Q&A with Ottawa Senators CFO Erin Crowe: An NHL Pioneer

OTTAWA – Erin Crowe is the Ottawa Senators' secret weapon.

He rarely gives interviews and prefers to do things quietly behind the scenes. And the director of operations and the financial director of the hockey club. does do things.

Crowe is the custodian of the Senators' finances and a key player on the management team forging a new future for the organization, with plans to build a new NHL arena on the LeBreton Flats site west of Parliament Hill.

Crowe spoke with Sportsnet.ca in a wide-ranging discussion that covered his groundbreaking career and the challenges he faced as a young man in what had always been a man's game. In part 2 of this article, Crowe talks about life working with mercurial Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and how his main focus is laying the groundwork for a new area under new owner Michael Andlauer and president Cyril Leeder.

After earning a commerce degree from Queen's College, Crowe was a promising young accountant at KPMG when then-Senators chief financial officer Mark Goudie recruited her in 1996 to join the Senators as vice president of finance. She was named the team's chief financial officer in 2003 and in 2009 became deputy governor, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Senators. In 2015, Crowe left the organization to pursue other opportunities, but in December 2021 he responded to a private plea from an ailing Melnyk to return and help lift the NHL club's finances from a massive economic hit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. Melnyk died in March 2022.

Crowed, married with two children, was named Ottawa Corporate Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009, Chief Financial Officer of the Year in 2022 and as recently as September was named to the sports business journalList of the 50 best women 'game changers' in the world of sports.

I sat down with Erin Crowe in the senators' offices.

Did you play sports when you were a child?
I did. I played soccer. My daughter still plays. She is 16 years old. I've spent a lot of time driving to different soccer fields! (Crowe is on the board of directors of the West Ottawa Soccer Membership)

If someone had told 12-year-old Erin that she was going to grow up to be the CEO of an NHL team, what would she have said?
I would have said, “No way.” Ottawa didn't even have a team at the time. We watched hockey as a family, but I wasn't a big fan. It wasn't something that was really in my DNA.

After joining the Senators organization in 1996 in the finance department, did you envision this career path to becoming CFO and COO?
No. I mean, I joined thinking it was just another step in my career. And it wasn't even a path that I thought I would take, because I really felt like I would go the partner route in a company. That was my goal. But the opportunity arose with an NHL club and it was quite exciting. You are between 20 and 20 years old and it is a good opportunity. I took the job thinking, OK, new experience. Mark Goudie (now president of OSEG, owners of the CFL Redblacks and OHL 67) was here at the time, he's the one who hired me. He was a good person to work with, so go ahead. The organization changed so much over the years that it was easy to stay and continue to grow with it.

What is the biggest difference between working for private companies and a professional sports team like the Senators?
I think the perspective you have to take when you're in such a public organization is a little different. There is the business, the finances and all that, but you also have to see it from the perspective of the followers and the community. Are we really doing the right thing for our followers? And I think with the addition of Michael Andlauer, he really wants to do what's best for the fans and that's always the most important thing. So that lens prevails. The fans are the ones who buy our tickets and spend time here at the stadium. We mean something to the community, right? So we have to do the right thing.

I guess it's also different from the aspect of having a hot game potentially happening that night when office work is done.
It is tangible. When you tell people what you do, people understand. People believe in it and think it's exciting.

Describe for us the reaction of the NHL Board of Governors to your first appearance as alternate governor of the Senators in 2009.
Well, I think I mentioned this before, but I remember walking in with Cyril and I'm sure people thought I was the EA, right? I was quite young in 2009, I was between 30 and 30 years old. So, yes, a young woman came in and there were no other women at the table at the time.

You were a pioneer at the NHL board level. Did you feel comfortable speaking among that group of men?
No! (Laughs). Even attending Board of Governors meetings prior to our change of ownership (last year), I would not have felt comfortable. There are actually very few people in that room who necessarily feel comfortable speaking. From my perspective, there is a group of people who are comfortable speaking and then there is another group who listen, learn and take what they hear back to their clubs.

Unless you are asked a specific question, such as what's going on in Ottawa, with a property search, or what do you have?
Exactly.

Have you faced a high degree of misogyny and sexism in your career? It can be difficult for women in management circles.
Interesting question. I would say that at the beginning of my career I really didn't pay any attention to it at all. I just kept my head down, did my job and didn't worry about it. So I'm not sure I noticed it at the time. I think now I'm more aware of whether it's happening or not and I'm also more able to manage it or report it constructively, right? So that others here don't feel the same type of problem or perceived problem.

There also seems to be a lot more awareness in society now.
Well, and I think the NHL has addressed this issue as well. They have some good initiatives. Kim Davis (senior executive vice president of social impact and growth initiatives) has raised a lot of awareness about all of this within the league. He has made presentations to the board of governors. It takes time. You can't right a ship overnight, but the awareness is certainly there, within the NHL and across all of professional sports. And we see the arrival of the PWHL, the NWSL and the WNBA – these women's sports leagues are getting bigger. Valuations are growing. The direction is female, right? So you see more of that, more awareness and more opportunities.

You have an interesting vantage point from which to observe the explosion of women in hockey today: as professional players on the ice in the PWHL, but also in NHL management, in scouting and, for the first time, as a bench coach (Jessica Campbell in Seattle). How does it feel on a personal level to have more women in the game?
Ah, I think it's great. It is something that I am very passionate about, not necessarily what the role is specifically, but seeing more women being successful. I love the fact that there is a woman behind the bench. I think it's a big step for any NHL team and really a demonstration that a woman can be on the same level as men. That's a big step. I would love to see more female referees and I know they are working on that in the AHL. So continuing to see progress is really important.

What is the best advice you could give to a young woman interested in a sports or financial career?
Be persistent. If you know that's what you want, find some connections, some mentors. Be willing to spend some time early in your career, maybe not doing exactly what you want to do, but doing something within the business. Don't lose sight of the prize. Keep your focus on what you want to achieve and continue working towards it. It's not going to happen overnight, but the opportunities are there, there's no doubt.

He sports business journal has just included you in its list of 'Recreation Changers', 50 leading and innovative women in the world of sports. What was your takeaway after joining these highly successful peers at an awards ceremony and conference in late September?

Did you know? It was an incredible experience. The ceremony was great, it was great to hear these women's stories and it is such a diverse group. From different sports: some in more behind-the-scenes roles, others front and center in their leagues or sports. But it was really interesting, the day after the awards they did a day long conference and listening to some of these speakers and some of the things that these women have done in the world of sport was really inspiring. I told people, I wish I had 20 more years in my career because I heard all these things I'd like to go out and do, these opportunities that exist now. These women are taking on roles that have not traditionally been played by women, very senior roles in organizations, and they are having a huge influence on what happens there. “They have worked hard to get there and they are successful when they do.”

Tomorrow: Part 2. Life with Eugene Melnyk, a career change and return to target a new NHL arena for Ottawa-Gatineau.

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