Few in Ottawa were more devastated to learn of Tom Petty’s death this week than Bruce Firestone, the original owner of the Ottawa Senators.
In the late 1980s, Firestone, along with franchise co-founders Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton, used Petty’s hit song I Won’t Back Down as the theme for their bid to bring NHL hockey back to Ottawa. They rode the song hard, using it at media conferences and myriad other gatherings on the long road to winning an NHL club in 1990. The song resonated with the three young business people attempting what many deemed impossible – to beat out a bid from the Golden Triangle (Hamilton) in southern Ontario.