Pens, Sens and Canada

Vol. I, No. 45

Those "upstart" Pittsburgh Penguins, an expansion NHL team from the late 60s, have done it again.  They defeated the Ottawa Senators tonight in overtime, and move on to the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It was the third overtime game in six games with the Senators.  Game 5 went to triple OT, with the Senators managing to extend the series for one more chance.  Both teams won their last games on the road.  It showed true grit.

The Penguins who whupped the Senators are headed by the most famous active Canadian hockey player, Sidney "The Kid" Crosby.  The damage done tonight was performed by Canadian-Penguins Matt Cooke (two goals) and Pascal Dupuis (game winner in OT).  Think of what it means for these Canadian kids to win in their nation's capital.

Ottawa is the capital of Canada.  Located on the south bank of the Ottawa River, the city looks across at Gatineau, Quebec.  The site was picked for Canada's capital by Queen Victoria herself, in 1857.  It is far from the major metropolitan areas of Toronto and Montreal.  I remember driving from Ottawa to Montreal years ago, through the hinterlands of PQ, Province du Quebec.  My "European" French did not do much good in gas stations out in the pays (country).

The Ottawa Senators are a storied hockey franchise.  Founded in 1883, the Old Tyme Senators won 11 Stanley Cups, before leaving the NHL in 1934.  In 1990, an expansion NHL team was planted in Ottawa, and the modern Senators were born again.  Over the next decade, the team modeled itself after the successful New Jersey Devils, and gradually rose to prominence. 

The team won the NHL Presidents' Trophy in 2003, have been in the playoffs 11 out of the past 12 years and appeared in the 2007 Stanley Cup finals, losing to the Anaheim Ducks. Devils fans may remember that 2007 was the last time that New Jersey went beyond the first playoff round.  They lost to the Senators in five games.  Since then, the Devils have made the playoffs but not been competitive.

This year, the Sens fought valiantly.  Down 3 games to 1 against the defending Stanley Cup champions, Ottawa managed to pull out a victory in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.  It took three OT periods for the Senators to solve Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (another Canadian-Penguin) after 107 minutes of play. OT lasted 47 minutes, almost a complete extra game. 

That may seem long, but it does not even get into the top ten in playoff game history. The longest ever was 116:30 of OT, Detroit against the Montreal Maroons in 1936. Two of the top ten games involved the modern era Penguins, in 1996 (winning after 79:15 of OT, against the Capitals) and again in 2000 (losing to the Flyers after 92:01 of OT).

Three overtime games in one series.  Five overtime periods.  Canadians playing for Pittsburgh, winning in the shadow of their country's parliament. Marathon hockey. Rubber legs.  Somehow, the Pens found the energy to come back this evening and dig deep. They'll wait for the outcome of the Washington-Montreal and Boston-Buffalo series to figure out who they face in the next series.

Hockey Rules.