Ottawa fire helmet the new Ottawa Senators win helmet

CTV News

Jakob Chychrun was all smiles as he was presented with the player of game helmet Saturday.

Captain Brady Tkachuk gave the Ottawa Fire Service helmet to "Chychy" after the 5-2 home opener win.

Chychrun opened the scoring for the Sens Saturday against Philadelphia and had a second goal in the game. Jake Sanderson had one goal and Tkachuk dumped two pucks into the net himself.

On Sunday, the Senators shared a bit of background for the fire helmet award.

Fire Chief Paul Hutt and public information officer Nick DeFazio presented the helmet to Tkachuk.

The club posted a video of the presentation to social media offering "a little backstory" to the fire helmet prize.

"This will be a token of our appreciation," Hutt said. "We want the Sens to be part of our community and, for everything that you do, this is an honour and a privilege for us to give you a helmet to present."

Tkachuk said the helmet means a lot to him as well. His grandfather John Tkachuk was a firefighter in the Boston Fire Department.

When asked whether he was superstitious about opening the box containing the helmet before the game, Tkachuk said he wasn't worried.

"I mean, I think we're going to get multiple wins this year, so I'm not superstitious," he said, donning the helmet.

Deputy Fire Chief Nathan Adams was also on hand for the presentation and came with his 8-year-old son Benson, whose favourite player is none other than Brady Tkachuk.

"Look at the sign," Tkachuk said of Benson's 'Brady Tkachuk is the best' sign. "And the Crocs, too! We're matching!"

DeFazio tells CTV News Ottawa that Tkachuk is humble and down to earth.

"The Chief and I both agreed when we left the presentation that he is everything you would want in a captain," he said.

DeFazio says he offered to have a custom shield put on the helmet for the team, but they said "we want to keep it authentic to represent the people who fight for us everyday." 

The Senators lace up again Sunday night at the Canadian Tire Centre to face the Tampa Bay Lightning. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

 

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