Gee-Gees, Redmen take it to The Bank

The McGill Redmen and the Ottawa Gee-Gees have announced plans to hold their Nov. 3 OUA men's hockey game at Scotiabank Place, home of the NHL's Senators.


Evidently, everyone is tired of hearing the cliché going that CIS hockey is the best-kept sports secret in Canada. (How many people even know the UNB Varsity Reds, last season's University Cup champion, took a top NCAA team, the Maine Black Bears, to overtime last season?)

As such, it's become a trend for CIS teams to try and play at the NHL arena, or maybe a major junior building, in order to spike interest and hopefully see that spill over into more people who don't have a direct tie to the university attend games at the smaller on-campus arenas. McGill is also playing the Concordia Stingers at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Oct. 21 and a crowd of 10,000 is expected.


In other words, McGill is playing at the home of the Senators and the Canadiens this season and at least nine teams in the NHL aren't.

It's about time such a game was staged in Ottawa, where the call last fall at Out of Left Field was for Carleton to play the U of O at Scotiabank Place. It's nice see your idea used. (And what was that idea, Mr. Sager? Renting out the arena you don't own, or scheduling the hockey teams you don't coach, manage or play for?)