Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Ottawa Senators take on the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario (Canada).

I mentioned yesterday that one of the main reasons for making a trip to Ottawa, Canada in (cold) mid-January was to skate on the Rideau Canal. The other big reason? The Chicago Blackhawks were in town to take on the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place.

There are 4 players on the Chicago Blackhaws team who are from British Columbia (Troy Brower, Colin Fraser, Andrew Ladd and Brent Seabrook) and a bunch of others from western Canada (Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, Jordan Hendry, Duncan Keith and Brent Sopel). So I decided to get in there and interview one of them.

Ottawa Senators vs. Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada).

I chose our local Tsawwassen boy, Brent Seabrook. It was the team’s first trip to Canada after him being named to Team Canada for the Olympics here in Vancouver, so I was hesitant that I would get any time with him. Fortunately, all of the TV cameras were crowded around captain Jonathan Toews and I walked in to see Brent putting on his coat all alone.

I got in a couple of questions before the other sports journalists joined in a mini scrum and I will post a link to that interview as soon as it’s published. (UPDATE: Here’s the link.)

Ottawa Senators play the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Centre in Kanata, Ontario (Canada).

For the game itself, I was sitting up in the third tier of Scotiabank Place (where a lot of the Blackhawk fans were sitting). Again, fortunately for me, I was accompanied to the game by two locals who, not only took care of me, but told me to watch out for their “wave.”

We were sitting across from each other in the arena, but they were a whole level lower than me. The rink was almost sold out so there were no extra seats there, but halfway through the game, two people left.

So I got the “wave” during a stoppage in play and made my way down a level. I got to see the rest of the game from there (along with Brian Elliott’s miraculous sprawling stick save on Marian Hossa). It was fantastic to be surrounded by Senators fans for the exciting 4-1 win over the Blackhawks.

It was a very successful night out in Kanata, Ontario. There’s nothing like a good ol’ hockey game