Ottawa Senators of the NHL - Why a Roman Soldier for Team Logo?

Can’t seem to find reference to why the Senators have a Roman Soldier for their team logo.

I guess the Senator reference is to the Roman Senators, but why the leap to a Roman Soldier as the logo?
Am I missing something obvious? Did the Roman Senate wear military uniforms :dubious: , or is it something else entirely?
see the logo here http://www.ottawasenators.com/
or

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=ott

The original Ottawa Senators logo, c. 1917:
http://www.detroithockey.net/nhlinfo/logos/display.php?id=60

According to this site, and confirmed by several others, it’s actually a gladiator.

My guesses would be that a Roman senator decked out in a toga isn’t a very intimidating sort of logo, whereas a gladiator is. Can’t seem to find any sites discussing how the logo was chosen.

It gets worse, though. Apparently their child-friendly mascot is the Spartacat.

I am Spartacat!!!

The team name looks to be a nod to an old Rugby team. Link.

Still looking for a stoy behind the logo.

Oh, and to answer your :dubious:, many members of the Senate would have been generals or other officers in the army, so they would’ve worn uniforms, but not in their specific capacity/role as senators. Wearing anything but the toga for that would have been a big no-no.

Um, Casey, your link is about a Rugby team that’s still in existence. There doesn’t seem to be a connection to the hockey team of the same name, just between an old rugby team and a modern-day one.

One more post and then I’ll stop- I keep finding more on Google.

Ottawa Senators In honor of old Ottawa Senators hockey team that won 6 Stanley Cups. Originally: as Canada’s capital, the nickname for 1901 amateur team.

From http://www.msu.edu/~philpott/Hockey/hockey.names.html

It didn’t seem that out of the ordinary for two teams in different sports from the same city to share a nickname for whatever reason. The NY Giants (football and baseball, before the baseball team moved to San Fransisco)and St Louis Cardinals (football and baseball, before the “football” team moved to Phoenix) are two examples that come to mind. Perhaps Ottawa isn’t a hot bed for team-naming creativity?

I’m getting as far as you guys…but no real link from Senators to Roman Soldier/Gladiator.

Like melandry mentioned, Roman senators were also soldiers.

What would have made a better logo for the Senators, a soldiers helmet or John Belushi in his toga?:stuck_out_tongue:

…yeah, I know, but they went with the helmet…:wink:

Before Ottawa’s CFL team went bankrupt and was reborn as the Renegades, they were known as the Rough Riders. Not to be confused with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. A league with 9 teams and 2 of them had the same freaking nickname.

Now, now, adam, that’s not quite accurate, as your own post shows. The Ottawa team had a space in their name. Quite different. :stuck_out_tongue:

In fairness, the two teams played in different leagues (Ottawa in the IRFU [formed in 1907], and Regina, later Saskatchewan, in the WIFU [formed in 1936]). The CFL wasn’t formed until 1958.