The Sens are so easy to root for, which is why empty seats are so disappointing
If an NHL playoff game is played in front of a non-capacity crowd at an arena in Canada, has it truly been played?
That's the question the north is grappling with Friday, after only 16,744 souls - the building was at 90.5 percent capacity - showed up Thursday to Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa for Game 1 of the second-round playoff series between the Senators and New York Rangers.
Second round. Not the first. The second. Prior to these playoffs, the Senators had advanced this far only once since their Stanley Cup Final run in 2007. Ottawa fans, in other words, certainly haven't been spoiled with winners.
Look, we get it. The rink's not in an ideal location. Nobody wants to pay $20 or more for parking, anywhere. And public transit is, generally speaking, the absolute worst. But this is a bad look, Ottawa, any way you spin it. Those seats shouldn't have been empty - especially when they're as cheap as they are, even on the secondary market. And especially not this year, because these Sens, this group of guys, are too damned easy to root for.
A true team
The Senators, like Ottawa, don't get a lot of respect. Only two of our editors had them advancing to the second round, while over at ESPN, only three of 12 picked Ottawa to win. But the Sens, led by Guy Boucher, have been proving folks wrong all season long, and have clearly rallied around one another. They're a team in the truest sense of the word, and it goes back all the way to training camp.
MacArthur's unbelievable comeback
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In September, during a training-camp scrimmage, Clarke MacArthur suffered yet another concussion when he was hit by defenseman Patrick Sieloff, a 2012 second-round pick who was looking to make his mark with his new team.
MacArthur's concussion history was common knowledge - he played only four games in 2015-16. Every hit taken could be his last. And watching him skate off the ice at camp, clearly in distress, knowing his career might be over, was brutal to watch.
Immediately after the hit, Bobby Ryan, the Sens' highest-paid player with a cap hit of $7.25 million through 2021-22, dropped the gloves with Sieloff. He had to send a message to one of his own. Sieloff was eventually removed from the scrimmage, because Chris Neil was angling for a piece of him after Ryan. That's how serious it got.
MacArthur was thought to be out for the season, and retirement was appearing more and more likely. But he somehow returned in early April for Ottawa's final four games, and he eliminated the Boston Bruins in overtime of Game 6 in the first round. It was as perfect as perfect gets.
And you know damned well who was credited with the first assist on the winner: Ryan. But before joining teammates in celebration, he went and retrieved the puck for MacArthur. That one was a keeper, after all.
Ryan's redemption
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Ryan's writing his own neat little playoff story.
The 30-year-old struggled badly this season, scoring only 13 goals and finishing with 25 points - by far the worst statistical season of his career. But it appears he's used the playoffs as a fresh start.
Ryan has four goals - two of them game-winners - and three assists in seven spring games. One of those winners was an OT number, and the other was tallied in the third period of what ended up a 1-0 game.
Big goals. Big Bobby.
The Captain
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Oh, yeah, there's also that Erik Karlsson guy, who's scoring game-winning goals in the second round of the NHL playoffs off Henrik Lundqvist, while playing with hairline fractures in his heel.
Karlsson is a defenseman like no other in the league. He's worth the price of admission on his own.
The Andersons
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We haven't even mentioned Nicholle and Craig Anderson yet.
The Sens' starting goalie's wife was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in the fall, leading Craig to rightfully take multiple leaves of absences from the team in order to be with her. And he had the Senators' blessing, and the support of teammates, every step of the way, even when nobody knew when he'd return to the club.
Craig played only seven games from December 2016 through February 2017, with backup Mike Condon - acquired via trade in November - carrying the load. Condon would end up playing 40 games for Ottawa, winning 19 of them and posting five shutouts. He's a big reason why Ottawa made the playoffs. It was truly a team effort.
As for Nicholle, she was able to report good news with respect to her treatment, and on April 17 wrote a blog post dedicated to Craig, titled, "My Rock."
Here's an excerpt:
During this cancer journey, my husband definitely has shown the definition of a best friend.We cried and laughed together.We experienced situations that we never thought would come our way. He became my cheerleader, like I am for him on the ice. He pushed me on days where I didn’t think I was going to make it. He was the first to hold my hair when chemo didn’t agree with me, and when I was so weak he would carry me to the car and rush me to the hospital or hydration. On Christmas Day, I was admitted into the hospital, missing our kiddos, and found a way to smile drinking milkshakes and hospital chicken fingers. During the night he would watch over me, and check on me. Never once did he ever complain that he was tired or needed a break. His strength to be by my side is truly remarkable. I always think I can I ever repay him? I am truly blessed by GOD to have this man in my life.
In what was easily the most challenging personal and professional season of his life, Anderson recorded a .926 save percentage and five shutouts in 40 games. In any season in which the 35-year-old has played 40 games, he's never been better.
Nicholle surprised her husband by showing up in Boston for Game 6, which Anderson and the boys won in OT on MacArthur's winner. A whole lot of feelings, all around.
So, how can you root against the Andersons, their perseverance, and the Senators?
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Truth is, you can't. The organization handled the Andersons' situation with utmost class, and deserves all the success it's achieving. Which is why those empty seats Thursday are so bothersome. Everyone in Ottawa should want to watch this team, this family, play hockey. First round, second round, who cares. Fill that damn arena, no matter where it's located.
They're not the "Pesky Sens" of a few years ago, but they're something else, something stronger. This team, it appears, is on a mission.
Get it together, Ottawa. Game 2 better be sold out.