Five Thoughts For Friday: CanCon Edition

The NHL trade deadline is today at 3pm. The Sens aren’t expected to be huge players, and the league as a whole isn’t expecting any huge names to move, but it’s a busy day nonetheless, and our writers will be on standby all day to provide any breaking news coverage.

That’s exactly why I’m not going to be talking about the trade deadline in this piece.

There’s a good chance anything I write here will be obsolete by the time this goes up, or at least by the end of the day, so let’s not even try. Instead, I’m suggesting a way for the Sens to keep the vibes as high as possible heading into the final stretch of the season, with all-Canadian goal songs for each Sens player.

Song 2 is fine, but it’s overdone, and with all due respect to Blur, who are British and didn’t need to be caught up in this mess, now is the time for Canadians to get patriotic. If this team wants to make the playoffs and have the country rally around them, they need a Canadian goal song. Ideally, a Canadian song for each player, because that’s more fun than just having one goal song. Here are my suggestions.

Josh Norris: Cut to the Feeling by Carly Rae Jepsen

Josh Norris is a self-proclaimed Swiftie, and one of the most likable Sens players off the ice. He comes across as a bit of a himbo (portmanteau of him + bimbo, for those not in the know), and that’s why we love him. And if the Sens are going to be good, he’s going to need to score a lot of goals. What better song to represent him than a pure pop song, one of the catchiest, most fun songs to ever come out of Canada?

It’s impossible to listen to Cut to the Feeling and not want to jump up onto your feet. That’s also how it feels to see Josh Norris score a goal. He’s a fun player, and he deserves a fun goal song.

What’s more, the song is all about letting go and not denying yourself what you want. It’s about skipping the beginning stages of a relationship and jumping right into something serious, which represents both how Josh Norris plays hockey (no assists, just goals) and how the Sens have dealt with him (immediately jumping into a long-term deal). 

I want to hear this song over and over and over again at the CTC. I want it so overplayed that the song is completely ruined for other fanbases. I believe Josh Norris can do this for us.

Thomas Chabot: Le temps s’arrête by LGS

LGS’s 2015 album Swing was a huge hit at my franco-Ontarian high school, at right around the same time Thomas Chabot was drafted. You might already know their song CA$H, a very Melnyk-era Ottawa Senators song that’s been playing at Sens games for years. CA$H might be a bit insensitive as a goal song given how many (dumb) sens fans (incorrectly) think Chabot is overpaid, so instead we’re going with another fun song that should be played more often in hockey arenas, in Le temps s’arrête.

Chabot isn’t the only francophone on the roster, but he’s often the one representing the Sens in any francophone outreach efforts, so LGS’s folksy French-Canadian sound works well for him, and the pop elements make their music well suited to hockey arenas. The instrumental part of the chorus sounds perfect for a goal song.

Time does stop when Thomas Chabot scores a goal. 

Brady Tkachuk: There Will Never Be Another Tonight by Bryan Adams

Brady is the most American player on this team, so finding him a Canadian song is a challenge. I know that if left to his own devices he’d probably just go with Mr. Brightside, but that’s simply not acceptable at this political moment. As a reasonable alternative, I’m giving him one of Bryan Adams’s best songs, in There WIll Never Be Another Tonight.

This song is all about living in the moment. It’s fun and it encapsulates Brady Tkachuk’s energy on the ice. He’s putting on a show. He’s putting everything he has into whatever game he’s playing. He’s definitely not worrying about whether his style of play is going to get him injured, even though he probably should. Bryan Adams also has the dad-rock vibe that Brady seems to like.

What’s more, with the Sens just barely hanging on to a playoff spot, there may actually never be another tonight. Any game could be their last meaningful game, so they need to give it their all.

Picture this: Brady Tkachuk scores a goal at a key moment of an important game. He does his little goal celebration as the horn goes off. Then: Put on your best dress darling, can’t you see the time is right? Perfect. No notes. Make this happen.

Claude Giroux: Fall For You by TALK

Claude Giroux is an Ottawa guy, so his goal song needs to be from a local artist. Much like G, TALK is an Ottawa guy through and through, and a big Sens fan, so we absolutely have to get him on the playlist. A match made in heaven.

Of all the music in TALK’s discography, I think this one has the most “goal song” vibes. Also, I fall for Claude Giroux every time he scores a goal, so it works.

Tim Stützle: Run Away With Me by Carly Rae Jepsen

Yes, I’m using the same artist twice, but this list was almost “Sens players as Carly Rae Jepsen songs,” so please appreciate my restraint here.

Run Away With Me is one of the most underrated pop songs of all time. That opening saxophone line will have your soul leave your body every single time you hear it (unless you’re at a karaoke bar and the person who was supposed to sing the song with you is still in the bathroom, in which case it’s one of the most terrifying sounds in the world, not that I have any experience with that or anything). The song builds and builds and builds, and the chorus would be perfect for a goal song if any hockey players were brave enough to use it.

It’s a song about possibilities, about anticipation, about, yes, wanting to ditch whatever function you’re at and run off with someone you’re completely obsessed with. It captures the feeling of watching Tim Stützle walk the puck right into the offensive zone and pull off some ridiculous move. When Tim Stützle is on his game, we’re all obsessed with him. Not many people understand this, but Run Away With Me is a perfect pop song, just as Tim Stützle is a perfect hockey player. 

Would Timmy choose this song for himself? Absolutely not. He takes himself way too seriously. But I think that’s exactly why he needs some fun and whimsy in his life.