Alfredsson -- long-time captain retires from Ottawa

By Larry Wigge

Today, they are honoring the career of Daniel Alfredsson as the captain of the Ottawa Senators.

Oh, it's an afterthought. An oversight.

Whatever happens when feelings are a little hurt like they were when the Gothenburg, Sweden, native took his sticks and style to the Detroit Red Wings after 17 seasons with Ottawa in a rift.

A r-i-f-t . . . something between friends that never, ever should happen.

All Alfredsson wanted was one last chance at a Stanley Cup.

After that one season with Detroit, Alfredsson dealt with that, deciding to retire after 1,246 NHL games, which included 444 goals, 713 points, 1,157 points. Forty-three goals in 2005-06 and 40 goals in 2007-08 represented the high points for a player who had been selected 133rd overall in the fourth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.

"I don't fear retirement at all," Alfredsson said. "Talking to a lot of people, if you retire too early ... you look back and say, 'Maybe I should have played another year or two.' "

The right winger had served as the captain of the Sens since 1999. That is a sizable amount of time. Maybe, in retrospect, then-Senators GM John Muckler wasn't as daft, when he said before the Cup finals that he thought Alfredsson's leadership was the equal of Mark Messier, who won five Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and a sixth with the New York Rangers.

"I've coached some good leaders in the NHL," Muckler said. "We all know what a great leader Mark Messier was. And Daniel Alfredsson is leading this hockey club on a par with Mark."

Alfredsson was marvelous. He was unselfish. He was unassuming in his years in Ottawa ... as captain of the Sens since 1999.

Maybe I should have seen it, when I interviewed Alfredsson prior to Game 2 of the 2006 of the 2007 Cup finals against the Anaheim Might Ducks, a series that was won by Anaheim in five games.

There was something percolating inside when Alfredsson tried to describe his love for the Senators in mid-July, when he his 14 goals to lead the NHL in the playoffs.

You might not see that love with the naked eye. You would probably call it a mental toughness. Backbone. Grit. Heart. Moxie. An intestinal fortitude that is hard to describe.

But, then, that was the Daniel Alfredsson.

After all, Alfredsson had beaten the odds before.

As a youngster, his skating wasn't the prettiest. In fact, Hasse, his dad and coach, thought soccer was Daniel's best sport. But the kid wanted to play hockey and worked and worked at his skating until ...

"I got my big break when I was 17 and I went to try out to play in the Swedish Elite League with Frolunda," he said, recalling how he once was a plodding defenseman in Gothenburg. "One of their best forwards disliked flying, so they invited me to travel with the team. That was my chance ... and I scored two goals."

Ironically, that change of position also brought out the best of Alfredsson’s passion and grit for the game.

"I'll never forget Mark Messier elbowing him in a game during the lockout in 1994," Muckler recalled. "And Alfie went right back at Mark, throwing an elbow of his own at Mess."

It was only because of a hunch by John Ferguson, then-Senators director of player personnel, that the team used a fourth-round pick, 133rd overall, in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. The team raved about the selection of Radek Bonk with the third pick overall and others in that draft class, but Alfredsson has far outplayed them through the 17 seasons that have past since that day.

"He's always been competitive," said former Senators defenseman Wade Redden. "In golf, cards, whatever. He plays everything hard and straight. In cribbage, he counts every point."

When the veteran winger heard his teammates talk about his competitive nature, he just laughs and say it's all because his dad wouldn't let him win when they played cards.  

"It teed me off that I couldn't beat him," said Alfredsson, laughing. "I could never get over how frustrated I was at losing every single time. I still don't like losing ... at anything."

Hard work. Drive. Passion. The will to win. That's what you with Daniel Alfredsson.

"He deserves every little bit of praise he's getting now," said center Jason Spezza, recently signed with Dallas. "He's our leader, he's been phenomenal. When he was criticized in the past, it upset us all."

"He's got a great personality," Muckler said. "He handles crisis on an even keel -- never gets too high, never gets too low. He's demanding of his teammates as well as he's demanding of himself. He sticks up for his teammates. That's everything you want in a leader."

And those around him say he’s playing with more of an edge than ever, that when he gets pushed he pushes back.

"I think that's what's made out whole team push back," Muckler said of the 5-11, 208-pound winger. "One of the things that was lacking in past years, was team toughness. Now we have that. We're still not an overly big team, but we're willing to compete ... and I credit a lot of that to Alfie."

When Daniel Alfredsson was a kid who just turned in his soccer jersey, he also changed his fallback profession of wanting to be a carpenter because he couldn't work it into his schedule around hockey. He switched his schoolwork favorite to economics. And there was no hockey at the Alfredsson household until his homework was done.

