With the team's celebrity-laden ownership race now in the rearview mirror, the Ottawa Senators will pay tribute to Canadian stars in the Tragically Hip during a game this month.
This week, the NHL franchise announced that their February 26 contest against the Winnipeg Jets will be "The Tragically Hip Night" at the arena, celebrating the beloved band that formed a skip down the highway in Kingston, ON, just under a decade before the hockey club was founded.
The team revealed that the evening will feature a ceremonial puck drop with Downie's brothers Patrick and Mike, while intermissions will feature performances by "original and premier" Hip tribute band Road Apples.
Additionally, the team's charitable arm, the Senators Community Foundation, will announce a "meaningful gift" for the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, the organization dedicated to truth and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
Forget for a moment that the Boston Bruins were the late Downie's favourite hockey team, and this seems like a Stanley Cup-winning collaboration. Here's hoping Road Apples have loaded their setlist with hockey-minded Hip favourites like "Fireworks," "The Lonely End of the Rink" and "700 Ft. Ceiling." No "Fifty Mission Cap," though — that one's for the blue and white Ontario team.
"We are excited to host an evening celebrating an iconic Canadian band with its roots in Eastern Ontario," shared Jeff Harrop, senior vice president of marketing and customer engagement for the Senators. "It is an honour to have the Senators Community Foundation partner with the DWF and to host a night celebrating Canadiana and this country's love of hockey."
Earlier this week, the Hip shared a piano version of "Courage" in honour of World Cancer Day.