Maybe one day, there'll be a book: how an Ottawa Senators team that hadn't been in a playoff game since 2016-17 got past its past.
Maybe one day there’ll be a book about how a hockey team that hadn’t been in a playoff game since 2017 season got past its past. Finally.Maybe. There are a lot of ifs, a lot of barriers, a lot of questions, a lot of games and variables to come.While the Senators had already played one of 82 National Hockey League regular-season games — a season-opening 5-3 loss to the Hurricanes on Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.
There was also a big surprise: the return of legendary singer Lyndon Slewidge, who, in a moment of madness, was thrown into anthem purgatory seven years ago. On Saturday, he belted out the Star Spangled Banner and O Canada in the finest of forms, closing with the signature white-gloved thumbs up. Welcome back, Lyndon.It started pre-game in the “plaza” outside the arena, with sunlight beaming down through wisps of clouds.
The players were introduced. There was Artem Zuuuuuuuuuuub. There was the captain, the much-beloved Tkachuk. And the others. There was a gasp when goaltender Anton Forsberg tripped .The Flyers were booed. It is, after all, Sens Country. And, in 2023, that just seems more significant than it did a year ago or the year before that. Or, for too long before that, when a disconnect/distrust developed between the team and the community.
There was a fight, too: Ottawa’s Mark Kastelic and Philadelphia’s Nick Seeler exchanged punches late in the second period.There was DJ Prosper in the intermissions and plenty of music in breaks in the action. Move It, Groove It and Raise a Little Hell. All great ideas for a night at the club or a day at the arena.There were boos. There were chants: “Go Sens Go, “Ref, You Suck” and “We Want Pinto.”
In a season of change — a new owner, a team with playoff hopes — it was a good home start, a beacon to brighter days ahead. On and off the ice.
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