Reflecting on Daniel Alfredsson's Brief Red Wings Tenure
Prior to last night’s match-up between the Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, the Senators retired Daniel Alfredsson‘s number. Alfredsson is the greatest to lace up the skates for Ottawa, spending seventeen seasons with the club, accumulating 426 goals and 682 assists, and leading the charge as Sens captain from 1999 to 2013.
He also spent his final season as a Red Wing, racking up 18 goals and 31 assists in 68 games—not too shabby, eh?
If you recall, Alfredsson became a Red Wing after departing the Senators as a free agent. In this NHL.com article from August 2013, Alfredsson explains what happened:
Shortly thereafter, the Red Wings contacted Alfie and they agreed to a contract. Now although he spent only one season with Detroit, Alfredsson impacted the Red Wings in ways that went beyond mere point production, as his fellow countryman Niklas Kronwall attests to, via mLive’s Ansar Khan:
Henrik Zetterberg also chimed in on Alfredsson’s impact:
Players like Kronner and Z may best remember Alfie for his influence and experience, but we the fans best remember him for this buzzer-beating overtime goal on March 20, 2014 against the Pittsburgh Penguins:
Congratulations on the jersey retirement, Mr. Alfredsson. You may have heard the old saying “Once a Red Wing, always a Red Wing,” but we all acknowledge you’re an Ottawa Senator through and through.
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