Senators' attendance nosedives amid troubled season

There has been no shortage of trouble tossed the way of the Ottawa Senators in the first seven weeks of the season.

Nicolle Anderson, the wife of goalie Craig Anderson, was diagnosed with throat cancer. There have been injuries to key players like Mike Hoffman (groin), Bobby Ryan (broken finger) and Clarke MacArthur (concussion).

The offence has struggled, as seen in Ottawa's combined two-goal output in back-to-back losses to the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers at home last week. Only the Buffalo Sabres' 1.78 goals-per-game is worse than the Senators' 2.06.

The Eastern Ontario club also has seen a massive dip in attendance. The Senators have yet to sell out any of their 11 homes games. They have averaged 14,494 fans per outing (78.2 percent capacity) at the Canadian Tire Centre — 24th in the league and last among the seven Canadian NHL teams.

The attendance woes have been a taboo subject with Senators officials. It has been a puzzling development, considering the team was once among the league leaders, especially in the Senators' halcyon days that included a trip to the 2007 Stanley Cup final.

• 2005-06 — 19,474 average crowd (fifth in NHL)
• 2006-07 — 19,372 (fifth)
• 2007-08 — 19,821 (third)
• 2008-09 — 18,949 (seventh)
• 2009-10 — 18,269 (12th)
• 2010-11 — 18,378 (11th)
• 2011-12 — 19,356 (sixth)
• 2012-13 — 19,408 (sixth)
• 2013-14 — 18,108 (13th)
• 2014-15 — 18,246 (17th)
• 2015-16 — 18,084 (17th)
• 2016-17 — 14,984 (24th)

The Senators have a new general manager in Pierre Dorion, new head and associate coaches in Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford, and traded for Derick Brassard in exchange for Mika Zibanejad in the off-season.

But the signs were there at the beginning of the season that the fan base had developed a general malaise toward the Senators. They failed to sell out the home opener against the provincial rival Toronto Maple Leafs, and the first Saturday-night home game against the Montreal Canadiens a few nights later.

The Senators have enjoyed a decent 10-7-1 start and currently have lassoed one of the eight playoff spots in the East. But the crowds have not improved. Only 15,480 fans showed up to watch P.K. Subban and the Predators last Thursday, while 14,132 were there for the Panthers game on Saturday.

New arena coming?

There are several factors at play in the Senators' attendance decline. First and foremost, they have won only one playoff series — versus the Habs in 2013 — since their trip to the final a decade ago and have missed the post-season in two of the past three years.

Meanwhile, the Senators' expansion cousins, the Tampa Bay Lightning, have won a Stanley Cup, been to another final and remain one of the top teams in the East.

Boucher is the seventh coach since 2006-07 and he demands more of a defensive, shot-blocking approach. There was some disappointment after the personable and offensive-orientated Bruce Boudreau wasn't hired to replace Dave Cameron last spring.

The season-ticket base has dipped to between an estimated 10,000 and 11,000. This means the team now needs a large walk-up for a decent crowd, something the Senators have not been getting.

The controversial Phoenix pay system for government employees has hit hard a big part of the population of the nation's capital. This new system has been inconsistent in paying government employees. Some have missed months of paycheques.

Then there's the location of the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, a 25-minute drive from downtown Ottawa with no traffic. Toss in the congestion on a game night with the usual rush-hour volume and you have a much longer, frustrating trip.

But this didn't seem to be a problem before. Why now? Well, the Senators have been pursuing a new downtown rink to be built in the LeBreton Flats area west of downtown Ottawa. What kind of a message does this send to loyal Senators fans? We have an arena, but the location is terrible.

Finally, don't underestimate the love affair between the Senators fan base and Bryan Murray, who stepped down as GM last spring. Dorion is a good man and will prove to be a good GM, but the classy Murray has legendary status in Ottawa.

He was at the helm of the Stanley Cup run, exhibited tremendous mettle in his battle with colon cancer and remains beloved in Ottawa.