Cheer for the Ottawa Senators, eh?
There are only four NHL teams remaining with a bandwagon you can hop onto: The Anaheim Ducks, the Nashville Predators, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the lone Canadian option, the Ottawa Senators.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that all Canadian fans, including Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens fans, should cheer for the Sens to win the Stanley Cup.
This isn’t unique to Trudeau. Somebody says this silly line every year. Well, OK, no Canadian teams made the playoffs last year. Somebody says this silly line almost every year.
The Senators’ captain, leading scorer, and best player is Erik Karlsson, who is from Sweden. Their second-leading scorer is Bobby Ryan, who is American. Ottawa’s popular goalie Craig Anderson is American, too.
Even if the entire Senators roster was comprised of Canadians who Don Cherry kissed on the cheek individually, cheering for the Senators is a hard no for this Leafs fan.
Cheer for whoever the heck you want.
Unless you’re a fan of one of the four remaining teams, any victory for your bandwagon team is going to feel like a participation ribbon, anyway. Besides, there are lots of great stories remaining.
The Penguins have Sidney Crosby; you may know him as their captain, Team Canada’s captain, and the best hockey player on planet earth since about 2005. They kind of won the Stanley Cup last year, along with that Kessel guy.
When if comes to the Ducks, who doesn’t like cheering for a good heel? After Ryan Johansen‘s little tirade about Ryan Kesler, and the fact Corey Perry has been on their team for over a decade, the Ducks have emerged as this year’s “bad guy” to cheer for. Besides, if you hate the Leafs, imagine how fun it’ll be watching people justify how the Ducks won the Cup with Randy Carlyle as their coach.
The Predators, like the Penguins and Ducks, have a Canadian captain. His name is Mike Fisher. He’s married to Carrie Underwood; which you have now read about for the 1,000th time. The Predators have a young, exciting team, an electric fanbase, and P.K. Subban. Whether you hate Subban or not, don’t you want to see him win the Cup just to see what happens? Canada is going to be a hot mess of emotion.
And then, of course, there’s the Senators.
OK… I said I’m a Leafs fan, right?
Let me just say this… if you want to cheer for the Ottawa Senators, I totally get it. Yes, even if you’re a Leafs fan.
Look, I want to hate the Senators. I’ve been bred and trained to hate them since I was a child. Then they went and acquired Alex Burrows at the trade deadline, for crying out loud.
This year I’m trying really hard and I just can’t seem to fully hate the Ottawa Senators.
The storylines and personalities are too great.
How can you not cheer for Craig Anderson?
I’m sure you know the story of Anderson and the struggles his wife has been through this season. Anderson is all but a lock for the Masterton Trophy and his performance through an incredibly difficult season has been nothing short of an inspiration.
Clarke MacArthur missed 538 days due to concussion issues and he has finally found his way back into Ottawa’s lineup. Even before those issues began, MacArthur pulled off something few before him have ever accomplished: Jump from the Leafs to the Sens without losing many fans.
Erik Karlsson is putting on what could be a Conn Smythe performance on a fractured foot.
https://twitter.com/t_loucks20/status/861279714236915717
Kyle Turris scored a playoff OT-winner then went to the Capital City Condors end-of-season banquet.
Can we all agree that Dion Phaneuf winning would set Twitter on fire?
Look, there are lots of reasons to cheer for the Ottawa Senators. There are lots of reasons to cheer for any of the four remaining teams.
My advice? No matter who you want to win, just enjoy the playoffs! It’s the best part of spring.
That being said – let’s go PK.
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