We recently caught up with Ian Mendes and Sylvain St. Laurent to discuss their recent career shifts and their view of what the Ottawa Senators' communications department should look like in 2024.
We recently caught up with Ian Mendes and Sylvain St. Laurent to discuss their recent career shifts and their view of what the Ottawa Senators' communications department should look like in 2024.
It's early in July. Ian Mendes is flipping through a 112-page document in his suburban abode 3,900 km from Barbados, sipping on an old-fashioned. This document, he believed, contained a plan, a master plan detailing how the Ottawa Senators' communication department could develop into the envy of the league.
Okay, so it was not another famed 112-page master plan portending five years of unparalleled success, but he was working on a vision - a vision that arose out of an unanticipated conversation with Michael Andlauer.
The Senators owner approached the affable journalist regarding an opportunity on June 29th, during the second day of the NHL Draft in Vegas.
"Michael Andlauer indicated that they were possibly looking at doing some changes," recalled Mendes. "I think (he approached me) because I had been a PR guy before.
"Michael said, 'Listen, in full transparency, we have interviewed, are interviewing or will be interviewing other candidates.' This wasn't, 'Hey, would you like the job? It's yours.' It was more, 'If you're interested, let's start the ball rolling and get you to put together a plan.'"
The timing of Andlauer's gauging of interest could not have arrived at a more appropriate time.
As luck would have it, Mendes was in a unique spot. The writer's contract with The Athletic was set to expire on August 31st. Under the parameters of his deal, the parties could begin to negotiate a new agreement on June 1st, but for whatever reason, his employer waited to initiate those discussions.
"They were going to get to me," explained Mendes. "I don't think there was any doubt in either of our minds that something was going to get done, but they didn't get the ball rolling until around Canada Day."
Had The Athletic extended an offer in June, Mendes would have agreed to it. He loved his job, and his portfolio was expanding. Besides fulfilling his role as a Senators beat writer, Ian took on additional podcasting responsibilities. He also began covering issues of national importance, like the World Junior sex scandal and the potential to house an NHL team in Salt Lake City.
"To be blunt, if The Athletic came to me on June 1st and said, 'Here's a contract,'" Mendes recalled. "I would have signed. I never would have thought about anything else because I just loved it there.
"It's hard to even go back and think about where my mind was at because I think my heart and mind were always with The Athletic until all of a sudden, this door opened at the NHL Draft."
So, Mendes got to work putting together a vision board of what the ideal communications team should be in the year 2024. He delved deep into his philosophies, creating a vision statement for his prospective department and outlining its staffing requirements and how it would operate.
He only received one piece of guidance from Andlauer.
"The one thing Michael said is, 'Listen, if we go down the road of going with you, you're a unilingual guy. That's really not going to fly with us that we have a unilingual PR department moving forward.' He said, 'We have to have somebody who is extremely strong and bilingual but can deal with French press.' The (Senators) wanted to deal with (appealing to the market) in Gatineau, and I said, 'I have the guy.'"
The guy he was referring to was Sylvain St-Laurent.
The 46-year-old francophone was a friend and former colleague. St-Laurent spent 25 years as a columnist and beat writer for Le Droit before leaving the industry in June of 2023. Shortly after announcing his departure from journalism, it was only a short time before Ottawa's PWHL franchise came calling to offer him a job.
"I had a bit of a plan of what I wanted to do, and it didn't involve any (media) relations," St-Laurent recalled. "When the word came out that I was going to leave LeDroit, the PWHL reached out. It was November. The season was getting closer and closer, and the (circumstances were similar).
"They needed somebody who understood the French market, could deal with French media, and the media in general. So, I said, 'You know what? It might be fun to help start something.' And that's why I told them, "I've never thought about doing media relations in my life, but I'll give it a try. I want to see what this league is about." I had a blast. It was a super fun time. I convinced myself I could do it for a second year and keep going because it was so much fun. Then (Ian) called. That was when I had a decision to make it that time."
A few weeks later, the Senators officially announced on July 31st that they had hired Mendes as vice president of communications and St-Laurent as director of communications.
The public response was staggering.
Fans celebrated the addition of two writers whose character outweighed their talents.
"I was floored by the fans' reaction the day it was announced," St-Laurent beamed. "I knew we were respected in the market, but I didn't expect people to appreciate and welcome this news so much.
"When we first got in, we knew pretty much everybody in the hockey operations department, but they couldn't have welcomed us any better. Everybody was nice. From day one, I felt something had shifted, and they welcomed us in."
Mendes echoed those sentiments.
"It was jaw-dropping because, again, you never know (what the response will be) when you do this," he said. "You're worried but not worried."
"You're curious about how the news is going to land. Are you going to be viewed as a turncoat, a sellout, a shill? There's a lot of ways it could go. I was blown away. It was almost universal in the response from the fanbase."
As overwhelming as the positive feedback was, their decision to move was not without its drawbacks. Mendes was a popular, high-profile journalist covering the team, and fans who thoroughly enjoyed the work realized the organization's announcement was bittersweet. They would have to look elsewhere for Sens content.
