughter, toasts and voices wavering with emotion of a major life event — and early on, the new owner likened Friday to one of them.

"There's so many emotions, it reminds me of my wedding day: excited, overwhelmed a little bit, nervous, but I'm happy — happy knowing I'm in good company, " he said.

"The future looks very bright."

He also jokingly thanked his three children for "letting me spend their inheritance to pursue my passion."

Andlauer billed himself as a determined owner who's player-first and fan-focused.

"While I officially hold the title of owner … I understand this city and its fans are the true owners," he said.

"I promise to take care of your team with the utmost respect, integrity and care."

The 57-year-old Andlauer called himself an underdog, a fit for a city and team between the larger Toronto and Montreal.

He described life growing up in a duplex with his mother near the Macdonald Park outdoor rink in Montreal, going on to pay his own way through school and start businesses.

The founder and leader of transportation, health-care and banking companies, he has been a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens and of junior and minor league teams in Hamilton — both of which won championships, as he pointed out.

He answered questions from two francophone reporters in French and said he's rented a home in Westboro between the downtown and Canadian Tire Centre in the western suburb of Kanata.

Counting the days

The board of directors of Senators Sports & Entertainment began work to sell the team last November after the death of owner Eugene Melnyk in March 2022.

Andlauer's group was announced as the successful bid in June (321 days after he heard it was for sale, he noted a few times).

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, while sitting next to Andlauer in the arena foyer, said the process seemed long because it was public from the start and because of "all the chatter," seemingly a nod to the many leaks, rumours and celebrity names attached along the way.

"My celebrity was Daniel Alfredsson all along," Andlauer said. 

"It's not about the sizzle of Hollywood. To me it's about community, grassroots, sustainability, having a winning product both on and off the ice."

Andlauer said the last three months of the process were "on me" because it took time for the league to do its homework on the 11 partners making up his group.

"The first seven months were a little bit … different," he offered.

Bettman said Andlauer's group and its commitment and passion are a perfect fit for the team and the best days for the Senators are ahead of it.

Joining Andlauer at the news conference was former Senators president Cyril Leeder, who is returning as president and CEO.

Sees arena 'momentum'

The new owner said his first priorities are to learn, observe and collaborate, but in the same answer said real estate is one of the pressing matters facing the team.

The team has been working on a replacement for its 27-year-old arena and reached a deal last year with the National Capital Commission (NCC) to take another crack at a new arena on LeBreton Flats at the edge of downtown.

Asked a few times about a new arena, Andlauer said the team will likely still be in Kanata in five years unless construction and various levels of government move faster than he expects.

"Here's the thing on the real estate side … the mayor wants it, the NCC wants it, the Ottawa Senators want it, the fans want it," he said.

"We're all going in the same direction, so it's a matter of collaborating, working together and seeing what works and making it a true win-win-win-win.… There's definitely momentum here."

He went on to bring up the idea the federal government has properties it's looking to sell and "the NCC has the best piece of land available in any major city, probably in North America, that's available for development."

Andlauer said, while he's only on his second day in the job, he wants to keep options open for how the arena could be built.

"Edmonton was successful in getting a new arena done with a public-private partnership. There's some best practices to look at and we'll see where that goes," he said.

A condition of the sale, as it was announced, was the team would stay in Ottawa.

Training camp underway

The team's training camp is underway with new faces this year such as goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Dominik Kubalik.

The latter was part of a trade with Detroit that sent away Alex DeBrincat after one season in Canada's capital.

Centre Josh Norris is working his way back from a shoulder injury that cost him all but eight games last season and forward Shane Pinto still needs a new contract, though space under the salary cap is very tight.

The team is trying to snap a six-season playoff drought. This is the seventh season under general manager Pierre Dorion and fifth under head coach D.J. Smith.

Ottawa's pre-season starts at home Sunday against Toronto. The regular season starts Oct. 11 in Carolina.

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