Do not go gently to the golf course

Do not go gently to the golf course

It’s a topic of intense debate in Toronto as to whether it’s okay to cheer for the Ottawa Senators. This debate is, I think, confined to lifelong 416ers and 905ers. Those of us who are part of the pan-Canadian diaspora—those who live in Toronto by choice rather than by birth—don’t wear blue and white blinders, and we would be more than happy to see the Senators win. I’ll go one step further and goad Leafs Nation: I really like DanielAlfredsson.

His on-ice antics—like the time he feigned throwing his broken stick intoa crowd at the ACC, or last game’s slapshot right at Scott Niedermayer—are memorable. They are also the outward and visible signs of an innertemper, which he seems to work hard to control, and which makes himinteresting to watch at all times. My favourite Sens player this playoff isactually Antoine Vermette, who has been unheralded despite being one oftheir best playoff performers, assisting on big, momentum-swinging goals inevery series they’ve played.

In the past, whenever the Senators found themselves on the ropes like theyare now, they’d fold up the tent. I don’t predict that they’ll win tonight,but I do predict that they won’t go gently like they usually do. Vermetteand Alfredsson will have big games, as will Dany Heatley, spurred on byghosts. Last year the Oilers turned a 3-1 series deficit into awinner-take-all game 7. The Senators did the same thing a few years agoagainst New Jersey. Go Sens go.

Image: rabid Sens fan. (Not Philip Preville.)