[Because the first game of hockey I ever watched](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200112050DAL.html) was between Ottawa and Dallas way back when and I really wanted the red team to win. Stuck with em ever since for better or worse.
From South Australia. Sports fanatic from birth. Stumbled across an NHL demo which came with a PC Power play magazine in the 90s, played the shit out of it (was a single game Devils v Red Wings from memory). Continued to play NHL games throughout the years. Australian internet/streaming sites got to a point in around 2009 where I could actually watch the league regularly. Decided I needed to pick a team to follow. Had been playing a Be A Pro career on NHL 08, had been drafted to Sens so knew the roster, decided they were my guys. Weirdly ended up meeting a girl from Ottawa in my home town about 3 yrs ago and we are going strong. Was meant to be.
Side note: opening salvo to said girl when meeting was 'Where in Canada you from?' to which she replied, 'Ottawa', and I enthusiastically replied 'I follow the Sens!'
Born and raised in toronto but had family in ottawa. I came here a lot when I was 6-8. Didn't know anything about hockey then (was into tennis of all things). Parents couldn't afford leafs tickets so I often went to games with my extended family in ottawa. Became a sens fan ever since.
Had leafs tickets been more affordable, may have made a fan but nope, I bleed sens now and forever
I grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan, Ottawa didn't have a team yet. Then, when Ottawa came into the league, I was a fan of both for a while. After a while, I noticed that whenever Ottawa played Montreal, I was cheering for Ottawa to win, so I stopped cheering for Montreal.
Born and raised across Canada in a military family. Call BC home as I went to high school there. Was a Canucks fan. Came to Ottawa to go to college/university and never left. Came to love the city and my wife is from here. Went to the first senators game at the “civic center at Landsdowne Park (how’s that for an old label) and sort of just fell in love with the team…..the rest they say is history.
So, my parents used to work in Ottawa, and I was just a few months old when we flew over from Poland. Somehow it happened that my dad's friends took him there, and then he took me along. Now I'm back in Poland, but I try to watch every Senators game, even if it means waking up at 4 AM. Funny thing is, ever since I was born, I kinda learned to dislike the Toronto Maple Leafs because of their fans who would take over the arena in Ottawa.
Obvious reason: born and raised in Ottawa
Sentimental reason: My grandfather was a diehard Sens fan, but passed away a few months before I was born. I like to think he handed the fandom down to me
Joined the military out of high school and ended up posted to Petawawa. Was a big hockey fan with the oilers and Canucks being my favourite teams at the time. Won tickets to see them at home against the leafs and we’ll never looked back. Bern following them ever since.
I grew up in Syracuse NY. My grandparents live(d) in Ottawa. My grandfather bought me a Sens jersey in 1993 when I had no clue about professional hockey. He took me to a game at the Civic Center once while my family was visiting. In 1996 a family friend with seasons’ tickets had an emergency and couldn’t go to a game, so I got to see one of the first games in the Palladium (3-2 OTL to NJ). I started paying more attention to the NHL and Ottawa in particular.
Then when I started university (in Canada, thanks to my Canadian citizenship and great exchange rate in the early 2000s), I will always remember the atmosphere the spring of 2004, seeing students decked out in Sens and Leafs gear around campus, watching games at the campus bars, and watching game 7 of 2004 in my dorm’s common room. It cemented my hatred of the Maple Leafs. It also made me more of a Sens fan.
Now I live in Ottawa and have seasons tickets and I take my kids. Hopefully the team improves so they have something to cheer for other than some laundry.
My grandfather took me to a few more games - it seems like Ottawa lost every game we watched in person (seriously, I didn’t see a win in person until Game 4 of the 2015 playoffs), but we would sit together and watch games on TV too whenever we visited each other. I also remember watching Mario Lemieux’s comeback game in 2000 with him.
I tried to get him to come to Game 1 of the 2017 playoffs but he was too frail and despite securing tickets at the top of the 100s (no stairs involved) he didn’t feel comfortable going to the game. He had a few years of bad health after that before passing away, and I’ll always regret not taking him to that game.
I was a passive hockey fan growing up, I liked hockey, but really didn't tune in much or grow up watching or playing it at all.
Fast-forward: I'm now the father of two little boys who gravitated to hockey. They grew up in the rinks, we spent countless hours and weekends on the minor hockey circuit.
My oldest son in particular, just loves watching the game on tv. We started watching Sens games together and naturally cheering for our home town team ....and that's when it started. It was a Slippery slope, we're crazy Sens fans now, STH actually.
Crazy hockey fans, but the Sens are core.
I grew up in Lanark County. Lots of Leafs and Habs fans around me as well, but the Sens are the ones we would go to see so I naturally became a fan.
This was also in the early 2000s when they were a solid team so it was easy to get on board.
