Of course, this ranking is by the same ESPN that last week left the Sens expensive off season acquisition Bobby Ryan off their top 100 forwards list, but I guess as long as they feel that Eugene Melnyk is one of the top owners in the NHL, it's worth crowing about.

The ESPN ranking, unlike some other metrics, gives the Senators points for having a lower than average ticket price among the Canadian teams with affordability and 'bang for the buck' both heavily weighted categories in determining the overall rankings. ESPN also ranked the Senators highly in fan relations - again a contradiction of another recent survey that rated the Sens among the bottom NHL teams in social media.

Of course the ESPN ranking measures how the franchise caters to fans more than how the fans themselves respond to the franchise. It could very well be that Ottawa has one of the best franchises and one of the worst fanbases, but I suspect the truth is probably closer to the middle. What these types of rankings may prove, more than anything, is that evaluating a sports franchise or its fans using these kinds of criteria is more of an art than a science.