Not Your Regular Battle Of Ontario: Father’s Day Special

Today’s post here at SenShot features a Father’s Day Special, being celebrated by ever writer here at FanSided Hockey Today. Enjoy the special, and feel free to comment on your own son-dad relationships regarding the game of hockey.

When you hear about the meetings of two hockey fans, one for the Ottawa Senators and one for the Toronto Maple Leafs, usually the question that comes to mind is, “Where’s the blood?”. Well, that happens, but sometimes the relationship between two bitter rivals can be one of friendship and just loyalty. I’m learning that at this year’s World Cup, between my dad and I.

You see, my dad isn’t a die-hard Maple Leafs fan, but he follows them every chance he gets. As you can figure out easily, I am a die-hard Senators fan. It’s a weird situation to be, especially when watching the same TV set and cheering for two different team. It is a phenomenon that is occurring more often, but there’s not bad blood.

My dad and I always take time out of our schedules to watch the regular Battle of Ontario game between the Sens and Leaf, 6 times a season. Although we hate the guts of our opponent teams, I respect my dad too much to get into some silly argument. And we have some sort of code during the playoffs. If both team make it to the big ticket, and one gets eliminated, we both have to cheer for the team that remains. It happened in 2004 when Patrick Lalime all of a sudden went all shit on me and forced me to cheer on the Leafs (even though they got eliminated in the second round against Philadelphia), and it especially happened in 2007, when Toronto didn’t even make the playoffs. Ottawa’s Cup Run was fully supported my dad, and when Daniel Alfredsson scored the goal to send the Senators for the first time to the Stanley Cup Finals, it was the greatest moment a son-dad combo could either have together. Although that season didn’t end as well as expected, we still remember that, and will for the rest of our lives.

So today, I give my thanks to my dad, able to bring me up and make who I am today. This one’s for you dad, now let’s hope we both have something to cheer about next time the playoffs roll around.