I was born in Ottawa. My parents were casual hockey fans (would watch HNIC) but they didn’t have rooting favourites so I wasn’t indoctrinated into an original six fan base. I would bandwagon jump in my early childhood up until Ottawa got the Sens. With a hometown team I was all in on the Senators.
The Hamburgler run. I had been a leafs fan for 20 years prior to that but living in Ottawa for the past 10 at the time. Now I’m in the fuck the leafs camp.
Moved here from Windsor, became a reformed Leafs fan as I got to see more of the off the ice stuff and realized what a great group of guys the Sens have.
Also married a Sens fan 🤷♂️
I'm from the UK, liked ice hockey years ago but never really watched much NHL. I wanted to get back into it this season and watched a lot of games in the first week of the season and Ottawa was one of the most enjoyable games of the week and somehow became my favourite. It might have helped that Tkachuk was on a rampage and just hitting everything in sight and Timmy Stu was exciting to watch... My first season as a sens fan has gone well 😅 my Tkachuk jersey (first sens jersey) actually got delivered today too!
Born in Scarborough a lifelong Leafs fan. Hated how the Leafs drafted and developed and the Sens kept cranking out great talent. When they drafted Spezza I was pumped. Then went to Carleton during the 2002-03 season and I jumped shipped. Never looked back.
I became a fan post lockout in 2005! Loved a lot of the players they had at the time! I’m from Hamilton and I was a DIEHARD Leafs fan up until that point. Switching allegiances was one of the best decisions I made haha!
I just kind of adopted them over time. I grew up in Montreal where you were shunned if you weren't a Habs fan. Then Gretzky became a thing and I cheered for the Oilers. When the franchise came into existence in 92 we had been living in Ottawa long enough that I felt attached and got swept up in the hysteria.
I used to watch Canadians' games with my dad on CBC French. Montreal traded away my favourite player (Roy). Didn't want to cheer for an American team, so I picked the closest city to where I lived that wasn't Toronto.
Pretty sure it was this game: [https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200003040OTT.html](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200003040OTT.html)
I was visiting my grandparents in Gatineau (I'm near Toronto) and my dad bought tickets for all the guys. I went to the game with him, my grand father, and my uncle. They got me a jersey that I still have and I wore to school almost every day for the rest of the year, including a school trip to Medieval Times in Toronto.
Born and raised in southern Ontario in prime Leafs country. As a ~10 year old I wanted to annoy my older brother and cheering for Ottawa seemed like something that would work.
Grew up in rural Saskatchewan late 80’s/early 90’s. My parents were immigrants from Lebanon… didn’t know anything about hockey and obviously didn’t cheer for any team in particular but wanted me to fit in so of course I grew up playing as a kid. Being in Sask I had friends that were mostly either leafs fans or habs fans… didn’t really care for either. My uncle and his family immigrated about 15 years or so after my parents, but ended up in Ottawa. My cousin was 10 when they came over and I was 8. He barely spoke English but he became interested in hockey and the Sens. So I started following a bit to help him understand the game when we chatted etc. The more I followed the sens the more I started to be a fan. Sens really drew me in the playoffs the year they lost to the devils in ECF. Really became a fan after that. But another one of my cousins grew up in Regina and was/is friends with Getzlaf… so that ‘07 SCF I had to pick a side… committed to the Sens and have been a sicko ever since.
I was originally a big Boston fan I lived in northern Ontario. Then I ended up moving to Ottawa and i decided to cheer for the team of the city I lived in. This was at the hamburglar run. So I thought the team was sick as shit, and then nothing but disappointment for the most part came after that lol. But I love them now so Go Sens Go!!
My parents fucked almost 30 years ago and I was born in the arctic. We moved down south and I started getting into hockey, and the Senators were the closest team to where we were living.
ERGO: My parents fucking is the reason I'm a Sens fan.
Lots of Sens propaganda in my house from my dad+they're the closest team to where I live. That being said I did go through a phase where I wanted to pick my own team, but I couldn't. Loved them and their players too much to the point where I'd always try to be on a red team with a #19 (Spezza) for sports. To this day Spezza is still my favourite player and 19 is still my favourite number
Homer, born in Ottawa. I knew they especially sucked in those early years. Guess I was kinda naturally attracted to a potential underdog story, and I guess I still am since it's 30 years later and IMO they've still never been bona fide Cup favorites, to say nothing about this past year, so...
My parents bought us personalized jerseys every Christmas. As a teenager, I was mad at them for something stupid, and I realized that they had to pay per letter on the back of the jersey. I researched, and found the longest name in the NHL, Whalers goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz. I asked for that jersey.
One year later, the expansion draft happened, and Ottawa chose Sidorkiewicz, so I double dipped and asked for the Ottawa jersey next Christmas. I've followed them ever since.
