Headin' north with my son

Back in 2013, Jared and I drove to Rochester, New York, to watch an outdoor hockey game where the temperature at opening faceoff was 18 degrees (and falling). The NHL games we're seeing this week will be played in indoor arenas, so there's that.

My son Jared and I will be spending a week in Canada on what I've been describing as "a hockey trip."

Yes, we'll hit some tourist spots, but our main purpose in the Great White North will be to watch NHL hockey. Specifically NHL hockey as played by my favorite team over the last 33 years, the Ottawa Senators.

Many times I have told the story how I, a lifelong Clevelander, became an ardent Sens fan.

It started back in 1992 when I was a sports writer for The News-Herald, our local newspaper. The International Hockey League's Cleveland Lumberjacks had just arrived in town and I offered to cover the team for the paper.

Being at best passingly familiar with the rules and intricacies of hockey, I set out to learn as much as I could about the sport (which included taking ice skating lessons Sunday nights at the rink in Brooklyn, Ohio).

I also decided I needed an NHL team for which to root. Ottawa had just come into the league, and seeing as how I was fascinated by all things Canadian, I decided the Senators would be my team.

This despite knowing not even a single player on their roster.

I figured once they became good, I could say I had been a fan since the very beginning.

Admittedly, "good" has been somewhat elusive for the Sens over time, though they did have a nice run in the 2000s, including an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007.

I have seen Ottawa play live about a dozen times over three decades in cities ranging from Chicago and Pittsburgh to Tampa and Columbus.

But never in Ottawa itself.

Until now.

Jared and I will travel first to Montreal to watch the Sens take on Les Canadiens at the Bell Centre, after which we'll make the two-hour drive west to Ottawa. There we'll see my guys face off against the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers.

Finally, for the first time, I can proudly wear one of my Senators jerseys as a member of the home crowd, without fear that an opposing fan will toss beer at me when I cheer a Sens goal.

Well, I suppose that could still happen, but it doesn't seem as likely to happen there as it does in, say, Pittsburgh.

Jared and I have taken several sports-themed trips together over the years, but this one is the most ambitious of all. As I write this, I don't know what the weather will be like, so I can't be sure the long drive to Eastern Ontario and Quebec will be smooth sailing.

Or even doable.

Still, we already have the tickets and I've already booked the hotel rooms. So worst comes to worst, we'll fly up there if we have to.

That would be expensive. But after all, this is hockey.

It's serious business.