Gotta See It: Sens fans welcome their team back to Ottawa

It was a season perhaps unlike any other for the Ottawa Senators in 2016-17. Despite being merely cast as an “also ran” to start the season and then again at the outset of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Ottawa Senators finished the campaign just one goal shy of a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

While mainstream media slammed the city’s fanbase for not supporting the team, the truth is that the passion of Senators fans was on full display throughout the playoffs. That passion was on full display late yesterday when the Senators finally arrived back in Ottawa.

Rabid Sens fans lined up to greet their heroes as they landed at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport. The players, along with head coach Guy Boucher, stopped to shake hands, sign autographs and thank the assembled crowd. It was a scene unlike any other that we’ve witnessed this postseason and puts to rest any idea that Ottawa isn’t a hockey mad market.