Senators vs Montreal

I try to keep an eye on the hockey scene, despite being so far from the action.

I get asked about hockey ("Ice hockey" as they call it here) all the time. Mostly, people want to know about the fighting. I have a hard time explaining the fighting.

They also ask which team I support. I'm not sure anymore. My journey as a hockey fan was like this:

Childhood - I was an Oilers fan. This was Gretzky at his Greatest.

Primary school - Les Canadiens. One of my good friends was a Habs fan and it rubbed off onto me. This was the era of St. Patrick, when all the kids in the playground played goalie "butterfly" style.

Middle school - The Senators arrive! Man were we terrible. Still, it is nice to have a team of your own, in your own city. I remember following the drama of the Alex's (Daigle, who just couldn't live up to the hype, and also dated Pam Anderson; and Yashin, who was famously involved with the NAC...), our attempt at a team without enforcers, and the fairly regular beatings we'd get in the playoffs (Sabres, Leafs etc..)

I never really followed the Senators as closely once I left the city. I do remember a high flying team that won the Presidents trophy and then got beat up in the play offs.

I find play off hockey is an odd sort of sport that really values toughness and willingness to suffer over skill. That's never really appealed to me.

In any case, I'm not sure I have a team anymore. I'm torn between cheering for the home town team vs cheering for the teams of my childhood.