Mascot wearing split Sens-Nordiques jersey prompts backlash online, but owner says team isn’t moving

Ottawa Senators mascot Spartacat is seen wearing a jersey that is half Ottawa Senators and half Quebec Nordiques. (Ottawa Senators/X, formerly Twitter)

A social media post from the Ottawa Senators alongside an announcement about preseason games in Quebec City has Sens fans up in arms.

Senators owner Michael Andlauer announced Monday the team will be playing two preseason games at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City. Ottawa will take on the New Jersey Devils on Sept. 28 and the Montreal Canadiens on Sept. 30.

The Senators posted on X, formerly Twitter, an image of team mascot Spartacat wearing a jersey that is half Ottawa Senators and half Quebec Nordiques.

The post received hundreds of comments before eventually being deleted, most of them opposed to the stunt.

“This can start a rumour. Never a good idea,” one user said in reply to the post.

“We fans as a collective are not on board with this. Never combine our jersey with another. We are proudly the Ottawa Senators and nothing, no one, else,” said another.

The two images of Spartacat wearing the Sens/Nordiques jersey were deleted from the Senators social media accounts Tuesday morning.

Senators spokesperson Ian Mendes said he would take fans' feedback seriously.

“I see a lot of feedback and heated opinions on the Quebec City stuff. I’ve opened up my DMs here so please feel free to reach out directly,” he said on X. “I can’t promise I can respond to everyone — but I can promise to take the feedback to the very top of our organization.”

Andlauer told reporters at a press conference Monday that moving the team to Quebec is not an option.

“I will tell you directly, no. For me, I love Ottawa-Gatineau. I adore our fans,” he said in French. “There’s no doubt we will remain in Ottawa-Gatineau.”

Andlauer said talks continue with the National Capital Commission (NCC) on purchasing a parcel of land at LeBreton Flats with the goal of building a new arena for the Senators closer to downtown Ottawa and closer to Gatineau, where he’s said he hopes to grow the fanbase.

“In Kanata, it works, and it can continue to work, but it would be better to be closer to downtown,” he said.

The NCC has said it hopes to finalize the deal by the end of the year.

Andlauer suggested, however, that future Ottawa Senators games could be played in Quebec City, including during the regular season.

“If we can play in Sweden, we can play in Quebec City,” he said. “But that’s a decision for the NHL to make.”

Sparty jersey a ‘nod’ to Nordiques fans: Leeder

Ottawa Senators President and CEO Cyril Leeder says the decision to put Spartacat in a split jersey was to try and appeal to fans in Quebec City who might want to cheer for the Sens.

“We’re just trying to have a small nod to the Nordiques fans,” he told TSN 1200’s The Drive on Monday afternoon. “Those are the fans we’re most likely going to convert to Senators fans... If somebody was a Nordiques fan, we probably have a shot. If they were cheering for the Nordiques, they probably were not a Canadiens fan, obviously.”

The Nordiques left Quebec City in 1995, becoming the Colorado Avalanche.

The Senators organization wants to grow its Francophone fanbase in Quebec, and getting games either in an arena or on TV in Quebec and broadcasting in French is part of that strategy, Leeder explained.

He said he understands fans’ sensitivity around the future of the franchise and said the team might not have done the jersey post if they could go back in time, but he also said Andlauer has been clear that the team is staying put.

“Michael made it really clear that this is not about moving to Quebec City, this is not a tactic to get the NCC to move. These games were in the works for awhile,” he said. “We picked the date for this announcement six weeks ago.”

On the subject of regular season games, Leeder said those were never part of the discussion, and came up in conversation at the press conference, with Andlauer saying it’s up to the NHL.

“It’s never been discussed and it’s not on our agenda to get that done,” Leeder said. “We just wanted to get these two preseason games, particularly with the Canadiens.”

He ended by saying the team’s best chance to win fans is to play well.

“Here we are, we just swept another weekend series, we’re in third place, and we’re talking about what logo that Sparty’s got on his jersey,” Leeder added. “We’d like to be talking about the success of the team.”