A discussion with key personnel from the Belleville Senators was the main event of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast at San Souci on Thursday.
Belleville Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Raycroft asked a number of questions to the Belleville Sens’ Vice President of Business Operations John Mathers and Head Coach David Bell about the team’s role in the community and their work engaging with business partners.
One of the questions asked was about the commitment to staying in Belleville.
“My first time meeting Michael Andlauer (owner of the Ottawa Senators and Belleville Senators) … we heard these rumors about, will the team stay in Belleville? Will the team be moving to Hamilton with the renovations that are happening in that building? So the first thing I said to him, am I buying a house in the Belleville region or am I buying a house in the Hamilton region? He said, The team’s going to stay,” Mathers told the crowd.
“So I took the man for his word, and the first thing he told me to do was renegotiate the lease with the city.”
In August, the team and the City of Belleville negotiated a three-year extension to the lease that will see the B-Sens remain in Belleville through at least the 2029-2030 season.
The agreement includes a five-year option that could see the team remain in the city until the end of the 2034-2035 campaign.
Mathers says being able to get the lease done helps them establish that the team is here for the long haul.
“(Andlauer) wants the team to be successful here. He wants the team to connect with community, and ultimately, he wants this team to embrace the past, the Bulls and the McFarlands, while defining a new future of the Belleville Sens,” Mathers said.
Head Coach David Bell spoke about roster construction for the season ahead, saying the first thing management looks for when bringing in players to the organization is character.
“We signed guys this summer to multi-year deals, which is not super common in the American Hockey League. So we signed multiple guys to multiple-year contracts that we identified as good people, super good people and guys that can help our team,” Bell explained.
“So now we’re going to get a continuity of our group coming back that’s easier for me to, you know, familiarize with our system.”
When discussing managing a team that is one of the smallest in the AHL, Mathers says being new to the area has made him learn a lot.
“What makes this city and this region really incredible is how you want to punch above your weight, right? You want to stand up. You look at the not-for-profit space in this, I’m blown away every time, right? It’s just an active community that wants to be connected, that wants to do the right thing,” Mathers said.
“When you combine that, doing the right thing for a coach, combined with punching above your weight, you have a lot of opportunity and you have a lot of connection that can really drive success.”
Other topics discussed included player involvement in the community, culture building, engaging with the business community and fundraising partnerships with local organizations and charities.
