The Ottawa Senators might not have made the NHL playoffs this year, but another Canadian sports team is bringing some post-season spirit to the city.

Located at the corner of Bank Street and Third Avenue in the Glebe, a nine-meter high mural celebrating the Toronto Raptors’ current playoff run is bringing a little bit of the 6 to the 613.

Local graffiti artist Phil Laporte painted the mural, which took him about 10 to 12 hours to complete with around 30 cans of spray paint.

It features a silhouette of what appears to be the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, as well as the Raptors’ “We the North” slogan. A bright red maple leaf wearing sneakers completes the mural, topped off with Ottawa’s area and airport codes.

The entire mural is done in blacks, greys, reds and whites – the Raptors’ colours.

Sites in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver were also commissioned by the Raptors for specially designed Raptors-themed murals.

“Creating graffiti murals throughout Canada was not only the team’s way of building excitement for the playoffs, but also to thank and recognize the millions of basketball fans outside of Toronto that have supported the team through 21 seasons,” said Dave Freeman, head of brand at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, in an email.

“Toronto and basketball are deeply connected to graffiti so we knew it would be a fitting representation of the team and city,” said Freeman.

The cities chosen for the murals were ones that have had ties to the Raptors in the past, said Freeman, such as having hosted a training camp or a preseason game.

Each mural highlights different aspects of the Raptors’ brand — from Toronto’s skyline to a sneaker made to look like a dinosaur head. The murals were made to look similar to the style artists use when “tagging” a building, said Laporte.

“The idea was to kind of (make it look) more like it was a piece on the street that someone did,” Laporte said.

The design for Ottawa’s mural was created by Marc Sirus and Cassandra Dickie, two Montreal-based artists Laporte has worked with before.

“It definitely adds some more colour (to the neighbourhood),” Laporte said.

Laporte has been doing graffiti for over 15 years, and has contributed to a number of other murals found across Ottawa, including one on Metcalfe Street at the Highway 417 underpass.

Laporte said it’s great the city is getting involved in more mural projects, especially within the Glebe.

“I think it’s awesome to really get a lot of these blank walls that the city spends tons of money buffing and getting rid of illegal graffiti. Why not spend the money once and do a nice mural? Plus you’re paying some up-and-coming artists and giving them exposure and everything, so I think it’s a great idea to do things like this.”

According to Laporte, the mural will be up for about four weeks.