Silver Nuggets: How did you become a Senators fan?

Out in Calgary. I started liking them in the 2007 finals because everyone in Calgary wanted them to win. I was a loyal Heatley fan and emulated his game.Ever since then Ive been a die hard Ottawa Senators fan. Oh and my real name is actually Adnan!

Started following them in the year they beat the devils. Been a fan every since, rarely missing a game.

Before the Sens were around though, my #1 and #2 switched back and forth between the Leafs and the Oilers. With the Sens around, Leafs were my #2 and Oilers my #3, at least until the Leafs got rid of the players I liked and Ottawa got good enough for there to actually be a rivalry between them.

…but I firmly remember my time growing up in Ottawa before that being a strong Montreal Canadiens supporter. I think I went to a “bring back the sens” rally or two, but was pretty certain I’d stay a habs fan. (Incidentally, this allowed my disdain for the Leafs to start young). I remember when the first season was coming, I had built enough excitement for the Sens in my head that I knew I would like them, as well as the Habs. Then it was the first game, and we were playing none other than the Habs themselves. I honestly didn’t know who I would hope for. Just a few minutes into that historic 5-3 victory over the Habs, I knew beyond any doubt that my alleigences had changed. I kept a soft spot in my heart for the Canadiens for all these years, but since that victory, I’ve been a Sens man, through and through.

So hockey came into my life late

Born in Montreal so I was a Habs fan by default. Lived in Toronto but hate hate hated the Leafs. Moved to Ottawa while still a Habs fan … and then got invited to the first game at “The Palladium”.

Habs out

Sens In.

My family had immigrated to Canada (Hull, Qc) on Aug 25th, 1992. One week later, the Senators played against the Montreal Canadiens in the first game of the franchise. My entire existance in this country is parallel with the existance of the Ottawa Senators franchise. Im also celebrating 20 years of my own.

I was only 6 at the time so I had no clue that was happening. Later on at school when I learned what hockey was, right away I was a Sens fan. It wasn’t until they made the playoffs for the first time and played Buffalo that it started to really hit me. Then the following year, I never missed a game. I had no cable so it was Dean Brown and Gord Wilson on the radio every game. One of the loudest I ever screamed in my life was when they scored the empty net goal to seal game 6 against the NJ Devils that year.

The summer after, my family moved to Toronto, I went through middle school and high school being harrassed for my loyalty to the Sens. Went through the 4 playoff losses against the dirty blue hearing about it.

These days (and for the past few seasons), I’m still in Toronto but I can now afford NHL center ice packages or NHL.com Gamecenter. I never miss a game. My home is proudly filled with Ottawa Senators stuff.

I’ve lived side by side with this franchise from the beginning. As long as I live and as long as the Sens are in existance, I will be a fan. GO SENS GO!

Great question. Wish I knew! I’ve only been to Ottawa once, and that was after I became a Sens fan. I was at the game for Alfie’s 1000 game celebration. Yeah, I still wear the t-shirt. I came to hockey late (it not being a big sport in Aust), moved here, finally asked my rabid Sharks fan friend to take me to a game and just fell in love with it. It reminds me of the pace and athleticism of Australian football (no, not rugby or soccer). The next year the Sens made the SC final, and I just loved the way they played. The Sharks were lumbering oafs back then, and the Sens had finesse. I have my ticket for the Jan 19 game. There are about 3 regular Sens fans around here, so we are vastly outnumbered, but my Cheechoo jersey got a lot of comment after he was traded (he was very popular here). I cheered when the Sharks traded Heatley this summer, much to everyone else’s consternation. I am especially happy to see MIchalek having a good year.

I grew up between Kingston and Brockville. My earliest memories of watching hockey were the 1993 playoffs of the Kings/Leafs series and then the Habs/Kings series. All I remember is that I was not supposed to like the Leafs. I didn’t really care for the Habs too much, but I cheered for them that year. In fact, I don’t even remember there being a Senators team. Anyways, I was a Pittsburgh fan when I was young… well, really I was a Lemiuex and Jagr fan. I was too young to pay attention to an entire team! haha

By the time the Sens started having continuous success, I had sorta stopped watching hockey. I was in high-school and I started playing guitar. Long-haired rockin’ out took precedence over hockey. However, during this time I still watched the playoffs when they came around. I suppose is was partly because the Sens were the closest NHL team, partly because they impressed me, and partly because I just liked the character of many of the players that I started cheering for them.

