Two-time Super Bowl champ Eli Manning takes in a hockey weekend in Ottawa, attending the Senators game and cheering on his daughter's team at a local minor hockey tournament.
Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning certainly isn't the first celebrity to attend an Ottawa Senators game, but he might be the most unexpected one.
The two-time Super Bowl MVP showed up to watch the Senators-Devils game on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre. Manning lives in New Jersey, so that part checks out, but he's not such a big hockey fan that he's travelling around North America watching them.
Manning is here for his daughter's minor hockey team, which is in town for a kids' tournament, and hockey tickets to the local NHL game were part of the scheduled fun.
"It's just all new for me, growing up in the south, we didn't see a whole lot of hockey," Manning explained to host Shawn McKenzie in an interview on the Sportsnet broadcast. "So I'm learning with my daughter. She's ten years old, but we're having a great time in Ottawa. The tournament's been fun, but this is the highlight of the whole tournament. They were looking forward to coming here."
Eli and his daughter have also been spotted at Devils' games together. While she may not have appreciated the NHL playoff beard tradition, her hockey chirps are on point.
Long before the Tkachuks or Kelces took the microphone with their own shows, Eli and brother Peyton hit it big with the Manningcast during NFL games. McKenzie asked Eli which Manning brother would be the better hockey player.
"I don't think anyone wants to see that. That's a lose-lose situation. That's comedy hour."
Steve Warne
The Hockey News