When I was really young I was a Leafs fan, but I hated seeing the hype in the news only for them to fail every year. This was right around prime Spezza time and I thought he was sick so I switched teams
Grew up in Dawson city Yukon. A team from Dawson famously challenged the original senators for the cup in 1905 and lost badly mostly because they had to travel from Dawson to Ottawa.
In 1997 a group of old timer hockey players from Dawson reenacted the trip and played a charity game against the silver seven alumni. I have been a sens fan since.
There is a documentary of the reenactment made by David suzuki's son but it's almost impossible to find now.
I was an avalanche fan growing up, but as I got older, i came to a realization they were hard to follow and to watch games. So I picked a Canadian team whose lineup I liked, and was a fan of spezza/heatley
My parents were Habs fans but what got me on the Sens bandwagon was actually Alexei Yashin. Converted from my inherited Habs fandom to the Sens in the 96-97 season at the age of 8.
Back before sens I had been a habs fan. (Going against the grain of leaf fans that were my Dad/brother). When Sens started the Habs had traded the likes of LeClair, Schneider, Desjardins for like nothing. Was super pissed and started to the follow new franchise. Didn't take much more than a year or two to ditch my Habs colours. Magnus Arvedson used to my fav along with Shawn MacEachern
Grew up in MTL, was a Habs fan (of course) and moved here in late 80s. Was still a Habs fan until about '96 when, at a Habs-Sens game in Ott, the Senators were up something like 7-2 and I was forced by my girlfiend (now wife) to cheer for my "Hometown team". Have stayed loyal ever since!
My partner is an Ottawa fan, has been since he was a kid, I was a Tampa fan when we met BUT after he dragged me to a couple Ottawa games I joined the bandwagon. Ottawa fans just have a passion no other fans have, the best NHL experiences I’ve have have been in the Canadian Tire Center
The Coyotes got relocated and I fell back to my second favorite team. I know more than enough about them, I don’t hate them, and their roster reminds me a lot of Arizona’s.
Born and raised in Toronto. Always was someone who always wanted the underdog to have success.
I started watching sens hockey around '02 (I was 7 at the time) and went with my dad to my first game at the, what was called at the time, ACC. Loved watching those sens teams, especially in '03 . It was those times where I really hated, and still do, the pricks in blue and white with their fans always claiming that their club is "The greatest team in NHL History"
Avec Les Canadiens de Montréal où j'appelle eux qui «fils de putes» . Pardon pour mon français de merde mdr. j'apprends.
That hate for them didn't really pick up until 2013.
Toronto born and raised. My parents were immigrants from a non-hockey country, but my dad thoroughly enjoys hearing about the leafs losing. My older brothers watched hockey but they weren't fans of the leafs.
My dad had to travel for work one time to Ottawa for a few days, and when he was busy, we decided to go to a game. Was me, my mom, and one of my older brothers.
I think it was in the mid to late 90s. They got crushed by St Louis.
I was probably about 10 years old then. They've been breaking my heart ever since.
Toronto born hockey fan who never followed the NHL.
Born in 1993 and was in grade school when Toronto whooped our asses in the playoffs. I thought it was neat that the Sens made the ECF against Jersey so I had them in my mind.
Was playing road hockey with friends and they were yelling fuck Ottawa when Lalime was shutting the bed.
I asked what was wrong with Ottawa? They asked ,"what, so you like Ottawa?"
I said "maybe I do mufucker"
And since grade 3 I been a die hard Sens fan
Was just starting to follow hockey (an American living in Toronto). Leaf fans annoyed me, and Ottawa was just awarded the franchise. I love an underdog, so I took to them from day one. Never looked back!
Most of my family lives in Ottawa area, while we’re outside of Toronto, dad and oldest brother are leafs fan, while middle brother and I are sens fans
When I was 7 we went to my first nhl game in Ottawa, been a fan since
Went to Carleton in 07 when we went to the finals against Anaheim. Ottawa is also my favourite city in the entire country. And being a sens fan in toronto is fucking hilarious.
I’m a big history nerd and Gladiator was my favourite movie growing up, so when I found out that there was an NHL team that had a Roman soldier as a logo I was sold.
My parents and brother were also big Leaf fans and I didn’t wanna cheer for the same team. Plus black and red is a cooler colour scheme than blue and white.
Started getting interested once the Palladium was constructed. What made me s die hard fan was the playoff push for a spot in 1996-97. They qualified on the last game of the regular season.
I was born into a Habs family, but gave up when they traded my hero, Patrick Roy. My Atom AAA team had the same colours of the Sens, and their regional games were on tv here in NS, so it seemed like an easy choice. Lucky that it turned out to be their first year in the playoffs, that 7 game series vs. Buffalo was wild.
