Tuesday, December 19, 2017
The Senators Have Arrived!!
Because of
my wandering nature, I had not been able to attend a Belleville
Senators game until this past weekend. I was not quite sure what to
expect, in the overall picture, but I did know that there would be
darn good hockey. I was not disappointed in the least.
Many of the
fans that I have spoken to have tried to make comparisons to the
Belleville Bulls. To jog your memory just a little, the Bulls were an
OHL team that was unceremoniously yanked from the city at the end of
the 2014-2015 season. Then there was that hockey void. Season ticket
holders got irritable in mid-September of that year, There was really
nothing in the vicinity to fill the void. A few headed off to
Peterborough to watch the Hamilton team play the Petes. Or perhaps
they headed east to watch the remnants of the Bulls up against the
Kingston Frontenacs.
All that
changed, dramatically, about a year ago when it was announced that an
American Hockey League franchise was moving to Belleville, That would
mean that the city would be hosting the best hockey it had ever
hosted. In the late 1950s, the Belleville McFarlands played at the
OHA Senior “A” level. Some of their players had played in the
American League, some even in the NHL.
Initially,
it was a little hard to fathom. As far as we knew, the powers-that-be
had been able to break a rental arrangement in Binghampton, New York,
and move that franchise to the confines of the Yardmen Arena.
Magically, hockey had returned to Belleville in a big way.
Commitments
were made to make the rink acceptable to the standards of the league.
Sadly, as far as I was concerned, they reduced the size of the ice
surface to NHL standards. For 34 years, we had become accustomed to
the Olympic size. It led to a certain type of play, often capitalized
by the host team. The Bulls were often built to suit the ice size;
speed, great passing, wide open play. It would have been nice to see
an AHL team with that advantage.
All of the
parties got to the proverbial discussion tables, and agreements were
solidified. In the Winter Issue of Watershed Magazine,
Orland French supplies the details of the agreements. Those in favour
of the Senators in Belleville will tell you about the economic
spin-offs that will make this viable to the city. The detractors will
tell you that the city has sold the farm with the deal.
The
rink looks great. Capacity has been expanded to 4 500, give or take.
The hockey is exceptional. The team had a rough go last year, and the
pundits did not have high expectations for the Baby Sens. But they
have had a reasonable year thus far, playing .500 hockey. The play is
much faster than junior hockey; the hitting is harder; the passes are
crisper; the shooting straighter and faster;the players are larger
and older.
The
Senators scored twice in nine seconds near the end of the second
period to tie the game. The Manitoba Moose proved that they are the
top team in the league by burying four unanswered goals in tn the
third period to take the win.
Many
of the players on both teams have had a couple of cups of coffee or
two in the National Hockey League. According to the whims and desires
of the parent club, at any time any of the Baby Sens could be
traveling along the 401, north on 416 to the Canadian Tire Centre in
Ottawa. It is a capricious life.
Thus
far, the Sens have played Toronto, Syracuse, Manitoba, Hartford,
Hershey, Providence, Charlotte, Laval, Rochester, Springfield, Utica,
Lehigh Valley, and Binghampton. They will face other teams, just not
all of them. Eventually they will have road trips to California. No
one will complain, in mid-February.
Get to the
rink. Enjoy the great hockey!!
James Hurst
# posted by James Hurst @ 4:36 PM 
