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Ottawa Senators
Overall: 95
Title track: 112
Ownership: 114
Coaching: 95
Players: 72
Fan relations: 78
Affordability: 68
Stadium experience: 110
Bang for the buck: 53
Change from last year: -37
For every step these Ottawa Senators take forward, they take -- you guessed it -- two more back. Two seasons ago, the Sens blazed through March, going 11-3-2 (as part of a longer 20-3-3 clip to end the year) ... then limped to a first-round exit in the playoffs ... then limped their way through most of 2015-16, too. Their place in our Ultimate Standings? It has followed suit. After a middle-of-the-pack No. 58 overall last year, Ottawa has crash-landed at No. 95 in 2016, its lowest mark since we started these rankings in 2003. O no, Canada.
What's good
Fans don't love the Senators' title hopes. Or their owners. Or their coaches, or their stadium experience. But they do love those reasonable prices. Ottawa failed to crack the top 50 in any category in 2016, but posted their most respectable scores in affordability and Bang for the Buck. Because even if that on-ice action is sub-par, the $67.82 it costs on average to get a ticket, parking and concessions at the Canadian Tire Centre is the best rate in the NHL -- and 23 percent lower than league average. And that $3.57 a hot dog will run you? Also a hockey low. Who says franks work best in a ballpark?
What's bad
Bargain-basement deals aside, Ottawans don't really enjoy a night out at the Canadian Tire Centre (No. 110 in stadium experience) -- perhaps because they have little to no confidence in ever seeing their team hoist a Stanley Cup there (No. 112 in title track, worst in the NHL). The Senators reached the finals 10 years back, were promptly brushed aside 4-1 by Anaheim, then never made it closer than the semifinals in the decade since. They've carouseled through seven coaches in that time, their only real consistency a relentless inconsistency. And while first-year general manager Pierre Dorion optimistically concluded in August that there was "no doubt" in his mind the Senators are a playoff team, the fans fancy their chances less.
What's new
If the Ottawa fan base was lukewarm on Eugene "Nobody is Safe" Melnyk before (No. 77 last year), it finds him downright distasteful now, judging from a 37-spot drop in ownership this year. In March, Melnyk let loose his disdain for the Senators' performance in the 2015-16 season, casting blame on everyone from ex-head man Dave Cameron ("stupidity," he branded one of Cameron's in-game decisions) to management, and vowed he was willing to throw out everything but the kitchen sink to get back to playoff contention. Melnyk, conveniently, did not point a finger at himself, but it seems everyone else is pointing at him anyway. Senators fans, when asked to evaluate whether their team has an honest ownership, reported the worst score in the NHL.
Next: Montreal Canadiens | Full rankings