OTTAWA — Not-so-old old-timers from the Ottawa Senators and Canada’s women’s hockey team brought hockey back to its roots Saturday morning, facing off for a bit of shinny on the Rideau Canal in celebration of Hockey Day in Canada.

“It is always fun to play, but it’s always more fun to play outside,” said popular ex-Senators defenceman and restaurateur Brad Marsh, who played for the team in 1992-93.

“Most of the guys from our era, this is where we played. There weren’t as many (indoor) rinks as there is now.”

The Senators invite a different group of hockey players in their “shinny showdown” game each year. With the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships coming to Ottawa April 2-9, it was fitting to bring in some national team alumni, said former Team Canada member Nancy Drolet.

“(The canal game) was such a feeling of where everything started,” said Drolet, who represented Canada in six world championships in the 1990s. “There’s a lot of history because the first world championship was here in Ottawa for women’s hockey. For us now, to have the world back this year is pretty amazing.”

Opening the day’s festivities was the annual parade of jerseys down the skateway from Dow’s Lake to the National Arts Centre and the site of the shinny game.

Ten-year-old Julia Byrne and her teammates on the Gloucester-Cumberland Huskies, won a contest to carry some of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s flags down the canal. Julia said she’s been playing hockey since she was seven and wants to be on the national team on day.

“It’s a lot of fun and I like skating,” she said before going to line up to get autographs from the players.

Kevin Jones brought his daughters and aspiring hockey players Angharad, eight, and Olwen, six, to participate in the parade of jerseys and watch the game.

“There were a lot of girls skating with flags for the upcoming championships, and there was a huge jersey the girls helped carry down,” said Jones.

Drolet said it was great to reunite with some of her teammates from the national squad. She said she keeps in touch with other alumni but that the rink is “the perfect place to connect.”

“When you play the game, obviously you travel the world and it’s very nice, but in the end, the friendship, that’s what stays,” she said.