The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Michael Andlauer

Starting point is 00:00:00 First of all, congratulations. Uh, wonderful time for the Ottawa Senators. Wonderful time, wonderful time for you, uh, going to a very special place, which we'll get to in a couple of seconds, but first of all, like just a blanket, the floor is yours. Congratulations. The Ottawa Senators make the postseason for the

Starting point is 00:00:15 first time since 2017. What went through your head yesterday when it finally happened? Well, you're always, you're always upset when you lose a game. Sorry. But, uh, knowing that the magic number was food, went through your head yesterday when it finally happened? Well, you're always upset when you lose a game. Sorry. But knowing that the Magic member was too in Montreal

Starting point is 00:00:31 doing business with Detroit, and I think your business there finally clinching. My first reaction was to call Steven, congratulate him. And then as soon as I hung up the phone with him, I immediately called Brady Kuchuk, uh, and, um, and, and, you know, basically, uh, told him, you know, how, how, how proud I was of the team of him. And, and if anybody should be, you know, uh, over 500 game, him and

Starting point is 00:01:02 Thomas Shabbat, uh, finally well, well deserved. And I was, I was probably happiest for those two than anybody else. And I'm excited about that. So that was, that was my initial reaction last night. And then I got bombarded by texts and emails and, and, but it was, yeah, it's, it's great. It's a, it's great.

Starting point is 00:01:25 It's a great feeling for this city who really have endured a lot over the last seven, eight years and eight of them without getting a playoffs, obviously, but just the road to get here. I've only been at it for a couple of years, so I'm just so happy for our fans and particularly those two those two players. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Yeah. You know, it's, it's, you mentioned Thomas Shabbat because that was the first place that my mind went and I'm going to go sort of going around about way here. Um, I remember exactly where I was when Chris Kunitz scored that goal, uh, against the Ottawa senators in 2017.

Starting point is 00:02:02 I was with Todd Warner. I was with Colby Armstrong. I was with Rocky Dundas. We were at a restaurant in Windsor for the Memorial Cup at a place called Vito, it was an Italian place, and everyone's cheering on the Ottawa Senators, want the Canadian team to do well, and Kunnett scores that goal, and you could hear a pin drop.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Now playing in that year's edition of the Memorial Cup with the St. John's Seedogs, featuring Thomas Chabot. And I remember saying to my sus, Craig, you know, there's Thomas Chabot and he hasn't yet made the postseason, 400 or something games and Thomas Chabot hasn't been. That was the first place that my mind went. And like, would you have like a couple of words

Starting point is 00:02:41 about Thomas Chabot here who's been through, you know, ups and downs and now finally finds himself in the postseason? Yeah, he's a first-class individual. I touched over 500 games. I think it was Thomas. We flew together to Quebec City to announce a couple of exhibition games. And since he's from, from that area, so I guess it's been a little bit of time. And he is just genuinely he's a warrior.

Starting point is 00:03:16 First of all, you have no idea how he can play through pain. His pain tolerance is over the top. But he's just a first class guy who truly appreciates it. His dad, we just had the father's trip a couple of weeks ago and his dad is a card. He's happy-go-lucky, just so happy in general. That exudes in the dressing room as well. The fact that he's a warrior, will play through anything, a low maintenance guy, but who's been a great leader for us. And so I'm so happy for him and the rest of

Starting point is 00:03:54 the guys for sure. You know, I'm curious, you know, we went into this season, we said, okay, so which teams are going to emerge here? You know, we've been following, you know, Ottawa and Detroit and Buffalo and oh, look, here comes Montreal all of a sudden. Go back to the beginning of the season,

Starting point is 00:04:10 the expectation to what happened yesterday. Yeah, so for me, it's, you know, you look at something, it's just, you know, and I know you're a big junior hockey guy and you know, you have a Morrill Cup and you know, the process I went through buying the Belleville bowls and, and, and, um, you know, it, it's a process. Uh, and, and you look at the team and you look at the

Starting point is 00:04:33 management and you look, uh, you know, uh, the, at the landscape and, um, you got to try to create the culture, create the environment, uh, and a lot, and the first year typically is, is you have And the first year typically is you have to learn. You have to, you know, you have two ears and one mouth and do twice as much listening and observing. And that's what we did last year and found what was required. Steve was obviously instrumental. He was with me in Hamilton when we went through the process and we went through the exact same process. Looked at the

Starting point is 00:05:16 character, look at the culture, create a culture of, and as the players know and people who know me, my differentiator, my success has always been work harder than your competition and care more and try to lead by example. And so with that mantra, you've seen the improvement year over year, when they're starting last year to the start of this year, from a lineup standpoint, we made changes in the arena with the fitness facility and the rehab area, the gym, etc. We created an environment that was best in class for our players and hold them accountable, But not only our players, but our coaches and the like. So created that, it's a process. And we felt that going into this year, we had better tools to be successful.

Starting point is 00:06:18 But ultimately, you can get all the tools, but people have to be held accountable. And these players have been held accountable. And by the way, you know, one of the youngest teams in the NHL last year to still one of the younger teams this year. So there's still a bit of, you know, that, that maturing process and, and, you know, Steve sprinkled in some good veterans who had won.

Starting point is 00:06:42 The Perons of the world, the Parons of the World of Matios, their cousins, and some good character people with Linus Almark, who's a type A, very cerebral. So you mixed all that in and you got yourself, you know, the makings of a team that can compete in, in an environment where it's very competitive, you know, as you know, you know, our young team had ebbs and flows. We had a lot of losing streaks, a lot of winning streaks, and that's part of the maturity process. But as the year goes along, we become steadier. And I'm really proud of how these guys have really stuck it with it, particularly in late March and into April now.

