Happy Alfie Day Everyone

The Alfredsson nameplate returned to its proper place in the dressing room #cbcott #Sens pic.twitter.com/mc7hue0i6A

— Dan Séguin (@SeguinSports) December 4, 2014

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Daniel Alfredsson, have you heard of him?

On a day when seemingly everyone in this great city is regaling their friends with their favorite stories about Alfie or where they were when he snapped the puck past Ryan Miller to score the sudden death overtime goal that vaulted the Senators into their first and only Stanley Cup Final, all I want to do is just sit back and absorb it all.

Want to get lost arguing over which Alfie goal was his greatest? No, problem. You’ll have no troubles engaging your fellow fans on Twitter reliving his Eastern Conference Final OT goal on Miller or the one that followed his plastering Darcy Tucker into the wall from behind. Want to debate which Alfie hairstyle was the greatest? You can. Will Clarke MacArthur give up his locker stall so that Alfie can get his old one back one last time? Of course he will. Want to know if Robin Lehner will sell Alfie’s old house back to Alfie? He won’t sell the zoo. Want to listen to Alfredsson’s former teammates and greats like Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara tell their favorite Alfie stories? You can by listening to TSN 1200 all day.

Everyone keeps referring to today as Alfie Day, a time to celebrate his playing career and his off-ice accomplishments. But really, it’s just one of many that we’ll be fortunate to share with each other over the next couple of years. Another will come when his jersey is retired and number 11 is raised to the rafters. And another will be the day he’s inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Alfie’s resume is pretty impressive: 1,246 career games; 444 goals; 1,157 points; the 1995-96 Calder Trophy; a second team All-Star in 2005-06; a captain of 13 seasons here in Ottawa; and a five-time Olympian who won gold in 2006 and silver in 2014.

Equally impressive has been his work off the ice helping to raise awareness about mental health through his partnership with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. If you haven’t taken the time to read Mark Sutcliffe’s excellent piece on Alfie’s off-ice contributions in the Ottawa Citizen, please do. It’s one of the best reads that I’ve seen over the past two weeks.

For all of these aforementioned reasons and countless others, Alfie’s career in Ottawa is unparalleled. Even looking beyond this city’s limits, it’s hard to find comparisons for him because he’s just meant so much to this city on and off the ice.

As I mentioned earlier, there will be other days to celebrate his career achievements, but with that in mind, it’s important to remember that today bears the distinction of being one of healing.

In a realm where ego and money rules, both sides were culpable for how Alfie left town, but now both sides can move on. Regardless of which side of the debate you positioned yourself on when Alfie made the choice to leave Ottawa for Detroit in July of 2013, I can’t imagine anyone having any lingering bitterness once they saw Alfie don his jersey at this morning’s press conference.

From an optics perspective, the Senators desperately needed to bury the hatchet and redeem themselves for allowing their captain to leave town and to their credit, they have. From Melnyk’s interview on ‘Prime Time Sports’, to the organization’s tweets, to today’s press conference, everything has been first class. I can only imagine what the atmosphere and energy is going to be like when Alfie dons his Senators jersey and wears the ‘C’ for one last time in tonight’s pre-game skate.

Look back to the piece I wrote (Ed. Note: this article is one of my favorites) on April 7, 2010 for Alfie’s 1000^th game and the words still ring true.

“So on the night of your 1000th game Daniel Alfredsson, I’d just like to say thanks. Over the course of your career, you’ve given me more than my fair share of memories that I’ve relived numerous times with my family, friends and readers. Whether it was watching you live for the first time or watching you score the game winning game goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, it’s been a delight.

Oh, one more thing: I forgot to thank you for drilling that smarmy piece of shit known as Darcy Tucker into the boards. That hit… was superb.”

It’s now four years later, but the feelings still ring true.

I don’t’ have kids, but someday I will. When I do and they’re old enough, I look forward to the opportunity to tell regale them with stories of own telling them that it’s be been nothing but a privilege to watch you play.