As we settled in to watch the first period of the hockey game tonight, Goose climbed into her favourite spot on my lap. We’d all been excited for this game to start, so started watching even though Willy wasn’t home yet. It had barely begun when she started to confidently chant, “Go Pens go, go Pens go!” I’d been expecting it since it was decided that Ottawa would be playing Pittsburgh in the second round, but it still so foreign.

Goose has been a Senators fan her whole life, and a Penguins fan since we returned from India.  Her love of the Sens comes from the exposure in the house and in the city; it’s hard not to like a team when they are all you have ever known.  We figure that her love of the Pens has something to do with the fact that her Uncle DW is a fan, a little to do with Sidney Crosby, and a lot with the fact that Penguins are her favourite animal.  She cheers for the Sens most days, but if you ask her who her favourite team is, she will tell you that it is the Pittsburgh Penguins

I grew up in a house that was divided by hockey loyalties.  My Dad was a Leafs fan, and my Mom supported the Canadians.  I sided with the Habs, and had many a spirited discourse over which team was better with my Dad. I won most of those conversations, though the Saturday before he passed away, Dad sat up and watched the Leafs beat the Canadians.  The score was lopsided, yet he stayed up right to the end, loving what he saw and rubbing it in to me.  I felt the losses to the Leafs harder than any other, and loved to beat the Leafs a little more than any other team. I know what it can be like to cheer for the other team.

Goose is young, and could likely be convinced to cheer for the Sens if we wanted to try.  We won’t though, and could not be prouder of how she has stuck to her team, even with intense pressure from her brother. I want her to make her own choice, and will do my best not to influence her, even when her team plays mine over the next couple of weeks. She has wavered a bit, but keeps coming back to the Pens. A supportive note, sent by her Uncle this afternoon helped to give her a little more confidence.  So she chants and cheers, and expects the Pens to win the series.  She has even started lobbying her father to start cheering for her team, if not now, when the series is over.

Whatever the result, I suspect that our early morning cuddles while watching the highlights are on hiatus for the next while…