SENShobo
Next entry: Sens Defeat Frolunda, But Lose Fisher
Previous entry: 82 games, so few of them for me
Sens ready for the big show
by SENShobo on 10/02/08 at 08:02 AM ET
Comments (3)
- Alfie lets reporters into his town and his family’s home, showing his truly inspiring nature.
- Today’s pre-season game has Frolunda, the team and its town, fully stoked.
- The case for making Alfie a Sens lifer.
- Alfredsson shows off his town with a walking tour and sits down with his parents for an interview (Ottawa Senators’ web, Ottawa Sun, Ottawa Citizen).
When Alfredsson was 17 and went to play for Molndal, Hasse was asked to become an assistant coach.
“Don’t you want me to play hockey anymore?” Daniel asked his puzzled dad.
“Yes, I want you to,” replied Hasse.
“Then you can’t be coach,” said his son.
“(Daniel) said: ‘If he’s going to coach me, I’ll put my skates in the closet,’” said Margareta. Daniel didn’t want anyone to think he got anything because he was a coach’s son.
It’s amazing to think not only of what a great hockey player and a great person Alfie’s become, but the effect he has had on his community in Goteborg (never sure how to spell it, but considering the Senators’ own website uses both -borg and -berg, I trust Alfie and his fellow Swedes know I mean no disrespect by it), especially when you are like me and don’t have the experience of being such a celebrity. It’s great too that Alfie has grown into a man appreciative of his fans, learning long ago what it felt like to be on the other side.
In 1981, when Daniel was nine, the world hockey championships came to Gothenburg. Daniel was selected to be one of the kids to carry a flag on the ice.
Recalled Hasse: “One day he said to me, ‘Dad, can I take my autograph book with me?’ and I said yes. He asked (Vladimir) Petrov of the Russian team for an autograph and he pushed Daniel aside. This is something we talked about. I said, ‘If you’re ever a player, don’t be like that.’ “
- Today’s game is so much more than an exhibition match (Ottawa Senators’ web, Ottawa Sun).
“It’s a game for the fans and we will do almost anything to win, then we can say we beat Ottawa, we beat an NHL team,” said Indians defenceman Erik Karlsson, the Senators’ top pick in the NHL draft in Ottawa in June. “It’s going to be a memory you’re going to remember for a very, very long time even if it’s an exhibition game. It’s not every day you get to see an NHL team play. It’s going to be a crazy night, I think.”
The Scandinavium arena will be sold out (it holds about 12,000) and will be rocking. Monday night when the Indians beat Rogle in an Elitserien game for their first regulation win in seven tries this season, a drummer kept the crowd clapping and singing throughout the game.
There is no doubt that the Frolunda Indians will do everything they can to win tonight. The game is a rare opportunity for them to prove themselves against an NHL team, and quite possibly the only time that the 12,044 fans in the Scandinavium will get a chance to catch a glimpse of their team playing against their favourite player.
Still, I am sad that we cannot watch the game here. As I mentioned yesterday, it’s no secret that I want to see every Sens game, from pre-season to playoffs. The fact that this missed game is (likely) the only time I will see my team take on a non-NHL team on the bigger ice just makes it worse.
That, and I really would like to see if the 12,044 fans will do as I suspect and make the Bell Centre look tame. I’m sure it would do us Sens fans well to see how nonstop drumming and singing brings the teams - hopefully most notably Alfie - to life. Someone do me a favour, and go buy a drum to bang at Scotiabank, so that you never mistake we fans in the arena for mere spectators, and to see if we can’t tap into the team’s and Alfie’s nostalgia.
- Alfie should never be seen in any colours but red, black, white, and gold (Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Citizen, TSN).
“What we’d like is to come up with something so he is a Senator for life,” Melnyk said here on Thursday morning.
He arrived a couple of days ago for tonight’s exhibition game against the Frolunda Indians.
“We have to be realistic about what we can do, and where the economy is headed. We’ll see what happens.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Alfie, like Heatley last year, could begin his first game of the regular season with a contract set up and ready to carry him into the future? No, that’s not likely to happen before Saturday’s game against Pittsburg, or even next Saturday before the Sens host Detroit, but getting Alfredsson the respectable extension he deserves should be the highest priority for Murray, no matter how many pundits rain down about our roster.
Incredibly, I occasionally hear someone, usually on the radio, speak of the merits of trading Alfredsson for a couple of players, cashing him in while his value remains high.