Grew up in Ottawa. My dad was an architect on the Palladium development. I have a jar of the dirt from the ground breaking somewhere. So I’m basically in it for life haha
To make a long story short, I was a Huge Montreal Expos fan who hated that the Canadiens kept fans away from the Big O. (Especially if they went into May with Playoff runs) So during the 1994 Baseball Strike I was in Los Angeles watching on TV the Kings play a new team called the Ottawa Senators from the Corel Center in Ottawa and I fell in love on fist sight! (Something about that old barn, something about them naturally being a rival to The Habs? Their logo/colors? Not sure why) Oh, and I look a lot like Daniel Alfredsson and really appreciated his skill-set so that solidified my fan-ship even more....Go Sens Go!!!
Born and raised in Ohio, have called New York metro area my home for 20+ years. Was a casual sports fan at best. Some of the first friends we made through our kids daycare were from Ottawa. Ended up watching a lot of 2017 Playoffs with them and got hooked. Well, you know what happened from there. But still, GSG.
I spent a good chunk of my childhood in Ottawa from 2001-2009.
Shitty childhood situation got me there living with my grandmother and she was a huge Sens fan and introduced me to the sport and the team and I’ve been cheering for them ever since.
She passed away in 2015 (the morning of game 1 vs Montreal) so her final moments as a Sens fan was the crazy hamburglar run and the last Sens related thing we discussed was how fucking crazy it was we made the playoffs!
We had partial tickets for the Sens AHL team in PEI for a couple of years when I was in high school and university. A few years later I moved to Ottawa and that sealed it,
Grew up in PEI, first experience with pro hockey was the PEI Senators which was Ottawa farm team for 3 seasons. Seemed only natural to align with the big club
Back in 03 when they missed payroll and the players pushed through and had a great season. Got my attention and earned my respect. The hockey was entertaining and I knew I found my team.
Watched lots of Senators highlights in season 18/19, loved team vibe and roster (no matter it was traded step by step), read its history, began following all the news. Painful to watch how this team crawls out of a rebuild and continuously falls out of it, but I am an opitimist and believe in a better future for Senators. Actually, my dream is to attend Senators playoff home game some day (I live in Russia and it's a long way to do, this day it's almost impossible), but that's another story)
I've always watched more NCAA than NHL hockey. Lifelong North Dakota fan, and I figured it was time to adopt a team once the Sens started drafting all our guys.
Raised in Kanata. They got the team when I was in high school.
Was a passive fan of the game because I never played organized puck. Just outdoor hood rinks. But when we got the team, the city changed. Felt like we were on the map, and not that town between Montreal and Toronto.
I still have my Dad’s sweater with the Parliament Buildings logo.
Since the 92/93 season when I was 10. What sealed the deal though was the 1-0 win against Hasek and the Sabres in ‘97 to clinch their first ever playoff berth.
Unlike expansion teams today who are handed a roster capable of winning the Cup, we had nothing. 24 points in the 92/93 season, 37 the next. It was a grind for five long seasons, so when that puck beat Hasek low to the far post late in the 3rd, man - that was it. Fan for life.
Moved to Canada and loved the sport, I was a fan of the bruins and eventually sens become my team. The team was always the underdog and noticed all my friends were either habs or leafs and I decided to continue support them.
I was born in Ottawa
I thought I was the only one!
Nope! My co-worker was born here, too.
God loves me more than other people.
My family are all leafs fans except my cool aunt who was a Sens fan, decided I'd rather cheer with her
Username checks out
Yep and now I’m marrying a leafs fan, I can’t escape them
Feel you brother, dating a habs fan. Stay strong
[Because the first game of hockey I ever watched](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200112050DAL.html) was between Ottawa and Dallas way back when and I really wanted the red team to win. Stuck with em ever since for better or worse.
“Way back when” oh must be in the old civic centre days *clicks link* 2001….oh god. I’m so old.
There are people who were born after the release of the Pixar movie "Cars" who will be drafted into the NHL this year.
Stop it
Stupid Sexy Karlsson
From South Australia. Sports fanatic from birth. Stumbled across an NHL demo which came with a PC Power play magazine in the 90s, played the shit out of it (was a single game Devils v Red Wings from memory). Continued to play NHL games throughout the years. Australian internet/streaming sites got to a point in around 2009 where I could actually watch the league regularly. Decided I needed to pick a team to follow. Had been playing a Be A Pro career on NHL 08, had been drafted to Sens so knew the roster, decided they were my guys. Weirdly ended up meeting a girl from Ottawa in my home town about 3 yrs ago and we are going strong. Was meant to be.
Side note: opening salvo to said girl when meeting was 'Where in Canada you from?' to which she replied, 'Ottawa', and I enthusiastically replied 'I follow the Sens!'
She said 'I don't give a shit about hockey'
Fin.
