In what has now become a must see moment for Maple Leafs fans, the Ottawa Senators are coming to the Air Canada Centre to play on Saturday March 5th. It will be the first game between the two teams after today's blockbuster trade that sent captain Dion Phaneuf to Ottawa.
Throw in the fact that this will be a Hockey Night in Canada game, and is the always-hyped Battle of Ontario, you can expect there to be a media frenzy.
Plans will no doubt soon be announced for a tribute or ceremony. How elaborate that will be is hard to figure out. Phaneuf is such a high-profile player, they have to acknowledge it somehow, but will there be a full-blown pre-game ceremony, or something less elaborate? Perhaps a special face-off? Tomas Kaberle had a special video montage and thank you during a TV timeout, so one would expect the ex-Captain would get more than that.
Either way let's hope the production crew does a better job capturing it than that one!
There's also the Lou Lamoriello factor. He feels like the type who would choose to acknowledge Phaneuf in only a very minor way to simply demonstrate the team has moved on from the Phaneuf era and they don't want to look back.
What will the fan reception be? Boos? Cheers? Silence because everyone is still in line for sushi? Vote in the poll below!
In an interesting twist of scheduling, one week later on March 12 The Leafs will travel to Kanata to play at their home away from home, The Canadian Tire Centre. I expect the game to get chippy. Will Dion try to land a big hit on someone like Kadri to show he's now a Senator for real? Will Roman Polak try to fight him?
We'll see soon enough!
What kind of reception from fans will Phaneuf receive when he returns to Toronto on March 5th?
A standing ovation. | 117 |
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. | 49 |
Indifference. | 50 |
Silence, because it's the ACC! DERP! | 35 |
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