From the Citizen:

The Senators are contemplating a move downtown.

The group that operates the NHL team — Senators Sports & Entertainment—has confirmed to the Citizen that it is “actively considering the opportunity” to build a new hockey arena on the grounds of LeBreton Flats.

That meansthe Senators will be among those taking a long look at redeveloping the so-called second phase of the sprawling property on the south side of Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway across from the Canadian War Museum.

On Sept. 30, the National Capital Commission launched a request for proposals to redevelop as much as 21.4 hectares of land a tLeBreton Flats that sits south of the parkway and west of Booth Street. One criteria for the redevelopment proposalis the inclusion of “an attraction of a regional, national or international significance” that is also a “world-class capital destination.”

The Senators told the Citizenthe sports organization has been “approached by numerous well-established privatesector companies and community organizations who have expressed a strong desire to partner with us on developing a world-class proposal for the site.”

TheSens organization said it will make its final decision on whether to submit an application to the NCC over the next few weeks. While the Senators believe an NHL arena at LeBreton could drive economic development in the core, as well as serve as an “architectural anchor” for the development, they underlined that they “feel very strongly that this could only be possible with strong community support.”

That could be a call to arms to Sens fans who support an arena in the city core to rise up in support of the idea.