Another significant consideration was the human element. Mendes and St-Laurent inherited the mantle from individuals with whom they had working relationships that lasted for more than a decade. It will inevitably be difficult to reconcile that fact while taking on a new and exciting challenge, someone you know very well is being pushed out the door.
"It sucks. It really does," Mendes reflected. "(The organization) had been pretty transparent that they had identified some candidates. I know that they interviewed other candidates other than me.
"So that part of it, it sucks because you're talking about people that either have kids or they personally put a lot of time into it. It's really tough. I sent them both notes, and I'll say that I have a ton of respect for the job they had to do under the circumstances under which they did it. And, now, sitting in the seats that we're sitting in, we have a greater appreciation for the many directions that PR people get pulled in and fires that you're putting out. But really, you do feel awful. I'm not going to lie; you feel awful that you're taking somebody's job that you intimately know and have worked with for 10 to 15 years. And yeah, that part of it, you don't never... I don't feel very good about that."
Transitioning into their respective roles was easier because both men were comfortable just being themselves. What you see in public is how they are behind the scenes. Talking to other members of the organization who work closely with them, they all praised their kindness, positivity and engagement. They also believed that, unlike other prospective candidates, their previous work experience, preexisting relationships, and extensive organization knowledge afforded them a competitive advantage, allowing them to hit the ground running and make the transition easier.
What also helps is that their goals align with ownership's. Having written extensively about the Senators' failure to recognize and appeal to a significant neighbouring market in Gatineau, St-Laurent believed he could help bridge that gap.
"One of the reasons I decided to leave the PWHL and was super happy to follow Ian here was how Michael Andlauer embraced the fact that this is Ottawa-Gatineau's team, not just Ottawa's team anymore. They were very serious. Management was serious about trying to figure out, first of all, why Gatineau was such an enigma in this market, and then trying slowly but surely to try and make some ground and gain some fans in that area. Again, that's Michael Andlauer.
Gatineau is an underdeveloped market that the organization hasn't targeted at all. It's been taken for granted. Ottawa-Gatineau is a small market according to NHL standards. But, the Francophone community accounts for 28-29% of the community. You're going to try and make this thing work in a smaller market, not work but thrive. You can't ignore 30% of your market. We have to make them believe that this is the best place for them."
Mendes has several goals. Within three years, he wants the communications to be recognized league-wide as being the best in class by being nominated or winning the Dick Dillman Award. It is voted on annually by PHWA members to honour "the hard work of public relations staffs who make the extra effort to help promote and cover the NHL and their teams."
He would also like the organization to do a better job of merging communications responsibilities with content.
"Storytelling is at the heart of what I think makes for good PR," Mendes said. "What we're trying to do is say, "We've got 20 great stories here, but we can't take all 20 of them and keep them in-house.
"We've got to give a couple to TSN. We've got to give a couple to The Athletic. We've got to give a couple to Postmedia.' We need to spread it around, and that's one of our objectives. To try and tell as many stories as we can over as many platforms as we can and build really strong relationships with the media."
Working with their former colleagues to improve the relationship between the media and the team -- whether it's the PR staff, the players, or the coaches -- will be paramount. Ultimately, it comes down to the organization's responsibility to prioritize the fans.
Part of that process involves opening the doors to non-traditional media that have amassed large audiences online.
"We would be crazy not to pay attention to that," explained Mendes. "We're not going to open the doors to every podcaster or blogger out there, but we are going to open the doors to the ones that have shown a great deal of professionalism, hard work, and research.
"All the attributes in my mind that Locked on Senators and Brent Wallace have. You're stupid to not pay attention to that. They have huge followers and readerships. To just shut them out because they're not legacy media (is dumb). Legacy media seems like a very 2014 approach to this job, and we have to take a 2034 approach to this job. Where is this going in the next 10 years? The answer is it's not more legacy media. It's more independent outlets and journalists."
Too often in the past, it has felt like the organization took its fan base for granted simply because it was a Canadian market where hockey should be able to sell itself. It was lazy and debilitating. All fans want is a competitive product and better avenues for storytelling and engagement so they can get to know the players and the organization more intimately.
Deeping that connection on both sides of the Ottawa River will be essential for moving this franchise into the modern era ahead of relocating to its LeBreton Flats location.
Granted, these are all just words. The communications department recognizes that. They do not want to be judged at the beginning of the season when the season is new, optimism is high, and the organization just re-signed their starting goaltender to a long-term extension.
"The time to judge us as a PR staff is when things are going poorly," said Mendes. "Judge us when we're struggling or there's a controversy.
"That's when you're going to learn about us. That's when I hope we're really judged, is in those tough moments. It's easy when things are easy. Don't judge people when things are easy. Judge them when things are tough."
Considering we are about to enter the month of November, a time when the organization has historically struggled, fans will be eager to shelve talk of tough moments. In the interim, it is hard not to appreciate and enjoy a time when the organization has fundamentally shifted its approach to tailor content and experiences for its fans.