There are roughly 10 days in a calendar year when I think to myself, “Why do we live in Ottawa?”
And to be honest, Sunday was one of them, as we had the rare convergence of minus-20 degree weather with a major blizzard. Coming off the heels of a disappointing result against the Hurricanes on Saturday night, it felt like everything was stacked against us.
Bad luck on the ice.
Terrible weather outside.
And everybody in a foul mood.
Then we went out and dropped seven goals on the Vegas Golden Knights and suddenly that drive home from Canadian Tire Centre didn’t feel so ominous on Sunday night. (Full transparency: As a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, I’m not used to my team scoring a touchdown on NFC championship weekend).
That win felt cathartic for all of us.
We’re 4-2-2 in our last eight games played, but it doesn’t feel that way for a lot of our fans. Hopefully the convincing 7-1 victory infused the fan base with a little hope and confidence.
It would have been nice to pull out that type of win on Jacques Martin’s Ring of Honour night on Saturday. Heading into that game, the Senators were a perfect 3-0-0 on Ring of Honour Nights, outscoring opponents 11-3 on the nights when Bryan Murray, Wade Redden and Dr. Don Chow were recognized.
The game against the Hurricanes didn’t follow the pattern, but the ceremony was terrific. You could feel the love inside the building for Jacques, a true appreciation for the work he did in establishing credibility and respectability for this organization. To have the night fall on the exact anniversary of his first game behind the bench – January 24, 1996 – was a very cool nod to the past.
Now that Jacques is in his rightful place inside Canadian Tire Centre, the natural question becomes: Who deserves to be the next person added to the Senators Ring of Honour?
I’ve seen suggestions ranging everywhere from former players like Jason Spezza and Craig Anderson to our original ownership group led by Bruce Firestone. Some people think it should be a fixture inside the building like Lyndon Slewidge.
Who do you think deserves to be the next person added to the Ring of Honour? Send us an email to [email protected].
And as we collect some of the suggestions, we’ll be sure to pass them along to the voting committee.
Trivia time: The Senators beat the Golden Knights on Sunday, completing a season sweep of Vegas for the first time in franchise history. (Ottawa also defeated Vegas 4-3 in a shootout at T-Mobile Arena back in November).
This week’s trivia question: Now that Ottawa has a season sweep of Vegas under its belt, can you name the four teams the Senators have never swept in a season series?
Answer at the bottom of this column.
A personal note on mental health
First of all, I want to thank everyone who took the time to write to me after the Linus Ullmark interview with TSN aired last week.
I was fortunate enough to receive countless texts, emails and DMs with people sharing their own personal stories after Linus opened up last week. It’s a true privilege when people feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable and share intimate details about their personal life. I was so touched to receive so many poignant and powerful notes last week – a couple of which moved me to tears.
The one that really hit home was a father who wrote to me to say that he finally understood his teenage son’s anxiety after watching that interview with Linus. And he went to his son afterwards to ask for his forgiveness, because he felt like he hadn’t been supporting him the right way as a parent.
These notes on mental health are well-timed, because this is a very tough week for me as we close in on the one-year anniversary of the passing of Shawn Simpson.
It was exactly one year ago this week – January 29, 2025 – in which I received the phone call to let me know that Simmer was gone.
As I prepare myself for the anniversary of his passing, I am reminded of the importance of these conversations about depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I truly think we live in the most progressive and forward-thinking city in North America when it comes to our view on mental health.
Daniel Alfredsson was ahead of his time when he was outspoken about breaking down the stigma around mental health almost 20 years ago. We should be forever indebted to the Richardson family’s courage for sharing their daughter’s journey and launching the ‘Do It For Daron’ initiative. And now we have Linus bravely speaking about panic attacks and anxiety.
But we still have people hurting every day in our community, just trying to survive the day. Far too many people – like my dear friend Simmer – don’t reach that goal of surviving that one day.
I will live with the guilt and burden of not checking on Simmer after Christmas last year and if I can leave you with one thing it’s this: And as we hit the depths of winter in January, it’s a reminder to check on your friends and loved ones.
Ask them to grab a coffee. See if they want to chat on the phone. Anything is better than nothing.
I wish I could do that with Simmer one more time because I miss his infectious laugh and his opinionated takes on everything from the Senators to refrigerating mayonnaise. We were magic together on the radio, but it’s our off-the-air conversations that I miss the most.
Take care of yourself and if you feel like reaching out and sharing your own journey with mental health – or your favourite memories of Simmer – my heart and ears are always available at [email protected].
Media roundup: Looking back at some interesting and fun Senators stories you might have missed over the past seven days.
Want to know what made Jacques Martin such a good coach and teacher? Our Andrew Wilimek caught up with a handful of his former players in this terrific feature.
Also, mayor Mark Sutcliffe declared it Jacques Martin Day on Saturday. Josh Marano of CTV Ottawa has all the details.
We have a major partnership with Hockey Outaouais that will see a handful of minor hockey teams use our jersey and logo. Shoutout to our colleague Sylvain St. Laurent who has been relentless in trying to build a stronger connection with our fans in Gatineau.
Kimberley Johnson of CTV Ottawa has the story of how Hollander and Rozanov Senators jerseys are helping Ottawa Pride Hockey.
Trivia answer:
There are four teams the Senators have never swept in a regular season series (minimum two games played against that opponent in a season series):
Buffalo Sabres
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
