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November 2, 2002
HAVING TOO MUCH FUN IN ONTARIO
By Matt Petersen
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KANATA, Ont. -- Still in Ontario, and more good times.
When on the road, you can’t possibly predict what or
who you will run into at any given moment. Like, for
instance, attractive female bartenders that’ll make
you feel like a kid again. Huh?
What I mean is, we met some fascinating people during
and after Ottawa’s impressive 5-2 manhandling of
Detroit. After the game, we hit a homey little
restaurant called Tommy’s just mere steps away from
our luxurious Comfort Inn hotel room. Having not eaten
dinner (it’s just getting too damn expensive to keep
eating at the games, although Joe had “the worst hot
dog” of his life for $4.50 in the game), Jeff and I
headed over to Tommy’s where we ate breakfast earlier,
and decided it was good enough to try again. We
bellied up to the last two seats available at the bar
and took in the end of a fantastic Avalanche/Calgary
game.
Again, Tommy’s didn’t disappoint. We ate some tasty
food and gulped a few Rickard’s Red (Rickard’s is the
best beer I’ve ever had, no kidding) as the patrons,
after taking a quick glance at us, immediately pegged
us as out-of-towners. “We’re on a hockey trip, 30
cities in 60 days,” Jeff disclosed, and we didn’t stop
talking to our new friends till it was near closing
time. Next to me was a hilarious Kanatan (Kanata is
where the Sens play, just approximately 20 km west of
Ottawa) named Marilyn. Wearing a home Senators jersey,
and a little red wine on her breath, Marilyn insisted
on me keeping her Canada/US Legion pin that I admired
on her lapel.
“I can’t take this,” I told her as she pleaded me to
take the gold encrusted pin. “Take it to your mum,”
she said after I told her my mother was born in
Alberta. I finally relented, much to Marilyn’s
delight. To my right, Jeff was ensconced in
conversation with a few Wing’s fans up from Reed,
Ont., talking up their hockey fantasy teams. And then
there was “T.J.”, our beautiful bartendress, who
instantaneously took to us like we were old buddies
getting together for a 10-year reunion. We had a blast
at Tommy’s.
“I’ll miss T.J. for the rest of my life,” I said to
Jeff after we said our good-bye’s come closing time.
He thought I was joking.
Oh yeah, the game. The Sens played their butts off,
keeping the monolithic Wings at bay from the get-go.
We sat next to two of the craziest hockey fans we’ve
seen on the trip -- two college-age girls from New
Brunswick. Decked in red tee-shirts and Red Wing-logo
stickers on their cheeks, they were already into half
their 30-ounce Molson’s (11 bucks, ouch!) as they
screamed the Canadian National Anthem before the
opening face-off. They ended up gulping their fair
share of ale, and tested the patience of the home town
crowd often with their Red Wing cheers that were
always capped with a Wolfman Jack-esque “Wahoo!” We
naturally thought it was quite charming and posed for
every photo-op that they asked of us (they insisted we
take Red Wing stickers for our cheeks, and save for
Jeff, we obliged.)
So, more crazy Canadian fans on the trip. The simple
fact is that we don’t want to leave Canada, we’re
having too good a time up here. Joe’s getting antsy to
see his family and friends in New York. First, we’re
off to Montreal where the fun never dies. We’ll miss
you T.J.
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as they embark on their quest to set a World Record
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Game #11 11/2/02
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