Behind Enemy Lines: Senators 3, Leafs 2 (OT)
9 Comments Published by Sherry on Sunday, December 31, 2006 at 10:05 PM.
What a game. I apologize for the general lateness of this post but I had the pleasure of attending the latest installment of the Battle of Ontario and given that it also coincided with my 20th birthday, I've only now fully recovered from the festivities.
I'm not going to argue with the people who say that the Senators were darned lucky to walk away with this win, because for the most part they were out-chanced. Given that the shots were 45-34 for Toronto with Toronto outshooting Ottawa almost double for most of the game, it looked pretty bleak for awhile. It did look like the Senators were on their heels for alot of this game, but Ray Emery absolutely bailed them out. He was fantastic, not giving up many second chances and the defense was very on as well. The Senators had to battle back for most of this game and it was nice to see the fact that the Leafs were leading most of the game didn't deflate them. The first goal was a beautiful short-handed effort by Dean McAmmond who really had a great game and definitely stepped up knowing that the team was short a few bodies. There was also no shortage of rough stuff but no actual fights to speak of since the refs were sure to swoop in to stop any funny business going on. Which, darn but also...yeah I guess I sort of understand.
The atmosphere inside the ACC is a little bit different than Scotiabank Place as in, the Leafs fans sure get excited when nothing happens. They cheer and get up off their seats when they enter the offensive zone which is terribly misleading and causes me to not be able to see anything. I don't want to speak from a personal bias here but I think the atmosphere in Scotiabank Place is more enjoyable. The intermission and programming during the breaks in plays were a lot more entertaining. You can definitely tell the audience they were going for was more of a corporate mood as they were playing commercials during the breaks and were sure to thank their corporate sponsors and season ticket holders. They also made a point to show the hot girls in the audience with their "blonde cam" which I didn't particularly care for, not that my guy friend I went with was complaining. Also, the musical selections at the ACC weren't as impressive. But then again, I am a bit of a music snob. 
Leafs fans are definitely not short on spirit though as it got super loud, super fast anytime there was a good scoring chance. I was really quite impressed although displeased by how automatic the boos were for Daniel Alfredsson whenever he touched the puck. Really, it was like flicking a switch. However my friend G and I were sure to shout out "GO ALFIE!" everytime. There were some people in front of us that took it upon themselves to start some chants and a gentleman in the blue wig also attempted to start the wave several times but it never really made it past our section. My friend Ken was nice enough to give me a Sens jersey for my birthday but since he's a Leafs fan, took part in alot of smack talk that was going on back and forth. The gentleman in front of us with the blue wig was a huge fan of his and after the game said that my jersey looked like a Special Olympics jersey. Rather than to point out the obvious that his team just got beat by said Special Olympics team, I opted to not further the rather political incorrectness of it all. All in all a very exciting game. But the ACC still sucks.
Things of Interest
- Dan Snyder's parents, Graham and Lu Ann Snyder were both in attendance at their game as part of their NHL tour. Check out the blog of their travels at 37 Rising Stars.
- When they're announcing the injuries for your team are you supposed to cheer or boo?
- Chris Phillips and Ray Emery were named the second and first star of the night and I was very pleased to see that they both stepped onto the ice. Emery gave his stick to a kid in the audience wearing a Leafs jersey and had some fun with him by pretending he wasn't going to give it to him.
- While walking to the bar after the game in my Sens jersey I got booed a couple of times but did I care? My friend claims the only reason they won was because it was my birthday. I said what if it was also a Leafs fan's birthday today that was also in the audience. Apparently, that's clearly impossible. One of my friends gave me a hockey stick for my birthday which I had to take with me to the game and while we were clearing out of the building I heard this exchange:
"She's pretty brave coming to Leafs nation like that"
"Maybe that's why she has the stick"
Oh please, I've lived here all my life. Although I'm not too proud to admit that walking down the streets of Toronto can certainly be dangerous...for more than one reason.
- There were a couple of Senators fans peppered throughout the audience. One of them was sitting a couple of rows in front of us and was sure to give all the Sens fans air high-fives whenever they scored.
- There was some smack talk going on after the game between a Senators fan and a Leafs fan. While they were exiting a friend of the Senators fan got the last word by saying "Go Red Wings!"
- I have some great shots of the boys warming up, including this lucky shot of Dany Heatley for those who are so inclined:
Full Game Pictures: Ottawa vs. Toronto, Dec. 30th, 2006.
Labels: air canada centre, game photos, photography, ray emery, toronto maple leafs, win
You know, the last time I went to the ACC, I crushed a water bottle and gave the finger 5 times. All in all, a less-civilized appearance than yours.
Did you also notice a lot of young, young Senator fans? They make me sooo proud.
aieee! Heatley looks like he's about to run up and eat my face O_O
Glad you had a fun time tho :) I was too busy screaming at the leafs from my comfortable couch back home.
I usually don't get too riled up, suppose it's just part of my personality, haha.
There were a couple of kids in Sens jerseys. It made me feel all proud except the jerk with the blue wig was sort of bullying some of them and it made me feel all over-protective.
Joi - Eat your face. Now that I haven't heard! I had a great time despite the overwhelming number of Leafs fans but I suppose that was to be expected. With the amount of commercials they played during the breaks it almost felt like I was watching it at home.
Oooo Heatley! Just wait until Margee sees it! I hold on to my sandwich statement. If you forget it, email me.
Oooo and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Hockeygirl is right! I have smelling salts rubbed across my nose so I don't keep fainting as I write this comment. That pic just captures his tortured, bad boy self.
And happy birthday! And new year! And thank you for that shot.
HG - Thanks! And yes, I do indeed remember the sandwich statement, although I may have purposely tried to forget it.
Margee - You welcome and thank you. Happy New Year to you too. Actually when I took it my first thought was "Margee will LOVE this"
Try all you want, you'll never forget it... Just like I won't ever forget what you said about Ovie and cameras... HAHA