Ottawa hockey fans have been riding a wave of playoff excitement, and one diehard Senators supporter decided to put that energy into song — recording a full-on playoff hype track to pump up Sens Nation ahead of the postseason. The result? A very unexpected (and very funny) response from the team itself: banishment. To Taiwan.
The story made the rounds in the NHL Notebook column over at Canucks Army, which highlighted the Senators' playful decision to 'exile' the fan after the hype song dropped. The exact mechanics of the banishment — whether it was a social media callout, a tongue-in-cheek DM, or some other creative dig — weren't fully detailed, but the internet ran with it immediately, and honestly, it's the kind of story that makes you love hockey culture a little more.
Only in the NHL Playoffs
This is exactly the kind of unhinged, only-in-hockey moment that makes the postseason unlike any other sporting event. Ottawa has always been a hockey town at its core, and with the Senators back in playoff contention, the city's collective pulse is running about 20 beats per minute faster than usual. From Lansdowne Park to ByWard Market, red-and-black jerseys are everywhere, and the energy inside the Canadian Tire Centre has been electric.
The fact that a fan cared enough to actually write, record, and release a hype song says everything about where Sens Nation is at mentally right now. This isn't a fanbase phoning it in — this is a city that's been waiting years for a real playoff run, and they are ready.
The Fine Line Between Hype and Hazard
Making a hype song for your team is a proud fandom tradition. Some hype songs are legitimately good. Some are... spirited. Whatever the quality of this particular track, it clearly made enough of an impression that the Senators felt compelled to respond — even if that response involved a symbolic one-way ticket to Taipei.
The 'banishment' is almost certainly a joke, the kind of light-hearted fan engagement that teams increasingly lean into on social media. But consider this: getting officially called out (even playfully) by your favourite NHL franchise is probably the most memorable thing that's ever happened to this person. A retweet? Please. This fan has a story.
Ottawa's Playoff Energy Is Different
Moments like this are a reminder that Ottawa's connection to the Senators runs deep. For a city that gets unfairly labelled as sleepy or boring by outsiders, playoff hockey has a way of proving everyone wrong. The Senators' return to relevance has reinvigorated a fanbase that never really stopped caring — they just had a lot of frustrating years to work through.
Whether or not our exiled songwriter makes it back from their supposed Taiwanese banishment in time to catch the next game, one thing is clear: Ottawa's love affair with the Sens is very much alive, very much loud, and apparently now, very much internationally distributed.
Source: Canucks Army, NHL Notebook