That was the rule set forth by Hasse and Margareta Alfredsson. Even for the oldest of the Alfredsson’s four boys.

There were never many frills for the Alfredsson boys, but they always had what they needed if they wanted to play hockey. Hasse was a hard-working head of the household. Everyone looked at life with compassion in his eyes, watching Margareta wage a daily battle with multiple sclerosis.

"We had our friends like any other kids growing up," Daniel recalled fondly. "We'd swim, play handball and hockey and soccer and ride our bikes just like the rest of the kids.

"It was never my dream to play in the NHL. All the focus I had on hockey back then was on the Swedish league, the national team, the world championship. I mean, I was drafted so low it wasn't like Ottawa was calling me every day or week or month to come over here."

He was drafted at 18, but didn’t even consider the NHL until he was 21 -- and even then he came to North America thinking his visit would be brief.

"Even if I made the team, I figured three or four years and I'll be done and go back to Sweden," Alfredsson laughed. "Funny how things work out, eh?"

Lo and behold, Alfredsson had an assist in his first NHL game and netted his first goal a couple of games later. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1995-96, leading the Senators in goals (26), assists (35) and points (61) -- the only rookie to lead his team in scoring that season.

A quiet guy, Daniel never takes anything on the ice for granted. And that's what makes him such a popular captain. He leads by example, something he credits his dad and mom with.

"My dad always had a great work ethic whatever he did," Alfredsson said proudly. "And my stubbornness and willpower definitely comes from what my mom has gone through."

The ultra-competitive Daniel Alfredsson led the Senators the right way.

McDonagh -- from kid to leading candidate for the Norris Trophy

By Larry Wigge
When he entered the NHL stage at the 2007 Entry Draft, Ryan McDonagh was a teen-ager.

Too afraid to step onto the ice and face grown men. Scared to do his thing on the slippery slope that much bigger and stronger men doing on a nightly basis. The 12th pick overall by the Montreal Canadiens was more interested to talk about entering the University of Wisconsin.

So many things has happened to the St. Paul, Minn., native since. He's developed into on the finest defenseman in the game ... in seven years. Heck, McDonagh even got traded while he was still maturing.

In fact, July 30, 2009, when you could say that the first positive step ... two years plus after the most important day in McDonagh's.

"That day ..." the youngster remembered, "you could say I grew up."

McDonagh was sent by Montreal with forward Chris Higgins and prospect Pavel Valentenko to the New York Rangers for former Stanley Cup Winner center Scott Gomez, minor leaguers Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto.

In fact, that deal has arguably gone down as one the most lopsided trades in recent history. Some expects have suggested McDonagh has given the Rangers the game's best defenseman and leading candidates for the Norris Trophy.

"It's a part of the business," McDonagh said. "You have to only think of Wayne Gretzky. How many times was he traded?

"I came to New York with the same dreams ... of playing in the NHL. It's not about the journey, but what you make of your opportunities."

Dreams and reality.

He worked his way up the ladder with the Rangers to the Stanley Cup finals against the Los Angeles Kings last June, before they lost in five games. He was voted by his teammates as the Most Valuable Player. During the offseason, he was named New York's captain. And, in this early stages of this season, there are some experts in the game putting his name out there along with Duncan Keith (who won the James Norris Trophy as the game's best defeneman), P.K. Subban, Eric Karlsson, Zdeno Chara,

"I just want to continue to grow and help the Rangers," said McDonagh after leading New York to a 3-2 season-opening victory in St. Louis.

At this time plaudits seem to flow:

Leading Rangers coach Alain Vigneault to say following the playoffs last spring: "He's a real thoroughbred ... a real force out there."

"He's been lights-out," said fellow blueliner Marc Staal. "It seems like everything he touches turns to gold."

"He's amazing to watch," said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "He's such a good skater and you can see he's so confident in his game."

Once it was thought McDonagh was a little one-sided in his talent. He could play a good shutdown defense. But others shook there heads at his offensive skills.

But, the 25-year-old, established career-highs in goals with 14, assists with 29 and points with 43. In the playoffs, his average ice time of 24 minutes, 49 seconds included even more powerful numbers -- such as tied for first among all NHL defensemen. In one playoff season against Montreal -- he showed his former club -- he had eight assists.

During one of his three seasons at Wisconsin, McDonagh finally hit his stride. He could not only be a shutdown defenseman ... but his time had come help out offensively.

"We had a nickname for him. It was 'Shot from a Cannon,' " Wisconsin coach Mike
Eaves said.

Shot from a Cannon ...

"He could be in the offensive zone trying to make a play and the next thing you know, you’d look up and he was chasing down a guy in the defensive zone like he was shot from a cannon," added Eaves. "He always had that extra gear."

