What better way to readapt to Canada than to go to a hockey game?

The Ottawa Senators made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and on Monday night, it was game 3 against the NY Rangers. We headed to Scotiabank under a dramatic stormy sky—it was over 27°C that night (and it’s now 4°C… go figure).

Every time we go to a game or to a concert, I curse Ottawa’s poor city planning. I know Kanata was supposed to boom and I know it may have seemed to be the best place for an arena at the time, but really, it’s a pain to get there. It took us 25 minutes to enter the parking lot—20,000 people heading to the same place at the same time can be messy.

Unlike concerts, games start on time since they are broadcast on TV. At 7:25 p.m., we finally parked somewhere and ran to the arena, right on time for the singing of the national anthem. There were few Rangers fans (I guess it’s a bit far to drive to Ottawa) and the arena was entirely white and red. Pretty impressive.

One thing I like about hockey games here is that people go a bit nuts but the atmosphere is still friendly. Barring occasional excesses and brawls (er… the Vancouver riots, anyone?), no one is going to get killed for supporting the wrong team. This isn’t always the case for other sports in other parts of the world—see hooliganism in soccer, for instance. I remember soccer games in France where the riot control forces routinely had to intervene with tear gas or water cannons between supporters of rival teams. Sure, people drink a bit too much during the game, they are louder than usual… but as a “neutral” fan, I still feel comfortable with the crowd.

I gave up on trying to sneak my DSLR inside Scotiabank (they don’t even let you keep the cap on your water bottle…) so I made do with my BlackBerry. The Torch features a pretty nice camera—good enough for atmosphere shots.

Ottawa lost (the final score was 1-0) but the game was pretty good.

Hurrying To The Game
Sens Flag
Driving To Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place
National Anthem Singing
Passing The Flag
Cheering
Focused On The Game
Playing
Sens Jersey
Sens Army
Trying To Score
Playing
Sens Fan
Cheering
On The Ice

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4 Comments

  1. Elisabeth Stewart April 18, 2012 at 10:25 am

    Alas, no play-off games here in Toronto – yet again… 🙁

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 20, 2012 at 12:08 pm

      Sorry about that… Well, I shouldn’t say that, anyone not living in TO is supposed to hate the Leafs, right? 😉

      Reply
  2. Andi April 19, 2012 at 8:49 am

    Looks like SO much fun!

    Reply
    1. Zhu April 20, 2012 at 12:10 pm

      It was!

      Reply

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