As I mentioned in my last post, I love traveling to watch my favorite sports teams on the road. I try and catch at least one road Bruins game per year, and if the Bruins make the playoffs, I do everything I can to watch a playoff game as well.

After a 3 year playoff drought, Boston made the playoffs and matched up against Ottawa. I had wanted them to play a different team, as I had been to Ottawa for a Bruins game a few years ago, but the matchups didn’t work out in my favor. Still, I decided to make a weekend out of it and headed to Canada’s capital.

I had to connect in New York to get to Ottawa, as it’s one of the few Canada destinations not served from Minneapolis. Upon landing, I took an Uber to my hotel, the Radisson Parliament Hill.

Just like in Vancouver, I was upgraded to a suite, but this one didn’t have quite the same view. Still, the upgrade was welcome, and the room was perfectly fine.

I spent much of the day walking around Parliament Hill. The weather was perfect and I enjoyed the architecture.

The following afternoon I Ubered to Canadian Tire Centre, on the outskirts of the city. I got really lucky on seats (and the Exchange Rate didn’t hurt either!) and grabbed a seat 3 rows from the ice! The view was incredible.

Playoff hockey games have a great intensity, and this one was no exception. Tight, fast hockey made for an entertaining contest. Despite Boston pulling ahead in the second period, Ottawa knotted it up in the 3^rd, and the game went to overtime.

I’ve seen a lot of playoff hockey in person, and quite a bit of overtime as well. I’ve only seen the Bruins lose one playoff game (to New York in 2013), but unfortunately my good luck couldn’t continue. A late penalty in regulation carried over into overtime and doomed the Bruins.

Despite the rough loss, I had another great trip and really enjoyed getting to explore Ottawa a bit more.