SUNRISE, FLA.

The Senators haven’t given up hope of playing on Parliament Hill.

While the NHL announced four outdoor games for the 2016-17 campaign -- including one in Toronto on Jan. 1 -- the Senators never expected to be part of those announcements because the game they want to play against the Montreal Canadiens is on the 2017-18 schedule.

Though there are plenty of logistical issues and challenges with putting up a temporary outdoor stadium on the grounds of Parliament Hill, league officials certainly haven’t ruled out the possibility of the Senators facing the Habs to help celebrate Canada’s 150th and the NHL’s 100th anniversaries.

Right now, league officials are doing their homework.

The Senators are hoping to have some idea by early-April what route the league will take but it’s doubtful there will be an announcement that early.

Yes, the Senators and Habs could play at TD Place Stadium instead -- with the temporary seating from the 2017 Grey Cup in November being kept in place -- but Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk has made it clear the club’s preference is to play at Parliament because of the backdrop for the game.

Having a game on Parliament Hill is a unique opportunity for the NHL. It was the previous Conservative government that came up with the idea of having an outdoor game here but since taking over the Liberals have backed the plan and the league has done measurements to see what the grounds could hold.

Evenko, a Montreal-based entertainment company that is owned by the Molson family, has a popup stadium that could be used for the event. In 2011, Blue Bonnets raceway built an 80,000-seat stadium for a U2 concert but Parliament Hill wouldn’t be anywhere close to holding those numbers.

It only makes sense that it would be somewhere in the 30,000-to-40,000 range on the Hill. The issue, of course, is the costs. These stadiums can’t be put up overnight and there’s also just everything that goes with building the infrastructure to host this many people in downtown Ottawa.

But it would be event to remember. Think of the pictures of Senators’ captain Erik Karlsson taking on Montreal’s Max Pacioretty with the Peace Tower in the background with two points on the line and maybe a little snow falling on a perfect December day. Those are the kinds of memories that last a lifetime.

The NHL doesn’t move quickly with these kinds of events and that’s why there hasn’t been any announcements. Of course, Lansdowne Live and TD Place is a good compromise but the belief is the Senators want the league to exhaust every avenue to try to have this game on Parliament Hill.

The players would like to see it on the Hill.

“That would be really cool,” said defenceman Cody Ceci Thursday. “Being from Ottawa, it would be really cool to play in and see what they do with Parliament Hill putting the stands up. It’d be a pain to put them up and take them down but it’d be awesome to be a part of.

“I was lucky enough to play in one my first year in Vancouver and that was pretty neat. It’s a lot different because there’s no people right on top of you. It fits a lot more people but you don’t notice until you look up and look around. It’s a different atmosphere. I don’t know how close the fans would be in Parliament but it would be neat to see.”

For the time being, the Senators will wait to see if their dream can become a reality.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch