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But this theory discounts the fact that there’s a sizeable Canadiens contingent in and around Ottawa that would have been eligible to buy seats on CapitalTickets.ca. The capital is, by its nature, a transient city with many of its residents coming from Quebec for a few years to work federal government jobs. Habs fans have been known to frequent bars like Chez Lucien — just a short walk from Parliament Hill — to take in a Canadiens game in friendly territory.

The Senators certainly aren’t the first and only National Hockey League team to try to oust rival partisans from their ranks. The Tampa Bay Lightning took a similar approach this post-season.

“We don’t feel the need to apologize for doing our best to create a home atmosphere for our season-ticket members and our team,” Lightning spokesman Bill Wickett told the Tampa Tribune.

Ottawa players were supportive of the initiative when told of the ticket strategy.

“It would be awesome to have all our fans in here,” said Senators winger Mark Stone. “We love our fans and they’ve been great for us over the last season. They stuck behind us. They had a couple of tough stretches this year and they really supported us and obviously we want them to be the ones sitting in the building.”

Defenceman Mark Borowiecki, who grew up in the Ottawa region of Kanata where the Canadian Tire Centre is located, says he sees no problem with the Senators wanting to give their fans the best opportunity to see the game.

“You want the rink to be rockin’ in your favour,” Borowiecki said. “It seems like at the Bell Centre it’s all Montreal, but when you come here it’s kind of split. It would be nice to come here and have it a little bit more in our favour.

“I’m sure a lot more teams do it than we realize and it’s probably a smart move.”

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The Gazette with files from the Canadian Press.