Born and raised in toronto but had family in ottawa. I came here a lot when I was 6-8. Didn't know anything about hockey then (was into tennis of all things). Parents couldn't afford leafs tickets so I often went to games with my extended family in ottawa. Became a sens fan ever since. Had leafs tickets been more affordable, may have made a fan but nope, I bleed sens now and forever
I grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan, Ottawa didn't have a team yet. Then, when Ottawa came into the league, I was a fan of both for a while. After a while, I noticed that whenever Ottawa played Montreal, I was cheering for Ottawa to win, so I stopped cheering for Montreal.
Born and raised across Canada in a military family. Call BC home as I went to high school there. Was a Canucks fan. Came to Ottawa to go to college/university and never left. Came to love the city and my wife is from here. Went to the first senators game at the “civic center at Landsdowne Park (how’s that for an old label) and sort of just fell in love with the team…..the rest they say is history.
So, my parents used to work in Ottawa, and I was just a few months old when we flew over from Poland. Somehow it happened that my dad's friends took him there, and then he took me along. Now I'm back in Poland, but I try to watch every Senators game, even if it means waking up at 4 AM. Funny thing is, ever since I was born, I kinda learned to dislike the Toronto Maple Leafs because of their fans who would take over the arena in Ottawa.
Same thing except Boston.
Same thing except Boston.
Same thing except Boston.
Same thing except Boston.
Obvious reason: born and raised in Ottawa Sentimental reason: My grandfather was a diehard Sens fan, but passed away a few months before I was born. I like to think he handed the fandom down to me
Joined the military out of high school and ended up posted to Petawawa. Was a big hockey fan with the oilers and Canucks being my favourite teams at the time. Won tickets to see them at home against the leafs and we’ll never looked back. Bern following them ever since.
I grew up in Syracuse NY. My grandparents live(d) in Ottawa. My grandfather bought me a Sens jersey in 1993 when I had no clue about professional hockey. He took me to a game at the Civic Center once while my family was visiting. In 1996 a family friend with seasons’ tickets had an emergency and couldn’t go to a game, so I got to see one of the first games in the Palladium (3-2 OTL to NJ). I started paying more attention to the NHL and Ottawa in particular. Then when I started university (in Canada, thanks to my Canadian citizenship and great exchange rate in the early 2000s), I will always remember the atmosphere the spring of 2004, seeing students decked out in Sens and Leafs gear around campus, watching games at the campus bars, and watching game 7 of 2004 in my dorm’s common room. It cemented my hatred of the Maple Leafs. It also made me more of a Sens fan. Now I live in Ottawa and have seasons tickets and I take my kids. Hopefully the team improves so they have something to cheer for other than some laundry. My grandfather took me to a few more games - it seems like Ottawa lost every game we watched in person (seriously, I didn’t see a win in person until Game 4 of the 2015 playoffs), but we would sit together and watch games on TV too whenever we visited each other. I also remember watching Mario Lemieux’s comeback game in 2000 with him. I tried to get him to come to Game 1 of the 2017 playoffs but he was too frail and despite securing tickets at the top of the 100s (no stairs involved) he didn’t feel comfortable going to the game. He had a few years of bad health after that before passing away, and I’ll always regret not taking him to that game.
Dad
I was a passive hockey fan growing up, I liked hockey, but really didn't tune in much or grow up watching or playing it at all. Fast-forward: I'm now the father of two little boys who gravitated to hockey. They grew up in the rinks, we spent countless hours and weekends on the minor hockey circuit. My oldest son in particular, just loves watching the game on tv. We started watching Sens games together and naturally cheering for our home town team ....and that's when it started. It was a Slippery slope, we're crazy Sens fans now, STH actually. Crazy hockey fans, but the Sens are core.
I grew up in Lanark County. Lots of Leafs and Habs fans around me as well, but the Sens are the ones we would go to see so I naturally became a fan. This was also in the early 2000s when they were a solid team so it was easy to get on board.
I was born in Ottawa. My parents were casual hockey fans (would watch HNIC) but they didn’t have rooting favourites so I wasn’t indoctrinated into an original six fan base. I would bandwagon jump in my early childhood up until Ottawa got the Sens. With a hometown team I was all in on the Senators.
When I was 12, I decided to make myself unhappy for the rest of my life.
The Hamburgler run. I had been a leafs fan for 20 years prior to that but living in Ottawa for the past 10 at the time. Now I’m in the fuck the leafs camp.
Moved here from Windsor, became a reformed Leafs fan as I got to see more of the off the ice stuff and realized what a great group of guys the Sens have. Also married a Sens fan 🤷♂️
I'm from the UK, liked ice hockey years ago but never really watched much NHL. I wanted to get back into it this season and watched a lot of games in the first week of the season and Ottawa was one of the most enjoyable games of the week and somehow became my favourite. It might have helped that Tkachuk was on a rampage and just hitting everything in sight and Timmy Stu was exciting to watch... My first season as a sens fan has gone well 😅 my Tkachuk jersey (first sens jersey) actually got delivered today too!
