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Ten months into his first year as Alouettes president, Patrick Boivin could be excused if he believed the football world was imploding around him.
The team has a 3-12 record, is on an eight-game losing streak, will miss the Canadian Football League playoffs for a third straight season, has fired its head coach, who doubled as the offensive coordinator, fired the defensive coordinator and is averaging 19,439 spectators, or nearly 4,000 below capacity.
Other than that, things are great. “The initial challenge we all saw … certainly hasn’t changed. Some would argue it has grown. I’d argue we just took a little longer to get started. Semantics? Maybe,” Boivin said Monday. ...
If there was one point Boivin attempted to drive home, he insisted there was never going to be any quick fix to what ails the Als. The “landslide” might have started five years ago; even a winning record this year would have only masked some deep-rooted problems. ...
While there will constantly be speculation about potential new ownership or the need to get local interested parties involved, the Wetenhall family never has expressed a desire to sell. And realistically, it wouldn’t make economic sense to unload the franchise at this juncture, when the return would be minimal. “My belief is they’ll fight to keep the franchise, but there needs to be signs,” Boivin said. “Part of that — a big part — is on me … on righting the ship. I don’t know that we necessarily get four years to do this without seeing some real progression.” ...
Firing Chapdelaine and Noel Thorpe last month was less about salvaging the season, Boivin said. It was more about starting to plan for the future. And now that will begin again with the hiring of a new head coach this winter and what should be some new assistants along with, it’s imagined, an overhaul of the roster. This team needs to get younger while changing the culture. It requires a coach who will both teach and lead. ...
The price of season tickets will remain frozen. Indeed, those deciding to renew their subscriptions will take advantage of rebates between 45 and 25 per cent, depending on how early they commit. The price of almost 1,000 seats in Molson Stadium will be reduced, and a $20 ticket for students will now be offered. Rather than concentrating on the approximately 10,000 who have full season-ticket packages, Boivin said equal emphasis must be placed on those who have more specific interests and want to see a more limited number of games. Boivin said the organization must continue to sell the overall experience as opposed to the actual three-hour game.