It is that time of year again. I’m depressed. But I will get over it. It’s playoff time in the National Hockey League.

It makes no sense that the emotional wellbeing of millions of Canadians rests on the shoulders of 20 young men they have never met. But hockey is a national obsession, and never more so than during the playoffs, which began last Saturday.

For the next two months (maybe less) the emotions of a nation will rise and fall in the fortunes of the local hockey team. Which is why I am depressed. Though I shouldn’t be.

My local team, the Ottawa Senators, have lost their first two games, Given that it is a best of seven series, they now have to win four of their next five – if they can hold on that long.

I should be happy they are in the playoffs. After all, they were in last place on January 24, with only a nine percent chance making the postseason. They have played very well the past three months.

But they haven’t won every game, of course, no team does. History is against them though. Ottawa has never won a playoff series they started with two losses. Good play in those games as not been enough. Hence the depression.

It isn’t just Ottawa fans who are anxious. The other two Canadian teams that made it to the postseason, the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers, both split their first two games. Fans in those two cities are a little happier than their Ottawa counterparts.

National pride is on the line. Hockey is a Canadian invention – but it is a long time, 33 years, since a Canadian team won the top trophy.

My son was four when the Montreal Canadiens hoisted the Cup. He was too young to be allowed to stay up to watch the games, so he only remembers watching a video we used to take out from the library.

Now his son is four. A generation has passed, Canada has won world championships and Olympic gold medals in that time, but a Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup. As a nation, we feel it is time.

Which means, should the Senators be eliminated from contention, I will cheer for the Canadiens and/or the Oilers. Depending on how the games go, I could be happy or depressed on a daily basis well into June.

In the end though, it is just a game. In an ideal world, either Ottawa or Montreal will meet Edmonton in the final. That would guarantee Stanley returning home. An all-Canadian final hasn’t happened for a long long time.

I will stop watching the games the day the last Canadian team is eliminated, if indeed that does happen. And I won’t miss them. Especially because Spring will be in full swing by then.

I might be sad for a few minutes after a game, but the truth is I understand it is only entertainment. Which is easy to say when I am not caught up in the moment.

It is silly the way we allow professional sports to be such a big part of our lives. At the same time though, it is a lot of fun.