Ottawa Senators Centre Shane Pinto On Leaf Fan Invasion Of CTC: "It Definitely Pisses Us Off A Little Bit"

When the Ottawa Senators host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Canadian Tire Centre, as they did on Saturday night, the building is always at least half-filled with Leaf fans. And it's no wonder. For all of them, it's a special occasion.

Tickets to Leaf visits to the CTC are accessible and affordable, at least compared to the games played in Toronto. And for Leaf fans who live in Ottawa (or elsewhere in the 613), you can throw in the virtue of convenience. Their favourite team comes to them? Sign them up.

The Senators also indirectly encourage a heavy Leaf fan presence in their building. When Toronto visits, the organization adds a premium to ticket prices for those games, along with other popular teams. So away fans are more likely to be willing to pay that premium since, for them, it's a special occasion.

Meanwhile, casual Sens fans who live in Ottawa know they have 41 other Sens games they can choose to attend, like Sunday's game against "Hockey Club." The ticket price will be far less and there won't be any Utah fans taunting them and screaming in their ear.

But Shane Pinto, Saturday night's hero, made his feelings known about the traditional Leaf fan invasion when he was asked about it in a pre-game interview with Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskus.

“It’s always tough. It always fires the boys up for sure,” Pinto told Bukauskas during the warmup. “It’s just another hockey game, but it definitely pisses us off a little bit.”

Die-hard Senator season ticket holders who never miss a game feel exactly the same way. But for the reasons mentioned, it's not likely to be something that changes anytime soon.

All that said, when Pinto's third period goal gave the Senators a 2-1 victory, watching the sea of blue trudge toward the exits, with NSYNC's Bye-Bye-Bye blaring in their ears from the arena sound system, it probably added a little extra satisfaction for the Sens and their fans.

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