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This Is Our F&*^ing City!

October 23, 2014, 5:49 AM ET [27 Comments]
Jared Crozier
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
This will not be a post discussing corsi, zone entries or exits, why Mika Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan might or might not be playing well or why Erik Karlsson will win the Norris. At least for a couple of days, that doesn't matter too much.

The City of Ottawa, a sleepy town for a National Capital, got a stunning wakeup call on Wednesday morning that the town will never forget.

We have seen similar or equally shocking stories on the news in other places such as Boston, Ft. Hood, Virginia Tech, Columbine and other places, not to mention the biggest of them all, NYC and Washington, DC.

You never think it is going to happen in your backyard, until it does.

Ottawa, like those other towns that are affected by tragedy, will recover.

But we won't forget. The City was changed forever on Oct 22, 2014.

We as Canadians are used to coming to the aid of those who can't help themselves and enjoy a reputation for being the "good guy" in most situations.

This hurt. Whatever the motivation or reason behind the shooting that occurred at the National War Memorial that resulted in the tragic death of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, it was unnecessary and shows that it can indeed happen here. I am not going to make this political.

We hold our athletes up as heroes, the Erik Karlsson's, Daniel Alfredsson's and even Jason Spezza's. They are held as heroes because they represent(ed) our city by playing a game.

The real heroes are the ones who wear a uniform of a different kind, the ones who put themselves in the line of bullets, not pucks.

The footage of the ensuing gun battle in the halls of the centre block of Canadian Parliament was chilling, but those men in uniform rushing toward the bullets instead of away from them are the real heroes.

This incident to me was reminiscent of what went on in Boston during the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The Senators were supposed to be the opponents for the Bruins on that tragic day, but like yesterday, sports takes a back seat to real life and real fear.

However, there will be a galvanizing moment. For Boston it was David Ortiz making a speech at Fenway Park before the Red Sox' first home game after the bombing.

Ottawa's could very well be on November 11th, Remembrance Day, when tens of thousands or more likely hundreds of thousands will gather around the same Memorial where Cpl Cirillo was gunned down, to pay respects to him and all those who wore the uniform before him and perished, or were lucky enough to survive. It happens every year on that holiday, but after hitting so close to home it will be different this time.

The games will go on, the Sens will do battle with the Leafs, Bruins and Habs, the city will eventually get back to normal, but it will never be entirely the same, and normal will be different. Ottawa will survive and thrive.

The citizens of this city and this country appreciate the support in terms of moments of silence or singing the Canadian national anthem before the game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia last night. We appreciate tweets of support from around the world and comments that appeared on this page yesterday. We are used to offering those types of words to others in times of grief, but never expected them to be directed our way.

I will get back to discussing hockey tomorrow, because we can, and it is due to the efforts and sacrifices those real heroes that put on uniforms and are, and can never be, acknowledged enough for the work they do, until something like this happens. It was a tragic day indeed, but could have been so much worse and taken so much more of a toll, that we are a little bit fortunate.

It won't be said at that Remembrance Day ceremony, but in the memorable words of Mr. Ortiz on that April 2013 day...

"This is our F*#@ing City."
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