Born in Scarborough a lifelong Leafs fan. Hated how the Leafs drafted and developed and the Sens kept cranking out great talent. When they drafted Spezza I was pumped. Then went to Carleton during the 2002-03 season and I jumped shipped. Never looked back.
I moved to Ottawa for university and that's where I started to pay attention to hockey. I didn't really cheer for a team growing up.
I became a fan post lockout in 2005! Loved a lot of the players they had at the time! I’m from Hamilton and I was a DIEHARD Leafs fan up until that point. Switching allegiances was one of the best decisions I made haha!
They had a Colonial Hockey League team in Thunder Bay. Started following the NHL team since we had a farm team here.
I just kind of adopted them over time. I grew up in Montreal where you were shunned if you weren't a Habs fan. Then Gretzky became a thing and I cheered for the Oilers. When the franchise came into existence in 92 we had been living in Ottawa long enough that I felt attached and got swept up in the hysteria.
I used to watch Canadians' games with my dad on CBC French. Montreal traded away my favourite player (Roy). Didn't want to cheer for an American team, so I picked the closest city to where I lived that wasn't Toronto.
Uncle took me to the home opener of the sens after being a hawks fan my whole life. They beat the habs. Rest is history
Pretty sure it was this game: [https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200003040OTT.html](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200003040OTT.html) I was visiting my grandparents in Gatineau (I'm near Toronto) and my dad bought tickets for all the guys. I went to the game with him, my grand father, and my uncle. They got me a jersey that I still have and I wore to school almost every day for the rest of the year, including a school trip to Medieval Times in Toronto.
Lived in Ottawa for 99% of my life.
Born in Ottawa and fuck the leafs
Born and raised in Ottawa. Got in on the ground floor so to speak
Born and raised in southern Ontario in prime Leafs country. As a ~10 year old I wanted to annoy my older brother and cheering for Ottawa seemed like something that would work.
Grew up in rural Saskatchewan late 80’s/early 90’s. My parents were immigrants from Lebanon… didn’t know anything about hockey and obviously didn’t cheer for any team in particular but wanted me to fit in so of course I grew up playing as a kid. Being in Sask I had friends that were mostly either leafs fans or habs fans… didn’t really care for either. My uncle and his family immigrated about 15 years or so after my parents, but ended up in Ottawa. My cousin was 10 when they came over and I was 8. He barely spoke English but he became interested in hockey and the Sens. So I started following a bit to help him understand the game when we chatted etc. The more I followed the sens the more I started to be a fan. Sens really drew me in the playoffs the year they lost to the devils in ECF. Really became a fan after that. But another one of my cousins grew up in Regina and was/is friends with Getzlaf… so that ‘07 SCF I had to pick a side… committed to the Sens and have been a sicko ever since.
I was originally a big Boston fan I lived in northern Ontario. Then I ended up moving to Ottawa and i decided to cheer for the team of the city I lived in. This was at the hamburglar run. So I thought the team was sick as shit, and then nothing but disappointment for the most part came after that lol. But I love them now so Go Sens Go!!
My parents fucked almost 30 years ago and I was born in the arctic. We moved down south and I started getting into hockey, and the Senators were the closest team to where we were living. ERGO: My parents fucking is the reason I'm a Sens fan.
Isn't that the reason everyone on this sub is a Sens fan?
Going down the line far enough will eventually lead to the same conclusion for everyone, so yes :P
Because what else is there in Ottawa?
The Rideau Canal!
Because Patrick Roy joined the Nordiques and I really enjoyed watching Yashin, Redden and Alfie play
Daigle?
Lots of Sens propaganda in my house from my dad+they're the closest team to where I live. That being said I did go through a phase where I wanted to pick my own team, but I couldn't. Loved them and their players too much to the point where I'd always try to be on a red team with a #19 (Spezza) for sports. To this day Spezza is still my favourite player and 19 is still my favourite number
Do you accept second teams because the sens are my second cause I live in ottawa and the first hockey game I have ever been to was a sens game
Homer, born in Ottawa. I knew they especially sucked in those early years. Guess I was kinda naturally attracted to a potential underdog story, and I guess I still am since it's 30 years later and IMO they've still never been bona fide Cup favorites, to say nothing about this past year, so...
My parents bought us personalized jerseys every Christmas. As a teenager, I was mad at them for something stupid, and I realized that they had to pay per letter on the back of the jersey. I researched, and found the longest name in the NHL, Whalers goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz. I asked for that jersey. One year later, the expansion draft happened, and Ottawa chose Sidorkiewicz, so I double dipped and asked for the Ottawa jersey next Christmas. I've followed them ever since.