Starting his fourth season with the Rangers, McDonagh always has that extra gear he can count on.

"With the way my play was escalating, I felt more confident as the year went on," McDonagh remembered. "I think when I was given a lot more responsibility. I was able to step up and help our team win a lot of games."

Originally, Ryan was enamored with the idea of playing for Montreal. He added French to his studies at Wisconsin, for instance.

But ...

"They'd come to a few games to scout me during that season, but I didn't hear from them at all that summer about signing," McDonagh said. "I was actually on my way to their summer camp and figured I'd find out what their thoughts were, but that's when I was traded, so I never got there and I never asked the question.

"It's not like I had played there and then was traded. The way I looked at it, the Rangers wanted me."

As a dramatic high-schooler, McDonagh was the winner of Minnesota High School's prestigious Mr. Hockey honor as the best high player this season in 2007. He had 10 goals and 23 assists in 23 games for Cretin-Derham.

When asked to describe the kind of defenseman he aspires to be, he added the day before the draft, "I look to guys like Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios -- Chelios for his leadership and the respect he commands and Lidstrom because he is a guy that can play in any situation and he's a guy you can count on late in the game when you need a goal or when you're holding on to a victory.

"The combination of those two guys is what I look up to for my style of play."

Ryan's play at Cretin-Derham, in leading the Pioneers to the 3A State championship in hockey as a junior, plus a 2A State baseball championship as a senior. He had two sacrifice flies in Cretin-Derham's 4-3 victory over Eden Prairie as a DH.

It was a case of just carrying on in the family tradition, recalled former St. Louis Blues scout Mike Antonovich.

"His great grandfather set the school record by lettering 12 times," Antonovich said. "And his uncle is Steve Walsh, the former NFL quarterback, who also attended Cretin."

McDonagh said when he was younger he loved watching Walsh play.

"When I got older, he'd often pull be aside and tell me to always respect the people who helped me get here," McDonagh said. "He also said to just keep working on the things I did to get here."

McDonagh's career at Cretin-Derham didn't start out exactly as he planned. When then-coach Sean Toomey switched Ryan from defense to the wing as a freshman and sophomore, McDonagh looked upon this move as the first adversity he'd have to face in his career.

"It felt strange. I didn't like it," he remembered. "But then when they put me back on defense in my junior year, I actually felt like the strange journey helped me. It helped me learn how to carry the puck into the offensive zone, something I didn't do a lot of before I started playing up front. My skating and my ability to play one-on-one defense also improved because I had to learn to go in deep to pursue the puck.

"Touching the puck, handling the puck more; challenging the opposition in on the forecheck. It all added a new dimension to the way I played when I got back on defense."

There's clearly a sense of hard work to get where you want to go in the mind of Ryan McDonagh.

Part of that work ethic comes from Ryan's dad, Sean, who is a golf course superintendent. Even more comes from his mom, Patricia, who is in cafeteria service.

"I certainly never starved in high school with my mom serving the food," McDonagh laughed. "She'd pile on all sorts of extras that the other kids didn't get, if you know what I mean."

Ryan McDonagh's hunger on the ice is insatiable. It has become even more so with the Rangers each time he pulls the New York jersey over his head in the NHL in the NHL now.

McDonagh -- From prospect to Norris Trophy candidate

By Larry Wigge
When he entered the NHL stage at the 2007 Entry Draft, Ryan McDonagh was a teen-ager.

Too afraid to step onto the ice and face grown men. Scared to do his thing on the slippery slope that much bigger and stronger men doing on a nightly basis. The 12th pick overall by the Montreal Canadiens was more interested to talk about entering the University of Wisconsin.

So many things has happened to the St. Paul, Minn., native since. He's developed into on the finest defenseman in the game ... in seven years. Heck, McDonagh even got traded while he was still maturing.

In fact, July 30, 2009, when you could say that the first positive step ... two years plus after the most important day in McDonagh's.

"That day ..." the youngster remembered, "you could say I grew up."

McDonagh was sent by Montreal with forward Chris Higgins and prospect Pavel Valentenko to the New York Rangers for former Stanley Cup Winner center Scott Gomez, minor leaguers Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto.

Now, McDonagh has clearly gone from prospect to the steal of the century in trade market.

"It's a part of the business," McDonagh said. "You have to only think of Wayne Gretzky. How many times was he traded?

"I came to New York with the same dreams ... of playing in the NHL. It's not about the journey, but what you make of your opportunities."

Dreams and reality.

He worked his way up the ladder with the Rangers to the Stanley Cup finals against the Los Angeles Kings last June, before they lost in five games. He was voted by his teammates as the Most Valuable Player. During the offseason, he was named New York's captain. And, in this early stages of this season, there are some experts in the game putting his name out there along with Duncan Keith (who won the James Norris Trophy as the game's best defeneman), P.K. Subban, Eric Karlsson, Zdeno Chara,

"I just want to continue to grow and help the Rangers," said McDonagh after leading New York to a 3-2 season-opening victory in St. Louis.

