During that interview, Gabby showed me a quilt that was made from Dean’s old Senators t-shirts – a blanket she will sometimes cling to when she needs emotional support.
Katie showed off a red Senators pajama top that she still wears to watch Sens games on TV.
“I have my shirt whenever the Sens are playing,” Katie told me. “That can remind me of him and I’m cheering – even when he’s up there cheering too.”
And I cannot fathom the cheering from Dean when he gets to look down and see his daughters come out to centre ice on Tuesday night to drop the puck. Brady Tkachuk was Dean’s favourite player and there is something so powerful and poignant that Brady will be the one to take the faceoff for us.
If you want to hear how excited Gabby was to learn about the puck drop, have a listen to this interview on 580 CFRA from last week. At the 21-minute mark of this clip, you’ll Senators Community Foundation president Jacqueline Belsito tell Gabby that we’d like her to do the puck drop on Tuesday.
Gabby was overcome with emotion and just prior to being told about the puck drop, she said she was overwhelmed when she found out the Senators Community Foundation helped provide funding for the grief camp she attended this summer with her sister.
“My entire life, I grew up being raised by the Senators. So when me my mom and I found out the camp was being funded by the Senators Foundation, we just both started crying right away,” said Gabby. “Because the most memories I have of my dad are related to the Senators – watching games or going to games.”
We are truly honoured that Gabby will have another powerful Senators-related memory to cherish with her dad for the rest of her life on Tuesday.
So whether you’re at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday or watching from home, I sincerely hope that Gabby and Katie’s story will inspire you to donate to the Ignite Hope Telethon on TSN 5 to help support Senators Community Foundation.
Trivia time:
Jake Sanderson just had his five-game point streak snapped on Saturday night. That’s the third time in Sanderson’s career that he’s been able to put together a point streak of at least five games.
With that in mind, do you know who is the only defenceman in Sens history to have a 10-game point streak?
Answer at the bottom of this column.
Wait, should all our games start at 7:15 p.m.?
Let’s chat about our favourite Senators debates of all-time.
What if the Sens drafted Chris Pronger instead of Alex Daigle?
What if Dominik Hasek didn’t get hurt in 2006?
Would things have been different if the team chose Zdeno Chara over Wade Redden?
Those debates are fun to have over a beer, but there is an evergreen debate for Ottawa fans that probably has a much more tangible impact on them: Should weekday home games start at 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre?
Fans who live in the east end of the city would probably prefer the 7:30 p.m. start time, allowing them a few extra minutes to get out to the west end of the city. But a lot of people also prefer things ending earlier with the post-game commute, so the 7 p.m. start time is preferable.
This debate was at the top of my mind on Saturday, because it was a 7:15 p.m. puck drop for the game against the St. Louis Blues. All Saturday evening games start at that time because of Sportsnet’s national package, which allows for them to have an extended studio panel show and delay the puck drop.
(To be transparent, a 7 p.m. start time means a 7:07 p.m. puck drop, while a 7:30 p.m. start time translates to a 7:37 p.m. puck drop).
But to me, the 7:15 p.m. start time is the perfect compromise.
If we were living in an ideal world, I would start every game at 7:15 p.m. local time. It pretty much splits things down the middle and makes things more amenable for everyone.
I would love to hear from you on your preferred start times for games at Canadian Tire Centre. I want to get a better sense of the rationale for earlier or later start times from our fans, so please send an email my way to [email protected]
Media roundup: Looking back at some interesting and fun Senators stories you might have missed over the past seven days.
Our behind-the-scenes look at Brady Tkachuk’s recovery from his thumb injury was the focus our latest Breakaway feature. It’s a great peek at the hard work our strength and conditioning team – led by Jeremy Benoit – puts in to get a player back in the lineup.
Jake Sanderson listens to podcasts about stoicism and just finished reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography. Dive into how Jake shapes his mindset and perspective in this feature from Alex Adams at Sportsnet.ca.
Saturday was the 35th anniversary of Ottawa being awarded an NHL franchise. CBC (Radio-Canada) tracked down a handful of important voices for a trip down memory lane to discuss the importance of December 6, 1990 in Ottawa.
Can you identify the Spotify wrapped for certain Sens players? Take your best guesses here.
Random thoughts:
Our players will make their annual visit to CHEO on Monday afternoon, to spread their holiday cheer. One tradition I miss from these visits: The rookies being forced to sing Christmas carols in front of the kids. Take a trip down memory lane to 2017, as Freddie Claesson, Ryan Dzingel and Ben Harpur have to sing ‘Jingle Bells’ in the cafeteria. Three things I noticed from this clip:
- Freddie Claesson was an underrated character.
- Mark Stone wearing glasses in the background is low-key funny for some reason.
- Was this the first organic opportunity to make a Dzingel Bells joke?
Charge head coach Carla MacLeod revealed she is battling breast cancer last week, which certainly struck a cord with a lot of us in Ottawa. So I wanted to say kudos to our VP of marketing (and fellow cancer survivor) Peter Shier for the idea to invite Carla and some members of the Charge to our game on Saturday against St. Louis. Carla’s ringing of the bell was powerful and was a reminder of how much our community rallies behind people who are undergoing adversity.
Trivia answer:
Sergei Gonchar put together a 10-game point streak for the Senators in March of 2013. During that stretch – in which Erik Karlsson was sidelined with an achilles tendon injury – Gonchar collected one goal and 14 assists for 15 points.
Karlsson, for the record, had two separate point streaks that lasted nine games – but he never reached the 10-game plateau.
