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It’s time to jump on the Ottawa Senators bandwagon

Last spring, no Canadian teams made the NHL playoffs.

This year, however, five teams from north of the 49th parallel made the post-season.

Two of those teams, the Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators, won their first round matchups to advance to the final eight.

Now, with just four teams remaining in the playoffs, the Senators are still alive.

Being the only Canadian team left is enough reason to want Ottawa to do well, but there are plenty of reasons to jump on the Sens’ bandwagon.

<who>Photo Credit: Facebook

First, there’s the B.C. connection.

After playing 12 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, Alex Burrows was dealt to the Senators at this year’s trade deadline.

The fan favourite was a key factor in the Canucks’ 2011 run to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and has been a great addition for Ottawa.

<who>Photo Credit: Facebook

There are lots of Canucks fans in Kelowna and most are cheering for Burrows to lift the Stanley Cup in a month's time.

Burrows isn’t the only B.C. connection on the team, but the other one never played for the Canucks.

Kyle Turris is the only B.C. born player on the Senators roster, not including Surrey’s Andrew Hammond who hasn’t even dressed for a playoff game.


Turris is a native of New Westminster and he played his junior hockey in the province before being drafted third overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2007 NHL entry draft.

Then there’s the general reasons, that have no connection to our province, like Clarke MacArthur.

MacArthur missed most of the last two seasons, dealing with major concussion issues that nearly ended his career.

After playing just eight total games over the last two seasons due to those issues, MacArthur is back for the playoffs and he scored an overtime goal to eliminate the Boston Bruins in round one.

The final reason to cheer for the Senators is arguably the biggest reason.

Craig Anderson has had a season to remember in net for Ottawa, which is impressive on its own, but it’s more impressive if you know what he’s been going through this year.

Anderson’s wife, Nicholle, was diagnosed with throat cancer right before the start of the season.

Despite this, Anderson has played incredibly this year, while missing large chunks of games to be with his wife while she battles the disease.

Beyond being the only Canadian team left, there are plenty of reasons to cheer for the Senators as they look to knock off the defending champion Penguins to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

We’re not even getting into the backstory of Bobby Ryan as well.

Are you cheering for the Sens? Let us know in the comments below!



Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to [email protected].




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