Starting point is 00:07:33 You know, I am curious, you mentioned Lina Solomarca a second ago, and I always think back to, you know, what Elaine Vigneault would always talk about. He would say, hockey is simple. If your goalie is better than my goalie, you win. If my goalie is better than your goalie, I win. If my goalie is better than your goalie, I win. Is it too simple to say, you got the goalie? I know there's other things, I get it,

Starting point is 00:07:49 I understand all that, but do we look at a lot of this and say, listen, a big lift here is getting the goalie. Yeah, one of those guys, I mean, we have the goalies. Anton Forsberg has, I think we lead the league, has, I think we lead, we lead the league in, in shutouts. I think we have 10 shutouts this year. And, um, uh, Maryland came in when, when, uh, uh, when this was hurt and he, he, he showed his metal and he, you know, I think he's got three shutouts.

Starting point is 00:08:21 Uh, Forsberg had, you know, we went, uh, so I think there's no doubt it's, you know, maybe because I'm being biased and I'm a goalie and it starts at the net and go outward. Yeah, there's no doubt. You have to have that. It gives the, you know, it gives the defensemen the confidence to play within themselves and not try to do more than they should be and it was right along. So I think having a number one goalie was an important piece and Linus plays a very big piece to our success for sure. I'll tell you what, you know, there's, um, there's something about Ottawa senators fans in the

Starting point is 00:09:05 playoffs, uh, I think, and this one, we have to go back to 2017. So the last time we saw this, but like when the Ottawa centers in the plastic, that is a, uh, an intimidating building. We've seen players comment on this before. It's loud. Um, it's a tough building to play in.

Starting point is 00:09:21 I'm sure you've been there before during, during postseason games. Like it is not an easy building to play in. When you think you've been there before during, during postseason games. Like it is not an easy building to play in. When you think about your fans and you think about the building, I mean, I always talk about, you know, I want to playoffs that gives us, you know, the best, it gives us the best action, but also gives us really dynamic crowds and you know, seeing your team make the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:09:41 That's one of the things that I think I'm most excited about is seeing Ottawa Senators fans legit have something huge to cheer for here. Do you have a word or two about what you expect from the fans of the Canadian Tire Center? I mean, when I'm about the team, one of the neat things that I know, that I recognize is the grassroots

Starting point is 00:10:00 in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, they love their hockey. The Sens Sportsplex centers are full in the summertime. There's a lot of grassroot. There's a love for the game and it's real. It's authentic. So, you know, the Sens fans are authentic they're authentic. You know, we, we are, our ticket prices is the lowest in the league. They, it's affordable for the average fan. And interestingly enough, what, you know, when the Leafs come to town, it's, it's, it's loud.

Starting point is 00:10:38 The Leaf fans are loud because they're, they're probably the ones that, you know, that cannot afford the four or $500 tickets. Real fans. And they're, they're probably the ones that cannot afford the four or $500 tickets. Real fans. And they're real fans. So I guess that's how I would identify with Ottawa. They're real fans. So yeah, so that's, I'm excited about it. They've been a little bit, you know, obviously eight years without making the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:11:02 You know, they're a little skeptical and I haven't endured that the way they have. So I feel for and I'm so excited for them, for us. So I'm looking forward to our first home game. Let me close on this. You've, there are, I mean, you've gone from running very successful and owning very successful junior organizations, uh, and the Ontario Hockey League to, to being a minority owner with the Montreal Canadiens and of course, majority owner

Starting point is 00:11:33 with the Ottawa senators here. I can't tell you how many people I talk to who say, yeah, this guy wants to buy a junior team and then do what Ann Lauer did and buy, buy an NHL team. Like that's, that's going to be the latter. It's like you've sort of provided this model now. For any junior owners out there, Michael,

Starting point is 00:11:50 that have thoughts about buying an NHL team, what advice would you give them? Have deep pockets. They're plain and simple. It's not much different. Um, you know, it's not, but it's not much different than running a business too. It's a people business that is, and that's, and that's something it's, you know, um, understand that the people are, uh, are everything. Your, our fans are our lifeblood. Uh, and, and the people, the players, uh, you know, I can, people call me a players

Starting point is 00:12:22 owner, but that's because it's, I'm about to be a player. I'm about to be a player. I'm about to be a player. Our fans are our lifeblood and the people, the players, people call me a players owner, but that's because I'm all about people and caring, caring more. So there's not much different from junior hockey. It's just, you need a lot deeper pockets. Just a deeper, it's a more expensive stick and skate budget, I would imagine than you then you get in junior hockey but nonetheless but nonetheless.

Starting point is 00:12:48 Oh yeah, yeah it's all relative. I know you got a flight to catch you at the airport right now thanks so much for taking time for me today much appreciated congratulations to you and your organization looks great on you thanks so much for doing this. My pleasure Jeff thank you so much for having me. There he is, Michael Landlower, the owner. Get that one at the end. The owner of the Ottawa Center. Michael Landlower. I spent 16 hours last night, every day this week, every day this month.

Starting point is 00:13:09 I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day. Cause you can call it a ride. I went to the mall, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car,

Starting point is 00:13:17 I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my car, I got my I can't get out my head Lost all ambitions day to day Guess you can call it a ride I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, no, man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself, and how this gon' be fixing my mind Thanks for watching! You

The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Michael Andlauer

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