Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Haha, I don't expect the diehard boomers with memories of 1967 to switch teams, but I would find it pretty surprising if there were all that many 22 year olds with strong rooting allegiances to the Leafs.

I guess the intense regional media coverage of the Leafs (SN/TSN) and the Habs (RDS) must have some influence over fans... hell, when I was a kid even I rooted for the Leafs because they were the team I got to see on TV every Saturday. The Jets were hardly ever televised back in those days.

The Sens generally have a pretty low media profile in French. If I go to a sports bar around the corner from here they'll have RDS or TVA Sports on. It's all Habs all the time. Even though they're Quebec-wide networks they do usually give the Sens second billing but that's still maybe only 5-10% of their coverage.

After each Habs game we get duelling star-studded post-game shows for about 90 minutes on both TVA Sports and RDS. After each Sens game in French we get maybe a 15-minute post-game show on a local radio station.

Gatineau isn't big enough to have its own pro sports media so aside from the actual Sens broadcasts and the pre- and post-game shows, all we get in French here on the radio is the Quebec-wide stuff that's broadcast from Montreal.

Merchandising contracts are often provincially-based so it's usually easier to get Habs stuff than Sens stuff here. I had breakfast this morning in the biggest mall in Gatineau and across the hall is a Sports Experts store. The window displays are filled with Habs jerseys with Price, Pacioretty, Danault, Drouin, etc. No Sens stuff in sight.

Ottawa does have some local sports media on the radio but nothing truly local in terms of TV.

TSN and SN are admittedly Toronto-centric (and will get worse as the Leafs get better) but Anglo-Canada is a "broader church" in terms of team allegiances than French Canada is.

And let's not even mention non-sports-specific pop culture that plays up the Habs (and even to some degree the ghost of the Nordiques). But not the Sens of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8A2Vc0X2Xs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCEO5Y6ci0I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woWDBifutHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNE7IMOM854

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkcFx1p4-Cg

[esquire]

^ Good God, 2 televised 90 minute long Habs post game shows... that is something else.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Senators have removed 1,500 seats from CTC to, in their words, "right size" the arena. Confirmed by Sens President Tom Anselmi this morning.

Melnyk also confirms roughly 25 fewer suites.

https://twitter.com/REDBLACKS/status/906112677327626241

BREAKING ⚡

@TD_Place to add 1,500 "gently used" seats to stadium capacity.

More details to follow.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Good God, 2 televised 90 minute long Habs post game shows... that is something else.

When people talk about playing in a fishbowl...

[esquire]

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

https://twitter.com/REDBLACKS/status/906112677327626241

So weird. This kind of beaking of another team in your city would be unthinkable on the prairies.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

So weird. This kind of beaking of another team in your city would be unthinkable on the prairies.

It doesn't extend to the fan bases at all, but there is no love lost between the ownerships of the Redblacks and Senators.

Ottawa almost lost out on an outdoor NHL game for Canada 150 because of it.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In Gatineau at least there are definitely more Habs fans than Sens fans.

OK......

But do you agree that.... "While I would support that there are many Habs, and to a lesser extent Leafs fans in Ottawa, I don't believe that there are more"

[speedog]

West division is becoming a real dog fight, too bad that one of those western teams will be sitting out the playoffs - time for a single division league.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

OK......

But do you agree that.... "While I would support that there are many Habs, and to a lesser extent Leafs fans in Ottawa, I don't believe that there are more"

Do you mean that in Ottawa itself the Sens are the most popular team in every part of the city?

Sure, I'd agree with that.

[elly63]

Commonwealth Stadium 38 years ago, pre expansion, pre artificial turf

• Video Link

[GernB]

Originally Posted by elly63

Commonwealth Stadium 38 years ago, pre expansion, pre artificial turf

• Video Link

A full stadium, natural grass, and the Stamps in red and white (no Black), no ads intruding everywhere....the good ole days!
Edit: Listening to the play-by-play by Don Whitman, I'm left shaking my head again as to why TSN insists on using Rod Black rather than Gord Miller as one of their prime crew.

[craner]

Originally Posted by GernB

A full stadium, natural grass, and the Stamps in red and white (no Black), no ads intruding everywhere....the good ole days!
Edit: Listening to the play-by-play by Don Whitman, I'm left shaking my head again as to why TSN insists on using Rod Black rather than Gord Miller as one of their prime crew.

Not really the good ole days because the Stamps sucked (unlike today).
Also, they weren't really the Red & White with all that depressing grey in there - I much prefer the current black accent.
If you could bring back Commonwealth at that size now (42,000) it would be perfect for the CFL in Edmonton.
Thanks for posting - love watching those old games, brings me back to my youth.

