15-HOUR DRIVE? NO PROBLEM
And so, after about as crazy and entertaining a run as you could ever imagine, it is all over for the Ottawa Senators. And oh, what a two and a half months it has been. One more (allowed) goal in Game 6 on Sunday evening might have been nice, but how can we nitpick after what we’ve just witnessed?
HOPPING ABOARD IN INDY
When the Senators found a way to bring it home for a Game 6, a couple of longtime friends were so inspired they did exactly the same thing.
After watching the Sens stave off elimination at home in Game 4, Justin Sevigny and Chad Hallett vowed to be there at the Canadian Tire Centre if the series with the Canadiens returned to Ottawa.
It was no small commitment for Hallett, who now lives in Indianapolis, and Sevigny, currently in Barrie. Hallett’s road trip started with a 10-hour trek to meet Sevigny in Barrie before another fivehour run together to Kanata. It was a chance for the 35-year-olds to strengthen an old friendship and relive memories of a childhood spent playing hockey in hometown Ottawa.
“It’s been such a good run,” said Sevigny, on the last few games the Sens have played. “and they seem like they’re unkillable (sic).”
Hallett said hearing about the Sens’ winning streak in American news made him feel proud of his Canadian roots.
“Even though I don’t live in Canada anymore, I’m still proud of where I come from,” he said. “I’m always the guy that tells everyone I’m from … Ottawa so you see us get in the news there and being able to pick it up … it does make you proud.”
Hallett said he had faith in the Sens’ chances of winning.
“I know a lot of media and fans have been writing them off, and then they’re still here,” he said before Game 6. “This is a huge game for the city.”
PUFFED UP FOR THE PLAYOFFS
If you’ve been on Sens Mile lately, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Russell Jerome, cheeks puffed out, his face red and rosy, like the colour of his Senators jersey.
It’s hard to a miss a 12-year-old blaring away on the bagpipes.
Jerome stood on the side of Elgin Street, blasting out as best he could for almost an hour Friday night, and on Sunday he moved his act to the Canadian Tire Centre.
Jerome started playing bagpipes three years ago, at the tender age of nine. When he was good enough to busk, he decided it would be a good opportunity to make some cash.
He said he started playing on Elgin because of how well the Sens were doing, and with Game 6 being played in Ottawa, he figured the place to be on Sunday night was outside of the CTC.
The best song in Jerome’s repertoire? A mocking bagpipe rendition of the Habs’ “ole” chant.
COMMISH IN THE HOUSE, BUT ALMOST LATE
Gary Bettman, the tiny perfect NHL commissioner, was in the house for Game 6 at the CTC.
“I’m just here to watch the game,” said Bettman, whose head barely rose above the clear podium.
Bettman wasn’t here five minutes before he was cracking wise about what a pain in the rear it is to have to drive to Kanata. In fact, Bettman’s media conference was several minutes late as he fought pre-game arena traffic.
He wasn’t really ripping on Kanata as much as suggesting owner Eugene Melnyk’s plan to move the team to a new downtown arena is something the NHL is “watching closely” and could represent “an exciting opportunity for the team.”
And no, Bettman has had no contact with the NCC or anything else to do with the downtown arena project. The plan is in the “preliminary stages,” Bettman says, and that sounds painfully optimistic to those who have watched the glacier-like movements of the NCC over the years.
ALFIE IN THE HOUSE, TOO
The commish wasn’t the only celeb at the arena for Game 6 Sunday.
Senators icon Daniel Alfredsson got permission from his family and the minor hockey schedule to attend his second straight game of this series.
Alfie was in Montreal for Game 5 Friday and told reporters he would have got to an earlier Sens playoff game except that his kids’ minor hockey schedule got in the way. Every hockey dad within earshot could relate to that one.