Then I moved to Ottawa in 2003 for school! I started paying more attention to the Sens, but then the lockout happened. Since the lockout I have got more into hockey and started paying a lot more attention. It has only been since about 2009 that I reached the “hardcore, must watch every single game” form that I am in now.

Go Sens!

And Tugger.

I grew up in Oshawa on the same street as Kevin McLelland. He’d come out and play street hockey with the kids in the summer which made us all love the Oilers. When he scored the GWG in the 1st game we had a massive street party that had most of the team show up. That cemented things. I hated the Leafs because everyone at my school were dicks about supporting them. You wouldn’t get picked for school yard teams unless you were a Leaf fan.

About 15 years ago, I moved to Ottawa for school and the Senators had just drafted Daigle, and I worked with his girlfriend at the time. She was f’n ridiculously hot so I started watching games to have something to talk to her about. She went off to work somewhere else (and date someone different….sigh), but I kept an interest in the Senators that’s continued to grow since.

I was never a big fan of watching hockey growing up. I played in a league when I was really young and played with my friends at the rink growing up, but I always found watching hockey somewhat boring (blashphemy, I know).

That was until I had just moved back from my 1 year stint in Brampton, ON to Ottawa, just in time for the lead up to the playoffs. I remember going to St-Louis (love those wings) or Maclaren on Elgin street and the atmosphere was just contagious. I found myself starting to care for a team, let alone a league, I never really much paid any attention to. Walking down Elgin in the Stanley Cup Final when we beat Anaheim 5-3 was unreal, with the streets packed and everyone chanting and giving each other high fives and just having a good time. It was like Canada Day in the capital, but instead of once a year, this went on for a few weeks. The pride and passion of hockey in our city was everywhere. I immediately fell in love with the Ottawa Senators (which is my hometown team) and the game of hockey.

I now have become obsessed. I’ve lived in Calgary for the past 4 years now and if I can’t watch a game on TV, I’ll stream it online, but I rarely ever miss a game. I read this blog and many others on a daily basis to get my Senators news fix. I follow prospects. Watch the draft with excited anticipation. I’ve been a part of several hockey pools the last few seasons. And I’ve expanded my knowledge of the game outside of the Senators. I now wonder how I ever lived without hockey being such a big part of my life. I dread the Summer months with little or no Senators or hockey news, just waiting for camp and exhibition games to begin. 5 years ago I didn’t even know most of the rules. The Sens are my team and I will follow them through their successes and failures. Go Sens GO!

Turris has a damned cute puppy.

http://yfrog.com/oeh9ueqj

I grew up a habs fan in Ottawa. loved Roy, Recchi, Damphouse, etc. I switched shortly after the sens came back, I was 8 or 9. Still like the habs for a while too but gave up on them a few years later.

First NHL game I went to was in the civic centre vs the Islanders. been a sens fan ever since.

I had gotten out of watching hockey at all for years. Then in 2005 going to grad school in Halifax I was so stressed out that I needed something to ease my mind. I found that the male-Canadian ritual of beeer and hockey on Saturday did the trick. No cable. Not even an antenna. My girlfriend would freak out because she would come home Saturday and I’d have about 50 feet of coat hangers and random wire strung up all over the apartment to attempt to bring in HNIC. All the teams I saw that year were good. I wasn’t cheering for any in particular. But whenever the Senators came on, it seemed like they were in a leahue of their own. The top line especially dominated like I’d never seen – it was a thrill to watch those guys. I became a fan because at that time they were the best hockey team I could remember seeing ever.

I live only a half hr south of Buffalo and when I was 6yrs old the Sens came into the Nhl and I knew that had to be my team. Slyvain Turegon was my faveorite player haha. Ive been through a lot of rough times living in Sabres country having brooms thrown into my lawn walking around with a broom in middle school after we got swept by sabres cuz I lost a bet. hahaha but We finally got them back in 07. I follow all the sens games never been to ottawa but im sure its nice. I have every jersey since day 1 as well. Its just awesome to be a Sens fan especially in this area I wear my gear proud. GoSensGo!!!!!!

I’d say I was born and bred but originally from Peterborough and parents moved here when I was two or three for better work.

No Senators when I grew up so was a massive Habs fan, taking after my dad.who was a Habs fan forever. We used to have great get-togethers with our family, who were split about 60/40 Habs and Nordiques fans; made for some great teasing and rivalry talk, especially when the Nords beat the Habs in the playoffs early on and who was it, Bergeron or someone that they found a flaw in Roy’s game….that didn’t turn out so well…

When Roy got run out of town by that bush-league prick Mario Tremblay, I knew I couldn’t be a Habs fan anymore so I hopped onto the Senators bandwagon and it’s been fun. I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more early on with the growth and the lovable losers; became jaded with all the regular success leading to squat until 2007 and now it looks like another “under the radar Cup finals run” that anyone with the slightest bit of perception can see from a mile away.

