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Daniel Alfredsson received a warm welcome from Leafs fans when announced as the team’s new associate coach at the home opener on Tuesday night.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” the former Ottawa Senators captain admitted. “It felt great.”
It marked the opening of a new chapter for Alfredsson who played 17 seasons in Ottawa during a Hall-of-Fame career before spending parts of the last three seasons behind the Senators bench as an assistant coach.
On Saturday night, Alfredsson will coach against the Senators in a meaningful game for the first time when Ottawa visits Scotiabank Arena for their season opener.
“Obviously we got a taste of it in pre-season, seeing a lot of the guys that you built relationships with the last three years,” he said. “And, yeah, it’s different, there’s no question, being on the other side, but it’s also something we all know in this league. It’s gonna happen and, you know, still got good relationships with a lot of the players and staff. So, obviously wish them the best and (smile) wish us a little bit better.”
Alfredsson still looks strange wearing blue, but the 53-year-old Swede is slowly getting used to life on this side of the Battle of Ontario. During the team’s charity golf event before training camp started, he was playing one group behind former rival Darcy Tucker.
“We kissed and made up,” Alfredsson said to laughs.
It sounds like Leafs Nation is also warming to Alfredsson.
“It’s a big city and I’ve loved the energy of the city,” Alfredsson said. “I thought I would be more incognito in the city, but they still remember my face, some of them, and I love it. I do. They’re great. I’m sure it’s going to be ups and downs for everybody in the season, but I think it’s important to be out and about ... It’s been a hectic first month here, but I look forward to what’s ahead.”
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What does Alfredsson enjoy about coaching?
“When you see players that you can help them, when you see that they evolve and get better with time, I think that’s the most rewarding thing,” he said. “Almost compared to your kids, when you see them grow up and then when they become men and you’re like, ‘Jesus, I’m proud of him.’ It’s kind of the same thing with coaching.”
Alfredsson worked with first overall pick Gavin McKenna on his shot at the end of Toronto’s optional skate.
Bo Groulx already tapped into Alfredsson’s expertise during training camp.
“He taught me a couple things shooting-wise,” Groulx said. “Just to change my angle and my weight transfer too with my legs and I think it’s been pretty helpful. I feel like my shot is a bit more powerful than last year and quicker.”
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Saturday’s game is the first one in the NHL to feature two players from Whitehorse as McKenna will be facing Senators centre Dylan Cozens.
“It’s pretty special,” said Cozens, who is starting his eighth season in the NHL. “I think if you asked a lot of people from Whitehorse 10 years ago if they thought they’d ever see this, not many people would’ve believed it. You know, I’m really happy for all the success that he’s had. It’s awesome to see and it’s so great for our town, our city, our community, to have this in the NHL. It’s really special.”
The Yukon Bureau of Statistics lists the population of Whitehorse as 38,897.
“It’s all about giving kids belief,” Cozens said. “Growing up there, you might not think you can make it and you might not think that people will see you or find you, but if you just work at it and keep at it and enjoy doing it, you’ll be found. I hope we’ve given a lot of kids in smaller communities, smaller towns belief that they can do this too.”
Cozens recalls hearing about how McKenna was turning heads while playing at the novice level in the “very passionate” Whitehorse hockey community.
“He’s been unbelievable ever since he was seven years old.”
Cozens and McKenna were part of a group of NHLers who skated together in Muskoka ahead of the NHL season.
“He’s got an incredible skill-set,” Cozens said. “The things he can do with the puck, you know it’s pretty special. We gotta try not to puck watch him and play the body a bit on him because he’ll make you look silly if you try to play the puck on him.”
McKenna played with Cozens’ younger brother Luke while coming up in the game and the pair are still quite close. So, is Cozens confident his brother will be cheering on the Senators on Saturday?
“I think so,” he said with a grin. “You gotta go with blood first. You never know. I’ll ask him. We’ll see.”
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The Senators are the only team in the NHL that has not played yet.
“It’s brutal,” centre Tim Stutzle said of the wait. “I mean, you watch all the other games, you’re just kind of eager to get in and play some games. But also maybe it helped us a little bit work on some details. [We] had a little bit of a longer camp and wanted to clean some things from the pre-season and now we’re ready to go.”
Training camps were shortened this fall with veterans limited to just two pre-season games. Ottawa wrapped up its exhibition schedule last Saturday.
“It’s been a long week, especially when you’re watching other teams play,” said coach Travis Green, who is coaching his 500th career game on Saturday. “There’s nothing like playing games. Give our guys credit, they worked hard this week with certain drills, certain drills that were trying to mimic game-line intensity, but again there’s no secret that nothing is like playing a game. Our guys are very antsy to get going.”
The Leafs have already played twice. Toronto lost to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday before rebounding with a win over the New York Islanders on Wednesday.
“It’s a different team,” Green said of the Leafs. “The last few years I’ve been used to just knowing who’s on the ice when I’m watching a game and kind of had to double take a lot to see who was on the ice.”
The Leafs had 10 new players in the lineup on opening night. The coaching staff is also brand new.
“We’re two different situations,” said head coach Jim Hiller. “So, for us, a lot of new players, I’m glad we’ve had these couple games under our belt. For Ottawa, maybe it’s a little bit less important, because they do have a good bulk of their team back. But, personally, I’m glad we’ve had the two games, just to iron out some kinks and get some guys to play with each other. We’ve kind of talked about that. But I don’t think that will prejudice or benefit either team, just based on the fact that they’re a pretty veteran team.”
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Jake McCabe’s ankle was sliced by the skate of Jake Evans in the first period on Tuesday. The 32-year-old defenceman stayed in the game briefly before heading to the dressing room.
“I felt it,” McCabe said. “I looked and I didn’t see blood right away, and then a couple seconds later I did see the blood, so I just got off quickly. Luckily, it wasn’t too deep. Cut-proof socks work, and still got cut, but it could have been worse, so I feel thankful.”
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger was the first to report that McCabe escaped serious injury due to the cut-resistant socks.
“I feel like I’ve been wearing them since, like, even in college we were wearing them,” the University of Wisconsin product said. “It’s been like 15-ish years. I’ve been caught a few times. I’ve been caught on my thigh. I cut my finger in college. I cut my tendon, so I don’t really mess around with it too much.”
McCabe returned for the second period on Tuesday and has shown no ill effects from the cut since.
“Just totally fine,” he said. “I got very lucky for sure.”
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Senators lines at Saturday’s skate:
Foegele - Stutzle - Batherson
Eklund - Cozens - Burakovsky
Amadio - Pinto - Giroux
Cousins - Halliday - Hodgson
Sanderson - Matinpalo
Chabot - Spence
Kleven - Yakemchuk
Crotty - Greig
Ullmark starts
Ersson
