Recapping the Senators annual Pride Game celebration

Another Pide Game has come and gone at Canadian Tire Centre and the message of hockey being for everybody rang through the whole arena Thursday night.

As soon as fans arrived to the arena they were treated to a bevy of aethetics between the pride bowl which was every single seat in the bowl at Canadian Tire Centre with a different coloured t-shirt on it representing every colour on the progressive pride flag.

On top of the bowl itself all of the rink boards were transitioned to have all the Senators partners in rainbow colouring. Vizzy wanted to get involved in the day, so they offered a contest for fans to enter for a chance to win a Senators jersey as well as one of each colour of the pride t-shirts

During the warm up before game time, some of the Senators players elected to get in on the celebration opting to cover their sticks in rainbow pride tape.

Following warm up but before puck drop there were several performances for fans to enjoy. First, the Myers Jr. Starters hit the ice carrying pride flags, as well as the the colour party consisting of Aymun McLeod and Dre Polgar from Ottawa Pride Hockey carried Pride Flags followed by Robert Castro perfoming the National Anthems.

After the anthems the Senators held a ceremonial first puck drop inviting Brady Tkachuk and Brayden Schenn to centre ice. The ceremonial first puck drop was performed by Kat Ferguson, Co-founder of Ottawa Pride Hockey, Ash Van Slyckm the youngest member of Ottawa Pride Hockey, and Sean Addis, the Co-Chair of Capital Pride Board of Directors.

The visuals didn't end there as at the beginning of the game Myriam Dumouchel of Ottawa Pride Hockey was on the Hard Rock tage waving the Pride Flag to signal the start of game time.

For fans who were in attendance there were a variety of organizations in house representing the LGBTQ2S+ community. At the top of Gate 1 fans could find Ottawa Pride Hockey, Capital Pride, Ottawa Wolves Rugby (an LGBTQ+ rugby club here in Ottawa), Capital Pride Volleyball, and Proud to be Me.

Of course, Proud to be Me was the Senators Community Foundation's charitable partner for the evening and the goal with a goal to raise funds for them through the 5050 and the CIBC tap to donate stations through out Canadian Tire Centre, they were able to raise $38,500 which the Senators Community Foundation presented a cheque to them during the third period to be put toward inclusive programming for children and youth.

As we strive to ensure that hockey is a space for everyone to enjoy and be themselves our annual Pride Game was a great night all around. One of a many events that we celebrate here to continue being a steward for our community and continuing to grow this game we all love.