TORONTO – After an overtime win by the Ottawa Senators in Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Senators and their fans are preparing for Game 4 Wednesday night at Scotiabank Place.
While there’s no shortage of Senators fans in Ottawa, the question turns to whether other hockey fans from across the country will support Canada’s only remaining team in the NHL Playoffs.
“I don’t think there are that many people following the Senators outside Ottawa,” said Peter Raaymakers, managing editor for the hockey blog silversevensens.com. “Especially in markets like Toronto or Montreal. The last series caused a lot of animosity between Habs (and Sens fans).”
Ottawa beat out the Montreal Canadiens in a tough series that was marred by brawls, injuries and a public feud between coaches.
“The fact that the Sens don’t have deep roots could be a reason they’re not widely followed in Canada,” Raaymakers said. “They have a massive presence in Ottawa and since Paul McLean came on board and picked up players who have been more open to the fans there’s been a stronger connection between the city and the team.”
Teams in Canada with a longer history of hockey like Montreal or Toronto have larger fanbases and are considered two of the most valuable franchises in the NHL according to a report from Forbes.
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The Senators first entered the league during the 1992-1993 season and are still a relatively young franchise only having played 21 seasons says Liam McGuire, a hockey historian based in Ottawa.
“Ottawa is definitely paying a price for being an expansion team,” McGuire said. ” I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s a younger franchise going up against older franchises in Canada.”
McGuire says that because Ottawa is a younger team there’s still a lot of room for them to grow.
For hockey fans across the country there’s no shortage of storylines between Ottawa and Pittsburgh.
During the regular season, Ottawa defenceman Erick Karlsson was left with a season-ending Achilles tendon injury following a hit by Penguins forward Matt Cooke.
A furious Senators owner Eugene Melnyk then began working closely with forensic doctors in Toronto, in an attempt to prove the incident was no accident.
“If (Ottawa) were to beat the Penguins there would be a massive increase in Ottawa fans across the country,” McGuire said. “A large chunk of the remaining benign hockey fans would jump on the Sens bandwagon.”
The Senators head into Game 4 trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinal with the puck scheduled to drop Wednesday at Scotiabank Place.
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