The Ottawa Senators are using the hashtag #WeLoveOurFans to show their support for two sisters who were harassed by Canadiens fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal during Game 2 of the teams’ NHL playoffs matchup.
Katie Kerrick, 19, and her 23-year-old sister Annie, both of whom are originally from Ottawa, decided to support their team and wear their Senators jerseys in enemy territory on Friday. Katie Kerrick said in a Facebook post that they anticipated "good-natured chirping" by Habs fans, but did not expect being "genuinely scared" for their well-being at the game.
Kerrick says that when she and her sister left their seats at the end of third period they were followed by a man who proceeded to repeatedly hit her in the head with a towel.
Despite her pleas for him to stop, the man continued to hit her with the towel, she wrote.
Kerrick says that she reported the man's actions to a section attendant. As they were speaking, the man and his friend "went out of their way to shove me," she wrote in the Facebook post.
When her and her sister made their way in to the hallway of the Bell Centre, Kerrick says that another man attacked her sister with a wound-up towel, as other Canadiens fans around them "laughed and cheered."
After the Habs clinched the victory in overtime, Kerrick says that the first man who attacked her dumped his entire beer on top of her and her sister.
Kerrick also says that throughout the game, they were sworn at and called derogatory names. She added that no one, including security, stepped up to defend her or her sister.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has since offered Katie a spot in his private suite at the Canadian Tire Centre for Game 3 of the Senators-Canadiens series in Ottawa Sunday night.
.@cbcottawa #Sens fans, we have her back. She'll be Mr. Melnyk's guest in one of our private suites for Game 3! #WeLoveOurFans
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 18, 2015
The Canadiens have also reached out to the two sisters on Twitter.
@BonksMullet @Charbsy We're sorry to read about this.That's awful. Please tell your friend to contact us: http://t.co/JL1HkHHywA ^ER
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 18, 2015
Montreal's mayor, Denis Coderre, called the incident "regrettable." He added that he attended both games and that most fans are well-behaved during the playoffs.
"The Montreal fans are amazing fans, we are truly respectful," he told CTV Montreal.
Many Habs season-ticket holders have come forward offering Kerrick free seats to a future game, but her father told CTV Montreal that it is unlikely she'll ever feel comfortable enough to return to the Bell Centre.
