Ottawa Senators Foundation

Ottawa Senators Foundation

Contributor

The January 25th 2009 morning of the NHL’s All-Star Game in Montreal was cold, registering 22 Celsius. Early that morning, Mr. Roustan picked up Cyril Leeder, the CEO of the Ottawa Senators, at his downtown hotel. He and drove Mr. Leeder out to go for a skate at the recently completed outdoor ice rink in St. Michel, the same rink Mr. Roustan completed in partnership with the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation weeks earlier.

Mr. Leeder accidentally brought his wife’s Bauer skates instead of his, so he borrowed Mr. Roustan’s Bauer skates to go test out the ice and get a feel for the overall experience. After two laps in blustering wind and bone numbing cold temperatures, Mr. Leeder got back into the warm car and turned to Mr. Roustan and said, “I want one for Ottawa.”

As only he can, Mr. Leeder put together a partnership consisting of the Ottawa Senators, The Ottawa Senators Foundation, the City of Ottawa, local businesses, trades and sponsors in record time. Design meetings began between Roustan Capital’s portfolio design, engineering and manufacturing company and the City of Ottawa employees as this outdoor multi-purpose “Rink of Dreams” was going to be located on the front lawn of Ottawa’s City Hall.

The design changed from a traditional NHL-sized surface to a custom size with clear glass boards and multicolored lights built in. A one-of-a-kind engineering challenge was presented to Mr. Roustan’s team to locate the chiller in an underground parking garage, which was successfully completed.

Once the decision was made, Mr. Leeder and his team of staff from the Foundation worked what seemed around the clock in an effort to get the Rink of Dreams open in time for the NHL’s All-Star Game held in Ottawa in January 2012. The opening and the Rink of Dreams was a huge success at its grand opening and has been used year round ever since for all kinds of events, serving the citizens of Ottawa and visitors from all over the world. It is an iconic venue in the heart of Canada’s Capital City.

Mr. Roustan is humbled that Mr. Leeder, the Ottawa Senators, its Foundation, and the City of Ottawa entrusted him and his team to design, engineer and supply all of the systems for the Rink of Dreams.