Senators Inspired by Redblacks’ Championship
The city of Ottawa finally has another championship, and the Senators are determined to add one more in the coming years.
In perfect unison, the Ottawa Senators and Ottawa Redblacks won two very important games on Sunday night.
The Senators, who gained sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division with their fourth-straight win over the New York Rangers, were slightly outdone that night, though.
Alright, maybe a bit more than slightly outdone.
As you likely already know, in ultimate underdog fashion, the Redblacks beat the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in overtime to win the Grey Cup. For the Senators, it’s a comforting feeling seeing the fans rally around another team in the city and celebrate their accomplishment.
“Anything positive, anything that brings soul to your city, anything that players can get inspired by; I think it’s great,” said head coach Guy Boucher after today’s morning skate. “I think that helps. Especially the way they finished, too, my wife was on the phone screaming ‘I can’t believe it!’”
The Senators hopped off the ice at Madison Square Garden following their 2-0 victory just after 9:30 p.m. After all their post-game obligations, they were just in time to catch overtime, but Boucher hinted that he might’ve taken a couple peeks during the intermissions to see if the Redblacks were still holding on to the lead.
“Right after the game, that was the first thing, and I’ll be honest even between periods, ‘what’s the score? what’s the score?’” admitted Boucher. “I think everyone was really intrigued and concerned by it. Now that it’s done, it just shows that Ottawa’s a place where you can win.”
And who could forget Henry Burris’ outstanding performance? From nearly being unable to suit up, to Grey Cup MVP, Burris’ story of perseverance and triumph immediately solidified him as one of the greatest athletes in the city’s history.
Kyle Turris - one half of the dynamic ‘Urris Bros duo - was more than excited for his friend’s accomplishment.
“It’s great for the city,” said Turris. “For Henry to pull it off like that, at his age, it’s quite unbelievable.”
After the Redblacks’ win, Erik Karlsson declared on Twitter that the Senators “will follow.” Maybe it’s not the worst thing for the Senators to have some high expectations forced upon them.
“With the Redblacks doing it, it definitely puts a little pressure on us,” Turris admitted.
Today, the Senators and Redblacks are overlapping once again. As the championship parade is in full force downtown with thousands of fans gathered at Landsdowne, the Senators are preparing to go for their fifth-straight victory tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.
Right now, there’s simply a good atmosphere in town.
“You pull for the people that are close to you and you can’t get any close than that,” said Boucher. “It’s our football team, our whole city was behind them and we were behind them, too, so you can draw a lot of positives from that.”