The Ottawa Senators have played four straight contests that have gone to overtime, winning two of them, and have managed to earn at least a point in eight of their last nine games. The team’s recent consistency has helped them stay competitive in a tightly contested Eastern Conference.
The Sens will play the Utah Mammoth on Sunday night at Canadian Tire Centre. Doors open at 5 p.m. for a 7 p.m. start. The game marks the Senators’ seventh annual Indigenous Culture Celebration. You can purchase tickets for Sunday’s meeting here.
The event will see Canadian Tire Centre play host to a wide variety of vibrant performances, educational exhibits, special tributes, and a marketplace that highlight the heritage and history of Indigenous peoples. With Remembrance Day also just days away, the Kanata Legion will be distributing poppies at Gates 1, 2, and 3 before the game.
Inside Upper Gate 1 before the game, both the Spirit Wolf Drummers and dancers from Pikwakanagan First Nation will perform, along with the Eagle River Singers Drum Group and dancers from the Kitigan Zibi. An Indigenous marketplace featuring jewelry, art, clothing, and crafts will also be hosted, with doors open until the second intermission.
Claudette Commanda, an Anishinaabe Algonquin from the Kitigan Zibi First Nation in Outaouais and the first Indigenous person to serve as the Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, will host a smudging ceremony before puck drop.
Following the smudging ceremony, talented local singer-songwriter Aiyana Louis will return to Canadian Tire Centre to perform the national anthem, and local Indigenous youth hockey player Rosie Logan will accompany residential school survivor Celine Thusky to drop the ceremonial puck.
Pikwakanagan’s Taneesha Sarazin & Son Drum Group and singers will perform at the first intermission. Anishinaabe and Cree hoop dancer Theland Kicknosway will perform at the second. In Legacy Social, Mi’kmaq DJ and producer Jon Deck will perform.
