Goodbye Scotiabank Place, Hello Canadian Tire Centre???

The Ottawa Senators are holding a press conference Tuesday morning for a “business announcement”.  However, the secret was let out of the bag tonight as various sources are reporting that Scotiabank Place will be renamed Canadian Tire Centre.

May 7, 2013; Ottawa, ON, CAN; The Ottawa Senators score with 22 seconds left in the third period in game four of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs to tie the game against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Place. The Senators defeated the Canadiens 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

This will be the fourth incarnation of a name on the 17-year old building that was called the Palladium when it opened in 1996, quickly became the Corel Centre, in February 1996 and after their 10 year contract expired, they didn’t renew the naming rights.  Scotiabank opted in, with a 15 year agreement in 2006, which is now not even half way completed.

It will be interesting to see why the name change came about, as Scotiabank also owns the naming rights to the Saddledome in Calgary.  Perhaps they felt the redundancy to have two major facilities in the same league bear their name and they are opting out.  Maybe Eugene Melnyk will get a double dip for a bit, as I can’t see him letting Scotiabank off the hook with no penalty.

Reaction so far to the potential new name of Canadian Tire Centre has been mixed, and there have been lots of jokes that the Senators will now be drafting or signing Albert. (And for those of you under 35, I did a little mock post on Albert about a year and a half ago).

We will bring you the details of the announcement and the confirmation of the new name after it is made official.