This column usually opens with the phrase, \u201cWell that was quite a week around here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this week\u00a0is\u00a0no different.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, these\u00a0past seven days\u00a0have been a\u00a0perfect\u00a0microcosm for\u00a0this\u00a0season as a whole.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A lot of noise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A ton of\u00a0lively\u00a0debates on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And a group of players\u00a0who\u00a0find a way to silence the outside\u00a0chatter\u00a0and\u00a0deliver a couple of\u00a0crucial\u00a0wins.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was\u00a0captured perfectly by the post-game interview<\/a>\u00a0with Brady Tkachuk\u00a0and Claire Hanna on the bench Sunday evening.\u00a0The home crowd at Canadian Tire Centre chanting \u2018Brady, Brady\u2019 was a reminder of\u00a0one\u00a0crucial element\u00a0in the midst of\u00a0all this chaos: Winning\u00a0solves everything.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The temperature from fans and media gets turned up when the team is\u00a0in the midst of\u00a0a frenetic playoff drive.\u00a0And\u00a0earning\u00a0two\u00a0points at this time of\u00a0year is the equivalent of tossing a tray of ice cubes into a pot of boiling water.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nowhere is this more\u00a0evident\u00a0than\u00a0listening to\u00a0the\u00a0post-game show on TSN 1200.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Each game\u00a0feels like\u00a0a\u00a0referendum on the state of the\u00a0organization as a whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n Every loss\u00a0is met with a\u00a0demand for wholesale changes. Every\u00a0caller after a win is\u00a0filled with\u00a0delusional overconfidence.\u00a0And\u00a0there is\u00a0rarely space for anything in between.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The canvas of sports talk radio is unique and that is why\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0excited that TSN 1200 is part of the new regional broadcast agreement with Bell Media. As\u00a0Michael Andlauer mentioned on his\u00a0TSN\u00a0intermission interview<\/a>\u00a0last week, TSN 1200 is a gathering place for our most passionate fans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The terrestrial radio landscape\u00a0remains\u00a0perilous at best, but to have TSN 1200 survive in 2026 is a testament to how the station has woven itself into the fabric of the Ottawa sports community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The larger Bell Media deal \u2013 which includes television rights for TSN and RDS \u2013 is a massive pillar for our organization.\u00a0At a time when\u00a0regional sports networks\u00a0are faltering\u00a0across various sports leagues<\/a>, to have our television rights locked up on long-term deal\u00a0is crucial.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And I would put our TSN 5 broadcast up against any regional broadcast in the NHL. The on-air talent\u00a0and production\u00a0rivals what you would expect from a national broadcast, which is all you can ask for as a\u00a0viewer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As we move forward with our new broadcasting agreement, I would love to hear\u00a0your feedback about our regional broadcasts. What do you like? What would you like to see improved? And are there are other potential broadcasters and analysts\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0like to hear from?\u00a0<\/p>\n Send us an email to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Trivia time:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Drake\u00a0Batherson\u00a0scored his 30th\u00a0goal of the season last week against\u00a0the Florida Panthers. It was the first time\u00a0Batherson\u00a0hit that plateau in his career.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Even though\u00a0Batherson\u00a0grew up in Nova Scotia, he\u00a0was\u00a0born\u00a0in\u00a0Fort Wayne, Indiana.\u00a0So\u00a0this week\u2019s trivia question is this: Which Canadian-born player owns the record for the most goals scored in a season with the Ottawa Senators?\u00a0<\/p>\n Answer at the bottom of this column.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Final podcast\u00a0guest of the regular season: Michael\u00a0Andlauer\u00a0<\/p>\n Our final\u00a0Absolute\u00a0Non Sens\u00a0podcast episode of the regular season will drop on\u00a0Wednesday\u00a0and\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0saved our biggest guest for the end.\u00a0Or at least our tallest one.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sens owner Michael\u00a0Andlauer\u00a0drops by the podcast to put a bow on our first season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the topics we broach with Michael:\u00a0<\/p>\n We ask him about the story of his red glasses, which have become his trademark look.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n He tells\u00a0us\u00a0about the one household chore that he finds relaxing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As a former goalie, he details the best save he ever made.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And he shares a great anecdote about how Napster forced him to shift his business philosophy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0another light and whimsical episode, which is why\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0going to put the brakes on recording here at the end of the regular season. Fingers crossed, we can qualify for the playoffs and if we do, the tone of our podcast\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0quite mesh with the intensity of the post-season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ll\u00a0be sure to sprinkle in some off-season content, but for now\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0going\u00a0to end the first season on the interview with Michael.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In this final episode, we will reveal the details of the red mystery jersey that has been hanging on the wall behind Jackson. Incredibly,\u00a0of all the emails we received into our inbox,\u00a0only one person correctly guessed the\u00a0identity of the\u00a0jersey.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If you have ideas for some creative off-season content\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0like to see\u00a0with\u00a0our\u00a0podcast, please shoot us an email to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Media roundup: Looking back at some interesting and fun Senators stories you might have missed over the past seven days.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the cool elements of our Pride Night game last week against the Sabres was an appearance from Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid. She was kind enough to\u00a0drop by the TSN set for a\u00a0terrific conversation<\/a>\u00a0with Claire Hanna.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Cyril Leeder was also a guest on the TSN set with Claire on\u00a0Sunday evening.\u00a0They\u00a0spoke about a wide range of topics<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 including\u00a0a little insight on Mark Carney\u2019s visit to Canadian Tire Centre on the weekend.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Random thoughts:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Wanted to wrap this week\u2019s column with a\u00a0huge congratulations to Scott Oake, who announced that he will be retiring from Hockey Night in Canada at the end of this season. Scott is the epitome of professionalism and class, always managing to strike the right tone when interviewing his subjects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n There are two great moments involving Scott and the Senators that come to my mind. The first is from the 2000 playoffs, when Scott interviewed a very spicy Tom Barrasso after a Game 4 Ottawa win over Toronto. I could not find\u00a0the original video anywhere on the internet \u2013 which was extremely disappointing \u2013 but\u00a0this article perfectly recaps the controversy<\/a>\u00a0around Barrasso\u2019s comments\u00a0that night.\u00a0If anybody can track down that original video, please send it my way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n