Tonight marks the start of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Every year at this time I get a little giddy. To say I love hockey would be an understatement. I eat, sleep and breathe the sport year round. Every year since 1997, playoff time has had a special meaning for me. That's because my team, The Ottawa Senators, have been involved in the post-season every year since. Now I could tell you a story about every post-season run. Like in 1997 when the Sens pushed through the last 3 games of the NHL season to qualify for their first-ever post-season berth, only to lose in heart-breaking fashion to Buffalo in overtime in Game 7 of the 1st round.
Then there was the run in the spring of 2004 when I had a behind the scenes look, working as a reporter covering the series for Rogers Radio in Ottawa. That series, again, a game 7 heart-breaker at the hands of the hated Maple Leafs (who, by the way, haven't returned to post-season play since). I vividly remember game 6, standing in the hallway behind the Sens bench, waiting for the game to end so I could get my interviews. The first person I talked to was the hero of the game and Peterborough native, Mike Fisher.
Then, my favorite memory so far from last year's run, watching Daniel Alfreddsson step through four Buffalo players to score the game-winning goal in overtime to propel Ottawa to it's first modern-day Stanley Cup final. I was in Ottawa at the time and actually went to the airport, along with literally 10,000 other Sens fans, to greet the players as they arrived back from Buffalo.
This year no one is giving Ottawa a chance to advance even past the first round. Some experts will say they won't win a single game. I personally don't believe that's true. I've seen a lot of things over the years with this team and I believe they have what it takes to go all the way.
I've already started growing my playoff beard, here's hoping I don't have to shave it before June!
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