At this time plaudits seem to flow:

Leading Rangers coach Alain Vigneault to say following the playoffs last spring: "He's a real thoroughbred ... a real force out there."

"He's been lights-out," said fellow blueliner Marc Staal. "It seems like everything he touches turns to gold."

"He's amazing to watch," said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "He's such a good skater and you can see he's so confident in his game."

Once it was thought McDonagh was a little one-sided in his talent. He could play a good shutdown defense. But others shook there heads at his offensive skills.

But, the 25-year-old, established career-highs in goals with 14, assists with 29 and points with 43. In the playoffs, his average ice time of 24 minutes, 49 seconds included even more powerful numbers -- such as tied for first among all NHL defensemen. In one playoff season against Montreal -- he showed his former club -- he had eight assists.

During one of his three seasons at Wisconsin, McDonagh finally hit his stride. He could not only be a shutdown defenseman ... but his time had come help out offensively.

"We had a nickname for him. It was 'Shot from a Cannon,' " Wisconsin coach Mike
Eaves said.

Shot from a Cannon ...

"He could be in the offensive zone trying to make a play and the next thing you know, you’d look up and he was chasing down a guy in the defensive zone like he was shot from a cannon," added Eaves. "He always had that extra gear."

Starting his fourth season with the Rangers, McDonagh always has that extra gear he can count on.

"With the way my play was escalating, I felt more confident as the year went on," McDonagh remembered. "I think when I was given a lot more responsibility. I was able to step up and help our team win a lot of games."

Originally, Ryan was enamored with the idea of playing for Montreal. He added French to his studies at Wisconsin, for instance.

But ...

"They'd come to a few games to scout me during that season, but I didn't hear from them at all that summer about signing," McDonagh said. "I was actually on my way to their summer camp and figured I'd find out what their thoughts were, but that's when I was traded, so I never got there and I never asked the question.

"It's not like I had played there and then was traded. The way I looked at it, the Rangers wanted me."

As a dramatic high-schooler, McDonagh was the winner of Minnesota High School's prestigious Mr. Hockey honor as the best high player this season in 2007. He had 10 goals and 23 assists in 23 games for Cretin-Derham.

When asked to describe the kind of defenseman he aspires to be, he added the day before the draft, "I look to guys like Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios -- Chelios for his leadership and the respect he commands and Lidstrom because he is a guy that can play in any situation and he's a guy you can count on late in the game when you need a goal or when you're holding on to a victory.

"The combination of those two guys is what I look up to for my style of play."

Ryan's play at Cretin-Derham, in leading the Pioneers to the 3A State championship in hockey as a junior, plus a 2A State baseball championship as a senior. He had two sacrifice flies in Cretin-Derham's 4-3 victory over Eden Prairie as a DH.

It was a case of just carrying on in the family tradition, recalled former St. Louis Blues scout Mike Antonovich.

"His great grandfather set the school record by lettering 12 times," Antonovich said. "And his uncle is Steve Walsh, the former NFL quarterback, who also attended Cretin."

McDonagh said when he was younger he loved watching Walsh play.

"When I got older, he'd often pull be aside and tell me to always respect the people who helped me get here," McDonagh said. "He also said to just keep working on the things I did to get here."

McDonagh's career at Cretin-Derham didn't start out exactly as he planned. When then-coach Sean Toomey switched Ryan from defense to the wing as a freshman and sophomore, McDonagh looked upon this move as the first adversity he'd have to face in his career.

"It felt strange. I didn't like it," he remembered. "But then when they put me back on defense in my junior year, I actually felt like the strange journey helped me. It helped me learn how to carry the puck into the offensive zone, something I didn't do a lot of before I started playing up front. My skating and my ability to play one-on-one defense also improved because I had to learn to go in deep to pursue the puck.

"Touching the puck, handling the puck more; challenging the opposition in on the forecheck. It all added a new dimension to the way I played when I got back on defense."

There's clearly a sense of hard work to get where you want to go in the mind of Ryan McDonagh.

Part of that work ethic comes from Ryan's dad, Sean, who is a golf course superintendent. Even more comes from his mom, Patricia, who is in cafeteria service.

"I certainly never starved in high school with my mom serving the food," McDonagh laughed. "She'd pile on all sorts of extras that the other kids didn't get, if you know what I mean."

Ryan McDonagh's hunger on the ice is insatiable. It has become even more so with the Rangers each time he pulls the New York jersey over his head in the NHL in the NHL now.