[GernB]

Originally Posted by craner

Not really the good ole days because the Stamps sucked (unlike today).
Also, they weren't really the Red & White with all that depressing grey in there - I much prefer the current black accent.
If you could bring back Commonwealth at that size now (42,000) it would be perfect for the CFL in Edmonton.
Thanks for posting - love watching those old games, brings me back to my youth.

Can't take the credit, Elly63 was the OP for the vid. Stamps couldn't have sucked too bad that year as they made the WFC final...but yeah, they were depressingly bad for years! And yes, they should never have extended the upper deck at Commonwealth but they thought the league was really taking off; Edmonton averaged ~56,000 a game in the early 80s. Fun sometimes when I'm bored to watch old games on youtube and see the differences.

I like those uniforms, and the classics from the 60s, but my favourite was the ones they wore when Barrett and Flutie were QBs...early 90s I'm guessing. I like the black accents i.e., outlining the numbers and logos, etc., but I'm not a fan of the black pants at home and black helmet on the road. Just a personal preference as there are too many other teams with a lot of black.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by GernB

And yes, they should never have extended the upper deck at Commonwealth but they thought the league was really taking off; Edmonton averaged ~56,000 a game in the early 80s.

That's an interesting thought. Did they expand exclusively for Universiade in 1983 or did they expand thinking the Esks could draw that well. Let's look at the numbers before the expansion in 82.

I think we can conclude that the stadium was "right sized" before the expansion and it should not have been a permanent structure, hindsight being 20/20.

[craner]

Originally Posted by GernB

Can't take the credit, Elly63 was the OP for the vid. Stamps couldn't have sucked too bad that year as they made the WFC final...but yeah, they were depressingly bad for years! And yes, they should never have extended the upper deck at Commonwealth but they thought the league was really taking off; Edmonton averaged ~56,000 a game in the early 80s. Fun sometimes when I'm bored to watch old games on youtube and see the differences.

I like those uniforms, and the classics from the 60s, but my favourite was the ones they wore when Barrett and Flutie were QBs...early 90s I'm guessing. I like the black accents i.e., outlining the numbers and logos, etc., but I'm not a fan of the black pants at home and black helmet on the road. Just a personal preference as there are too many other teams with a lot of black.

I agree with you on the black helmets - ditch them and just go with the red.

[esquire]

I agree that from an Esks' perspective, 42,000 would have been the perfect size for that team. No doubt that with skyboxes, new seats, etc., capacity would probably be around the 40,000 mark by now and that would have been just fine.

It's actually amazing to see how much Eskimos attendance has fluctuated through the years... they went from 25,000 a game to 58,000 a game in 5 years, then back down to 31,000 fans a game 6 years later.

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by esquire

I agree that from an Esks' perspective, 42,000 would have been the perfect size for that team. No doubt that with skyboxes, new seats, etc., capacity would probably be around the 40,000 mark by now and that would have been just fine.

It's actually amazing to see how much Eskimos attendance has fluctuated through the years... they went from 25,000 a game to 58,000 a game in 5 years, then back down to 31,000 fans a game 6 years later.

That's what happens when you win 5 Cups in a row.

[SaskScraper]

^^the Eskimos won a CFL record five consecutive Grey Cups in a row from 1978 to 1982 to help put their attendance in prospective...
and were West division Champs 9 of those last 10years in the late 1970s early 80's

[esquire]

^ I guess they did have a perfect storm going there in Edmonton for a while... 5 cups in a row, a roster stacked with hall of fame stars, a brand new impressive stadium, not a whole lot in the way of direct competition (Gretzky and the Oilers had just joined the NHL in 1979 and took a few seasons to really hit their stride), and still at arguably the CFL's overall peak in terms of national relevance in the 70s and early 80s.

First they did it with the Eskimos, then they pulled off the dynasty with the Oilers. I wonder if the fans in Edmonton back in those days knew how good they had it?

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I guess they did have a perfect storm going there in Edmonton for a while... 5 cups in a row, a roster stacked with hall of fame stars, a brand new impressive stadium, not a whole lot in the way of direct competition (Gretzky and the Oilers had just joined the NHL in 1979 and took a few seasons to really hit their stride), and still at arguably the CFL's overall peak in terms of national relevance in the 70s and early 80s.

First they did it with the Eskimos, then they pulled off the dynasty with the Oilers. I wonder if the fans in Edmonton back in those days knew how good they had it?

Most certainly did. And I was grateful. A sense of Euphoria and pride was felt by many.

Then the 90s happened.