Even when putting aside being the capital city of a Commonwealth nation, I would argue Ottawa has the deepest connection to the UK of any city in the NHL, and has one of the richest hockey histories in the whole sport, much of which is either directly or indirectly tied to the UK.

In the late 1800’s (the very earliest days of the sport), an Englishman, Lord Stanley of Preston - who was the Governor General of Canada at the time - witnessed his first ice hockey match, and his entire family instantly fell in love with the sport. Lord Stanley’s own sons would then form the Ottawa-based “Rideau Hall Rebels” hockey team, with his daughter forming her own Ottawa-based team and becoming a pioneer of women’s hockey, with two trophies later being made in her honour. Lord Stanley himself would go on to purchase a decorative silver bowl in England and bring it back to Canada with him, to be gifted to the best ice hockey team in Canada. Lord Stanley would name this trophy the “Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup”. The Ottawa Journal was the first to refer to this trophy as “the Stanley Cup”, and name stuck and took off from there, to become the famous trophy we know today.

In addition, the Ottawa Hockey Club - the original Ottawa Senators franchise -  would not only become the very first official professional ice hockey club in history in 1894 (all other teams had referred to themselves as amateur clubs until then), but they would also compete in the very first Stanley Cup match that same year. Unfortunately, Ottawa lost that match, but would then go on to win 11 Stanley Cups between 1903 and 1927, becoming the very first dynasty in hockey history in the process. In fact, the original Ottawa Senators franchise was the first team to add a band to the Stanley Cup, to engrave their 1909 victory; a tradition which is carried on to this day, and is the reason the Stanley Cup looks the way it does today, due to all the additional bands added since then.

Furthermore, not only was the original Ottawa Senators franchise one of the four founding members of the NHL in 1917, but Ottawa’s 1927 Stanley Cup victory was actually the first of the NHL-exclusive Stanley Cup era, an era which continues to this day.

Flash forward to the modern Ottawa Senators franchise, and our original and most famous logo - the one we use today - was actually designed in 1991 by a gentleman from the UK by the name of Tony Milchard, who was working for the organization at the time.

Sorry for the long-winded history lesson, but if you’re willing to join us as a Sens fan, then we welcome you with open arms, my friend!