Anyway, I’ll keep enjoying the kinda-rebuild even though I really would have liked Landeskog. :(

Hello, this is my first post!
Anyways, I’m actually from just outside New York City and my father is actually a HUGE Bruins fan. He used to take me on business trips in early 2000 up to northern New York and would have the business expense Senators tickets because he was ‘taking out clients’ (where he was just taking me instead). I’ve always been a hockey fan, but never really had a favorite team (I casually rooted for the Bruins, but never went to a hockey game, other than a panthers game, but that doens’t count). I still remember my first game – the Sens played the Sabres and the score went back and forth, but finally ended with an alfredson game winner in overtime with a 6-5 score (pre-shootout). Anyways, after my father took me to a handful of additional Senators game, I was completely hooked. Chara was my favorite player at the time and watching him play just blew my mind. I later went to College at Clarkson which is about an hour and a half drive from the Arena and I caught as many games as I could while there. I currently, live in Erie, PA and been paying for the NHL package for the past 5 years and watch almost 90% of the games.

To this day, one of my father’s biggest regrets is taking me to those Senators games as he wanted me to be a Bruins fans like himself. But it serves well now, since we can always keep in touch and try to meet up whenever they play each other. He constantly thanks me for giving him Chara.

I read this websites blogs and really enjoy reading what you guys have to say. I don’t get to interact with many senators fans since everyone around here is Sabres/Penquins fans and growing up everyone was Rangers/Islanders/Devils fans.

Thank you! GO SENS!

To be honest I don’t remember how I became a sens fan. I was around 7 years old (the jets had yet to leave) and I started liking them. Believe it or not, the team I liked before them was the sabers (I started hockey when I was 4 and we were the sabers so that one makes sense… Kind of a nostalgic team for me).
Since I don’t remember exactly what happened I could throw out a guess. Ive hated the leafs and the Habs for as long as I can remember and that could have evolved over the years into liking a team that they are rivals with. My favorite player of all time is alfie… And I’ve liked him for a long time so maybe that could have been it too?

Dad was a huge Leafs fan prior, and split allegiances in 92/93 what with Dougie and Wendel doing their thing. But judging by my hockey card collection from that era, I was a Habs fan before converting, despite tolerating the Leafs in that 93 season too.

The clincher was when I went to a Habs/Sens game in the November of 92 at the Civic Centre and met Sparty.

The rest is history.

Im from a town in Denmark called Herning. Herning is the hockey-capital of Denmark. Almost everyone here play soccer, but in Herning hockey is pretty big. I never played, I would have been kick-ass I believe:) But I played videogames and my brother played hockey at some point. I got good at the videogames, so I picked the lowest rated team… Ottawa Senators. I think there was some consideration about the jerseys too.

I havent watched many games, theyre played at night here, no channels show them and its hard to find anyone to watch them with. I have followed the Senators on the webs for over a decade now:)
Regin is from Herning. So is Frans Nielsen of the Islanders, Frans went to my school, but is three years younger. So Islanders is my second team.

Never much of a hockey fan. But then I got that phone call asking me to come and do some A/V work in September of 2000.

Eleven years later, Game 7 of 2003, 2004, World Cup, 2007, World Juniors, and now All Star Game.

Grew up in Ottawa and I was pretty much a non-hockey fan. One thing I knew is that I should hate the leads and that was about it. I played and watched more baseball and football – until the send showed up and have me something local to cheer about. I still remember going to see them lose at the civic centre- I remember actually liking Yasmin and meeting his parents(nice people). Since then I have been a die hard sens fan – agh the memories…. Daigle, the sabres, yashin, “save our sens” , civic centre, and of course the cup run that fell a little short.

Thanks to the sens I can say that I have loved and followed hockey for the last 20 years. So I guess it’s my 20th year anniversary as a fan.