Such blasphemy passes for debate, I suppose.
Here’s why the Senators can’t let that happen, unless Alfredsson himself reaches the point where he believes this team is not close enough to contention, and he wants one last shot at winning a Stanley Cup, à la Raymond Bourque. Or Mats Sundin, Alfredsson’s countryman and fellow J.P. Barry client.
When the Senators joined the NHL in 1992, they longed to have legitimate tradition. Up against the history of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators drew a link back to the old Ottawa Senators and Silver Seven from the turn of the 20th century. They retired the No. 8 jersey of Shawville’s Frank Finnigan, a member of the old Senators who died in 1991.
Sixteen years after their opening night of Oct 8, 1992, the Senators are on the verge of their first real bit of modern history—having a franchise player in Alfredsson, a “legacy player” as TSN’s Pierre McGuire termed it.
Is there anyone who would want to see what Alfie could be traded for? Considering the extent to which the League has been dying to get fellow Swede Sundin to play, it should be painfully clear how valuable Alfie is, as if it wasn’t already. From a purely statistical standpoint, Alfie’s past three seasons have yielded 89, 87, and 103 points, while Sundin’s last three have yielded 78, 76, and 78, or if you go based on the performance of Sundin (who is two years older than Alfie) in the three years leading up to his 35th, you still get 78, 75, and 72.
But Alfie is so much more than a number, whether it be on a stats sheet or even hanging from the rafters. It really is important to remember how much he stepped up when this franchise was young, washing away the pain of the two young studs selected in the first rounds (Yashin and Daigle) who were supposed to be the real team heroes. Yet it was the determination of our 6th rounder that helped lead Ottawa to its first playoff series, it’s first playoff win, it’s first appearance in the Finals, and it’s decade-long streak of playoff appearances.
Whenever there was a doubt about the team, Alfie stepped up. Even in game 5 of the Finals, it was Alfie who made sure that the Sens didn’t look completely out of place, certainly giving me moments to cheer from a Toronto bar in my Sens jersey.Without Alfie, the team has looked lost at times, but with him the team has always been a force, and always had hope that he could inspire them to great successes. Today is the ninth anniversary of Alfie taking over the Senators’ captaincy; is there anyone who would deny him an even decade? How about a baker’s dozen? Git-r-done, I respectfully ask of you Mr.‘s Murray and Melnyk, git-r-done.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Daniel+Alfredsson,
Comments
Always glad that my passion is a shared one. It would feel pretty lonely in SBP otherwise, I suppose. I’m sure at some point I’ll miss an update or be very late, since this is just a hobby for me, but I enjoy what I do. Andy eh? That’s a good name.
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 10/02/08 at 09:31 AM ET
I did not know he was a sixth rounder.
Beware the late-round drafted Swedes, NHL! 
They should definitely sign him long term. Good players aren’t common by any means, but ones that spend an entire career with the same team are exceedingly rare. In a largely nomadic business that kind of stability is special.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/02/08 at 07:41 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Can Ottawa Build Key Organization & Roster Element This Week?
As Fisher’s Character Departs, Ottawa’s is Revealed
Hockey Blogging Leading to Hockey Engineering
Heatley’s “Homecoming” Must Be About The Message As Much As The Man
In Case You Wondered About My Absence
Ottawa Strolls Into Contender’s Clutches
Senators Run Out Of Gas Against Canucks
Canucks Offer Ottawa’s First Stern Test
About Kukla’s Korner
Kukla’s Korner is updated around the clock with the work of our own talented bloggers, plus links to the best hockey writing around the internet. We strive to bring you all the breaking hockey news as it happens.
The home page allows you to see the latest postings from every blog on the site. Subscribe here. For general inquiries and more, please contact us anytime.
Get the top online sports betting bonuses available to sports betters!
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker.
As well as reading about hockey games, you can also find info about poker like which poker sites accept American Express or which are the best Canadian poker sites and also find the top rakeback sites at rakeback.net.
Kukla’s Korner is always a free service for readers, but it costs some money to maintain. If you’re ever in a position to donate a few dollars to help out, we’d be very appreciative.
It’s great to have a sens blogger on here, especially one who updates as frequently as you do. Thanks for all the work you put in and please keep it up!
Posted by Andy from Ottawa on 10/02/08 at 09:07 AM ET