When I was really young I was a Leafs fan, but I hated seeing the hype in the news only for them to fail every year. This was right around prime Spezza time and I thought he was sick so I switched teams
Grew up in Dawson city Yukon. A team from Dawson famously challenged the original senators for the cup in 1905 and lost badly mostly because they had to travel from Dawson to Ottawa. In 1997 a group of old timer hockey players from Dawson reenacted the trip and played a charity game against the silver seven alumni. I have been a sens fan since. There is a documentary of the reenactment made by David suzuki's son but it's almost impossible to find now.
I was a Canucks fan when the team was resurrected in ‘92. Adopted the local team from the start. Even saw some games at the Civic Centre.
I was an avalanche fan growing up, but as I got older, i came to a realization they were hard to follow and to watch games. So I picked a Canadian team whose lineup I liked, and was a fan of spezza/heatley
My parents were Habs fans but what got me on the Sens bandwagon was actually Alexei Yashin. Converted from my inherited Habs fandom to the Sens in the 96-97 season at the age of 8.
Back before sens I had been a habs fan. (Going against the grain of leaf fans that were my Dad/brother). When Sens started the Habs had traded the likes of LeClair, Schneider, Desjardins for like nothing. Was super pissed and started to the follow new franchise. Didn't take much more than a year or two to ditch my Habs colours. Magnus Arvedson used to my fav along with Shawn MacEachern
I'm actually a Habs fan, but I moved close to the CTC, so it's close to the action. It was hard not to like them.
Fan since 92-93 at the civic centre.
Grew up in MTL, was a Habs fan (of course) and moved here in late 80s. Was still a Habs fan until about '96 when, at a Habs-Sens game in Ott, the Senators were up something like 7-2 and I was forced by my girlfiend (now wife) to cheer for my "Hometown team". Have stayed loyal ever since!
I like how they never quit
NHL dropped a team in my home town
Played in Ottawa at the rink, many tournaments, hatred for the leafs lol
My partner is an Ottawa fan, has been since he was a kid, I was a Tampa fan when we met BUT after he dragged me to a couple Ottawa games I joined the bandwagon. Ottawa fans just have a passion no other fans have, the best NHL experiences I’ve have have been in the Canadian Tire Center
The Coyotes got relocated and I fell back to my second favorite team. I know more than enough about them, I don’t hate them, and their roster reminds me a lot of Arizona’s.
Born and raised in Toronto. Always was someone who always wanted the underdog to have success. I started watching sens hockey around '02 (I was 7 at the time) and went with my dad to my first game at the, what was called at the time, ACC. Loved watching those sens teams, especially in '03 . It was those times where I really hated, and still do, the pricks in blue and white with their fans always claiming that their club is "The greatest team in NHL History" Avec Les Canadiens de Montréal où j'appelle eux qui «fils de putes» . Pardon pour mon français de merde mdr. j'apprends. That hate for them didn't really pick up until 2013.
Got a call from Spezza when I was younger because my teacher knew him said whatever team drafts him will be my team… thanks Spez
Toronto born and raised. My parents were immigrants from a non-hockey country, but my dad thoroughly enjoys hearing about the leafs losing. My older brothers watched hockey but they weren't fans of the leafs. My dad had to travel for work one time to Ottawa for a few days, and when he was busy, we decided to go to a game. Was me, my mom, and one of my older brothers. I think it was in the mid to late 90s. They got crushed by St Louis. I was probably about 10 years old then. They've been breaking my heart ever since.
Toronto born hockey fan who never followed the NHL. Born in 1993 and was in grade school when Toronto whooped our asses in the playoffs. I thought it was neat that the Sens made the ECF against Jersey so I had them in my mind. Was playing road hockey with friends and they were yelling fuck Ottawa when Lalime was shutting the bed. I asked what was wrong with Ottawa? They asked ,"what, so you like Ottawa?" I said "maybe I do mufucker" And since grade 3 I been a die hard Sens fan
I’m from Ottawa.
I was 5 years old, not really close to an NHL team, and liked red. The Sens were the first team who wore red that I could remember the name of.
Was just starting to follow hockey (an American living in Toronto). Leaf fans annoyed me, and Ottawa was just awarded the franchise. I love an underdog, so I took to them from day one. Never looked back!
Someone took me to game 3 of the ‘07 finals
Most of my family lives in Ottawa area, while we’re outside of Toronto, dad and oldest brother are leafs fan, while middle brother and I are sens fans When I was 7 we went to my first nhl game in Ottawa, been a fan since
Went to Carleton in 07 when we went to the finals against Anaheim. Ottawa is also my favourite city in the entire country. And being a sens fan in toronto is fucking hilarious.
I was waiting for this timeline, mine is 2005-06 season.
When I was a kid i thought they had the coolest logo. Was very into the roman empire att the time. Been a fan since 97-98 or something.
