The Ottawa Highlanders are one of the newest teams to be added to the SMJHL, with their newer status in the league I figured it was only fitting to look at the team a bit more closely. Ottawa is a city known for its Victorian architecture, the local universities, and being the current capital of Canada. Lying right near the border of Ontario and Quebec, the city is among one of the largest in the country housing roughly over a million people in its metropolitan area. This is also where the Ottawa Highlanders would call home during their inaugural season in Season.

The team was named after a military regiment of the United Kingdom with a similar name; The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. This standing force comprised of primarily highland Scot’s that saw a lot of combat at the turn of the century in France, Egypt, and all over the world during the First and Second world wars. During the early years, many of these highland regiments would also be shipped out to do tours of the British Colonies including Canada. Large swaths of Scots would eventually call Canada home, creating Ottawa as their new highland.

After speaking with the GM and Co-GM about the new team deal and the subsequent branding development, it’s quite apparent that they are trying to form their own clan of people around Ottawa. Using the historic colors of the Canadian Armed Forces unit and melding the traditional Scottish culture with hockey, the Ottawa GM and front office strive to create a culture of honor, friendship, and loyalty to all highlanders around the world

I asked the current GM and Co-GM some questions regarding their time with the team and what the future may look like for the team.

Question 1. I assume the highlanders weren’t the only team that you considered creating. What other teams or ideas did you have floating around?

GM - "The other concept I floated to HO was the Pittsburgh Confluence, essentially named after one of the cities landmarks which is the waterways. The name pays homage to one of the cities nicknames Thee Rivers City as the Allegheny, Monongahela rivers converge to form the Ohio river, making the city the confluence of these rivers. Ultimately, HO preferred the Ottawa branding/location and how it fit the league, and I was more than happy to go in that direction

Co-GM "I have been a gm of a team before this. I in fact did not really enjoy being head gm, and much prefer to be a 'right hand guy'. I was much more focused on just being part of an expansion team in any capacity, the management position just kind of happened"

Question 2. I read that the team colors are supposed to signify “Honor, Friendship, and Loyalty” but I feel organizations are also known to organically create their own identity over time. How else would you explain the team in its current form? Is there anything that’s had a positive influence that’s surprised you?

GM - "Grassroots, trust and support is how I'd name our current circumstances. Starting a franchise from scratch isn't easy, its a grassroots project that can only build organically through time to build a strong culture, but it also entails that there will be some lulls in activity, some less interesting LR seasons, and that's something that you need to deal with. That's where trust comes in, you need to trust the process, trust that there's a vision in place and that you have a role to play, your presence impacts the bigger picture and will impact the team far beyond a player's 4 J seasons, and that's what I have for the most part, trust from my players. Support is what I've seen amongst the players, they care for each other, enjoy each other's company and are supportive of hardships, struggles with some of the league stuff but also in our good moments."

With the end of the season about to pass us up, we will be watching the Highlanders of Ottawa as they flourish into a more dominate club for future years to come.

[1996 words]

Approved @Papajon @CptSquall

credit to Flappy, ToeDragon, and Carpy