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“I started thinking about the challenge and it felt like I had one more turn in me to do something,” Little said in a one-on-one interview with this newspaper Friday as the Senators prepared to the play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at home. “If it was perfectly fixed, A, I wouldn’t have gotten the call, and B, I wouldn’t have taken the job.

“There’s something bizarre about my personality that likes things that aren’t completely set. And you can make the argument here that as most businesses go through cycles, we’re kind of at the down end of the cycle. Most people’s reactions were supportive, but (also), ‘Why would you want to do that?’ I got a lot of that. It was obvious to me, my mind opened up and the picture of what needed to be done kind of appeared.”

After making the decision to undergo a full rebuild in February 2018, less than a year removed from a trip the Eastern Conference final, the Senators have fallen on hard times in the standings with key players being sent packing in exchange for future assets that are going to play big roles in helping this organization return to being a Stanley Cup contender.

Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia News

The club’s business has taken a hit, with Ottawa averaging 12,050 through 29 home games this season and playing at 62.9 per cent capacity, and Little’s job is to reinvigorate the business and the brand.

“We have a few big problems, and the biggest problem is season-ticket holders, which is the flip-side coin of people having lost faith in the organization,” Little said. “So, we’ve got the business community having put us on hold. And unless we get that number up to the 10-to-12,000 range, it’s hard for my (sales) team to sell 5,000 to 7,000 tickets every day.