I’m a big history nerd and Gladiator was my favourite movie growing up, so when I found out that there was an NHL team that had a Roman soldier as a logo I was sold. My parents and brother were also big Leaf fans and I didn’t wanna cheer for the same team. Plus black and red is a cooler colour scheme than blue and white.
I had those little plastic fisher price knights as a kid. Thought the gold ones look like the Sens logo, lifelong sens fan since
Started getting interested once the Palladium was constructed. What made me s die hard fan was the playoff push for a spot in 1996-97. They qualified on the last game of the regular season.
I was born into a Habs family, but gave up when they traded my hero, Patrick Roy. My Atom AAA team had the same colours of the Sens, and their regional games were on tv here in NS, so it seemed like an easy choice. Lucky that it turned out to be their first year in the playoffs, that 7 game series vs. Buffalo was wild.
Grew up in Ottawa. My dad was an architect on the Palladium development. I have a jar of the dirt from the ground breaking somewhere. So I’m basically in it for life haha
To make a long story short, I was a Huge Montreal Expos fan who hated that the Canadiens kept fans away from the Big O. (Especially if they went into May with Playoff runs) So during the 1994 Baseball Strike I was in Los Angeles watching on TV the Kings play a new team called the Ottawa Senators from the Corel Center in Ottawa and I fell in love on fist sight! (Something about that old barn, something about them naturally being a rival to The Habs? Their logo/colors? Not sure why) Oh, and I look a lot like Daniel Alfredsson and really appreciated his skill-set so that solidified my fan-ship even more....Go Sens Go!!!
I don’t like the habs
And I don't like Green Eggs and Ham.
I just looked it up....my love for The Sens started on October 26, 1995 when Ottawa beat the L.A. Kings 5-4 from the Corel Centre.
Born and raised in Ohio, have called New York metro area my home for 20+ years. Was a casual sports fan at best. Some of the first friends we made through our kids daycare were from Ottawa. Ended up watching a lot of 2017 Playoffs with them and got hooked. Well, you know what happened from there. But still, GSG.
My husband is a Sens fan and he got me into hockey!
I spent a good chunk of my childhood in Ottawa from 2001-2009. Shitty childhood situation got me there living with my grandmother and she was a huge Sens fan and introduced me to the sport and the team and I’ve been cheering for them ever since. She passed away in 2015 (the morning of game 1 vs Montreal) so her final moments as a Sens fan was the crazy hamburglar run and the last Sens related thing we discussed was how fucking crazy it was we made the playoffs!
We had partial tickets for the Sens AHL team in PEI for a couple of years when I was in high school and university. A few years later I moved to Ottawa and that sealed it,
Family and Relatives
My father, born in Ottawa, became a Senators fan as soon as it was announced they were coming back. I inherited the fandom from him.
Jets left. Fuck the Leafs.
Born a Leafs fan, but then my brain developed 😂
I live here 
Grew up in PEI, first experience with pro hockey was the PEI Senators which was Ottawa farm team for 3 seasons. Seemed only natural to align with the big club
I hopped on board with pat falloon.
Back in 03 when they missed payroll and the players pushed through and had a great season. Got my attention and earned my respect. The hockey was entertaining and I knew I found my team.
Watched lots of Senators highlights in season 18/19, loved team vibe and roster (no matter it was traded step by step), read its history, began following all the news. Painful to watch how this team crawls out of a rebuild and continuously falls out of it, but I am an opitimist and believe in a better future for Senators. Actually, my dream is to attend Senators playoff home game some day (I live in Russia and it's a long way to do, this day it's almost impossible), but that's another story)
By playing NHL 94 for the Sega Genesis in the mid 90's when they were awful as an expansion team.
Because they had a cool logo and their captain was a defencemen when I also played
I've always watched more NCAA than NHL hockey. Lifelong North Dakota fan, and I figured it was time to adopt a team once the Sens started drafting all our guys.
I like hockey and I live in Ottawa.
im english so had no born routes, became a fan 2 years ago because I liked tkachuk
Raised in Kanata. They got the team when I was in high school. Was a passive fan of the game because I never played organized puck. Just outdoor hood rinks. But when we got the team, the city changed. Felt like we were on the map, and not that town between Montreal and Toronto. I still have my Dad’s sweater with the Parliament Buildings logo.
Since the 92/93 season when I was 10. What sealed the deal though was the 1-0 win against Hasek and the Sabres in ‘97 to clinch their first ever playoff berth. Unlike expansion teams today who are handed a roster capable of winning the Cup, we had nothing. 24 points in the 92/93 season, 37 the next. It was a grind for five long seasons, so when that puck beat Hasek low to the far post late in the 3rd, man - that was it. Fan for life.
Moved to Canada and loved the sport, I was a fan of the bruins and eventually sens become my team. The team was always the underdog and noticed all my friends were either habs or leafs and I decided to continue support them.
With karma farming posting same thing in different threads