Moved out west in 1989 and had always been a Blackhawks fan as a kid, somehow picked up Chicago radio on my clock radio in my bedroom and loved listening to them with the likes of Denis Savard and Steve Larmer…have always hated the Laughs and never was much of a Habs fan so my outlet was the Blackhawks. Once Ottawa came back into the league it was easy to have a hometown team and follow them…even though they were god awful early on. Also my dad has been a proud season ticket holder since day 1 at the Civic Centre. Now I consider the Canucks being the team I get bombarded with by media and promotion so I watch them but the Sens will always be my hometown team.

the lesson here is, don’t say too much, just ask a great question. This thread is like a AA meeting, confession time. “Hi, everyone, my name is Adnan, I am an addicted Sens fan. I have no life but i have lots of friends…..online…..that I’ve never met before……”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdJp5-g69go

I was 7 when I heard about the Ottawa Senators. At first I was a Bruins fan, just like everyone else in my class. A lot of the dad’s were Bruins fans, so their sons were Bruins fans. Most still are. I just remember making the switch when I got a hockey card that showed the Parliament logo, I also got one with the San Jose Sharks logo (I thought they were going to be in Mexico). Since I was originally from Ottawa, I decided right there and then that I was going to cheer for this brand new from my hometown. The first years were rough, but I stuck with them from day one.

I started off as a fan back in the original-six with the likes of Rocket Richard and Gordie Howe (look them up in the history books, kiddies!) That was in Regina, so our sports-fanatic family had to select from a bunch of eastern teams (except the Riders, now Canada’s team) and I ended up with the Canadiens since I was the oldest and got to pick the winner. Back then, the dynasty was on! Over the many years since then, I have lived in all Canadian provinces and several US states and some of Australia, so the geographic influence from any team was low. Sometime between my ancient childhood and retirement, hockey became somewhat less of a passion and I gradually lost track of all the teams. However, my son who spent most of his formative years in Ottawa, has turned into a real Sen’s fan, even selling tickets in the Palladium for Capital Tickets. His influence brought me (us, really, including my dear wife) back into the fold, gradually getting deeper and deeper into fandom. We are now retired and living full-time in an RV, so we spend our winters in the deep south. Fortunately, our Bell TV satellite system receives Canadian TV quite nicely way down here, so we watch every game we can, which is almost all. Now, I find myself being drawn even deeper into fandom with involvement on this blog. Watch for the Heroes and Zeroes compilations in the fanposts.

And remember to be respectful of your elders! :)

Grew up in the UK not knowing much about hockey until I bought a SEGA Megadrive games console, the NHL game was by far the best one available & I got so good at it that the only way to have a competitive game was to play as the worst team (at the time that was the Sens) with the netminder pulled for the entire game. Thats how I fell in love with the Sens.

Shortly after that I moved to a town called Swindon who had a team (Swindon Wildcats) & I was hooked. After a game one night me and few friends were in the pub talking about where to go on holiday that year when someone wondered if you could get tickets for NHL games on the (at the time relatively new) internet, thought nothing more of it until a week later tickets for Sharks @ Vancouver landed on the doormat. Beer, internet & credit cards!!!

So the first trip evolved in 1997, all six Canadian rinks in an 8 day period. Vancouver, Calgary & Edmonton first, then one of my finest moments, a Sens win at Maple Leaf Gardens, Buffalo the next night, Sens home win against Vancouver and to finish with the Habs against the Penguins (Lemieux had the night off and I never got to see him play….bastard).

Two trips a year on average to North America followed until I got married, by that time I’d been to 27 of the 30 NHL rinks (Colorado, NJ, Dallas, LA, Phoenix all need revisitng as they’ve built new rinks), seen the Sens 20 times & in 9 different arenas.

Although a frequent visitor to the USA over the past 3-4 years (Family trips to see Mickey the Rat in Orlando), opportunities to see the Sens have been limited, apart from April 2010 when having just booked an Orlando holiday the NHL schedule came out and I managed to “surprise” the family with a visit to Tampa Bay to see the Sens (Jared Cowans first NHL game & rink number 28). My wife now knows exactly what the Sens mean to me having seen my reaction to Mike Fishers game tying goal at 3-3 having been 0-3 at one point.

Anyway on average twice a week I stay up to around 0300 listening to game commentary on Team 1200 & its only 10 days until I fly out to San Francisco for the 4 game West Coast trip. This website is great for info, news & views. Please keep up the good work.

See you in California?

Grew up a Nordiques fan in Fredericton (farm team reasons – go Express!).

They moved, picked up Roy and C. Lemieux – I couldn’t cheer for them anymore.

Hated the Habs, the Leafs were totally foreign to me, having been in the wrong conference. The Bruins were close, but the Sens were new, sucked (which I was comfortable with, given my history with Quebec), Canadian and fun to cheer for.

A few years later – a few years of living on Ottawa, including being in the house for the Jeff Friesen goal – here we are.