We had a number of great entries for the contest, so a huge thank you to all who participated. I wish we had space to print them all, but we have whittled the entries down to 3 finalists, and here they are in no particular order. At the end, we will be asking you to vote on your favorite, and the vote will be taken into consideration before we name (but will not solely determine) the winner!:
The first finalist:
"My best Sens related memory was at the Corel Centre on Jan 30, 1999, I had open heart surgery at CHEO in September on my 13th birthday, they gave me 2 tickets to (Wade) Redden’s suite which I used with my Dad. It just happened to be my first NHL game…Ottawa wins 9-2 , (and) Yashin, my favorite player at the time scores twice and adds an assist, perfect way to celebrate my first NHL game and coming through a big ordeal of major surgery at 13 years old. I was given a Wade Redden t-shirt and autographed hat that I still display proudly today 13 years later. It was an amazing experience to share it with my dad plus all these other kids, mostly younger than me who had serious cardiology health issues. That game made them completely forget everything that they were dealing with and let them just have fun. Before this I was a Habs/Avs fan mostly because of Patrick Roy (foolish for a kid growing up in Ottawa I know) but since then have been a die-hard sens fan through and through."
The Second story:
"Being a die-hard Sens fan, it is very tough to narrow down my favourite sens memory or moment into one single event, so I have decided to go old school for this one. The day was Sunday, January 10, 1993 and the Sens had just won their 4th game of the season with a 3-2 victory over San Jose, a game in which Bob Kudelski recorded the first hat trick in Sens history. As was the case with almost every game that year, I was at the game with my father and my brother as I was fortunate enough that my father was one of the original season ticket holders (we had seats behind the home net about 7 rows up right beside where the players come off the ice to go to the dressing room). As it was an afternoon game, there was a fan appreciation event after the game in the salons of the civic center and most of the Sens players came out to sign autographs. Being 15 at the time, I had with me my most prized Sens souvenir, an actual NHL game puck that Jamie Baker had flipped to me coming off the ice after the second period of a game versus Washington a few weeks earlier. I made my way past the groups of people vying for the autographs of the likes of Peter Sidorkiewicz, Norm Maciver, Bob Kudelski, Sylvain Turgeon and Mr. Bean…errr….Tomas Jelinek, and finally found Jamie Baker. He couldn’t have been more pleasant to talk to and he happily signed my puck and chuckled when I told him that he gave it to me in the game against Washington. He asked me, with a smile and a wink, “did we lose that game?” and I said “yes, but it was a really close game and you guys tried really hard.” He kind of sighed and said “that sounds about right.”Even though that first season had so few victories, it was still an amazing season because I now actually had my own team and heroes to cheer for, and this short meeting with one of them symbolizes for me what it is to be a true fan. It is a simple story but one that I still remember, more than 18 years later, like it was yesterday."
and the third and final finalist:
"Picture this…it’s 7:30pm on Saturday, May 12, 2007 in Buffalo, NY. Myself and 3 friends have just made the long drive from Ottawa to Buffalo and we are now in enemy territory. This is our first time ever in Buffalo and we have no clue what to expect. But none of that matters…we have our Senators jerseys and flags, our tickets to Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals and our faith in our hockey team … and that’s all we need!4 hours later and we’re deep into double-overtime. Buffalo Sabres fans have mocked and despised us all game…for daring to cheer our beloved Senators in their barn. We’ve been called every dirty name you can think of, had beer split on us and had our hats knocked off. The classlessness of the Buffalo fan knows no end. But that does not bother us at all…we are far from that. There are more important matters to attend to than some ignorant Buffalo fans.It’s 3-3 in double-overtime…our hearts are pounding, our voices screamed hoarse and our fists are clenched…Joe Corvo scores with a screen shot from the point and we explode!! The Senators have won the first 2 games in the Eastern Conference Finals and we’re heading back to Ottawa for games 3 and 4!! Sens fans from all over HSBC Arena gather together in the stands to celebrate while Buffalo fans leave in misery!What a glorious moment! We cheer the players as they get back onto the bus and they respond with waves and shouts to their fans. Winning the first 2 games of the ECF on the road ensures that the Stanley Cup Finals are within our sights."
Thanks again to Steve Harding at the Ottawa Senators for hooking SenShot up with the tickets for this contest! If you want to talk to someone about purchasing Sens tickets, packages or suite rentals, Steve is the man to talk to. You can reach him at 613-271-5605 or hardings@ottawasenators.com
The winner will be announced tomorrow morning here on SenShot! Thanks again to all who participated and keep reading for your chance to win lots of Senators and 67’s tickets all year long!
**Don’t forget to get your Tickets for SenShot’s Alfie Night in Ottawa on November 11th, 2011. Click here for more details**
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