PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of Swedish hockey’s greatest players of all time.
But Daniel Alfredsson really had to take the long way to reach the top.
Today we pay tribute to the hockey legend “Alfie” on his 51st birthday.
Swedish hockey has produced so many giants over the years and Daniel Alfredsson is particularly in the very highest top tier. He became an icon for the Ottawa Senators during his 18 years in the NHL from 1995 to 2014 and also managed to represent the Detroit Red Wings and win Olympic gold with Tre Kronor.
Alfredsson’s career
Although there was never a Stanley Cup title for the Swede, we can sum up an absolutely fantastic career in North America. “Alfie” scored an incredible 1,157 points in 1,246 games in the NHL and just the icon Mats Sundin has scored more points than any Swede in the NHL of all time.
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Alfredsson will forever be remembered in the Senators and broke the club record in goals with 426, the club record in assists with 682 and also the club record in points with a whopping 1,108. In 2022, he also received the greatest honor in the NHL when he took a place in the long-standing Hockey Hall of Fame.
“Fantastic story”
Along with the twins Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin Daniel Alfredsson was selected and was extremely touched.
– It still feels surreal if I’m honest, says Alfredsson. Especially when you look at Swedish history where there are only four players ahead of myself and the Sedins entering now. It puts it into perspective because Sweden has produced many good hockey players, he says in an interview in connection with the Hall of Fame ceremony.
– Being able to be mentioned in the same breath as (Nicklas) Lidström, (Mats) Sundin, (Börje) Salming and (Peter) Forsberg is undoubtedly humbling. When I say it’s surreal, it’s hard to take in. It’s not like I did anything recently where I thought, “Maybe I should do this.” This has taken years.
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But it was a long road to the top for Alfredsson, who was selected in the sixth round by the Ottawa Senators in the 1994 NHL Draft, as player number 133 overall. Now he reveals the unexpected words that he knew at the beginning of time in North America.
– The first year I tried to get a place in the team, I knew nothing about the NHL. Sitting here 27 years later is unreal, because I thought maybe it would be 2-3 years if it went well, he told nhl.com.
READ MORE: The time Daniel Alfredsson did the forbidden to the icon – 12 years later the audience was still crazy
It would be a complete success right from his debut in 1995 when Alfredsson delivered a whopping 61 points in the NHL and was presented with the prestigious Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. To then make it all the way to the Hall of Fame is a feat that impresses the vast majority of people.
– How many guys in the Hall of Fame took his path to get there, being such a low draft pick and all? It’s a fantastic story, Mats Sundin pays tribute to his national team colleague.
“Basically, in Ottawa, he’s the guy that really helped the club gain respect and he did so much both on and off the ice,” says the former Senators teammate Jason Spezza about Alfie.
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