‘Time to be a stay-athome dad for a while’
KEN WARREN
OTTAWA — At some point, Daniel Alfredsson could return to a front office position with an NHL team.
For now, though, Alfredsson says it’s time “to be a stay-at-home dad for awhile.”
Alfredsson, who abruptly resigned as the Ottawa Senators senior advisor of hockey operations in early July, says his focus is on becoming more involved in the daily lives of his four sons, including helping coach them in minor hockey.
Until Monday, the longtime Senators captain had been silent on his reasons for leaving the organization. After officially retiring as a player with the Senators in 2014, he had spent the past two seasons working closely with former general manager Bryan Murray, current general manager Pierre Dorion and assistant general manager Randy Lee.
“I have a couple of projects on the go, but nothing major,” said Alfredsson, who put his golf game to the test during Monday’s Brooke and Friends Pro-Am at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.
“Once school starts, it’s full on with activities with the kids. We’re moving into a new house here in the fall, so we have a lot of planning to do with that. So, it’s going to be a quiet year for me, overall.
“With all the changes in coming back to Ottawa (from Detroit), first renting a house, then buying a house, there have been a lot of adjustments for the family.”
Alfredsson insists that Ottawa is home.
“We just bought a house and (there) is school and sports,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere for a lot of years, if ever.”
While he plans on staying lowkey in NHL circles for awhile, he’s not closing the door on returning to management at some point.
“Who knows? If that opportunity would come back again, I would look at it very hard,” he said. “It’s what I know best. It’s what I love, as well. I can see that in the future at some point. But when, I don’t know.”
Mourning Murray
For everyone involved with the Senators, it promises to be a difficult week.
Bryan Murray’s funeral will be held Tuesday in Shawville. A Celebration of Life, open to the public, will be held at the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Murray, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014, died on Aug. 12.
Alfredsson had a special bond with Murray. It was the connection between the two that paved the way for Alfredsson’s return to Ottawa after he spent two seasons in Detroit at the tail end of his career.
“We had some great years with him and it the most fun I’ve ever had playing,” Alfredsson said of his years with Murray as his coach.
“He was good at X’s and O’s, but his biggest asset was his willingness to get a group working together, to make everybody feel a part of it and motivate everybody.
“When you know the players want to play for the coach, it’s a special feeling. He always stood up for us, always protected us. He made sure that on the teams he built and coached, there was a mix of speed and skill and smartness and toughness. We could play any style. He was also an optimist. Don’t wait for the game to come to you. Go get it. And I loved that about him.”
Dorion feels for family
Dorion, who took over the GM reins from Murray in 2016, says the death “has been tough for everyone, but I think about his family first and foremost. I think about (wife) Geri and (daughters) Heide and Brittany,” said Dorion, who also took part in Monday’s Pro-Am.
“That’s who I’m thinking about. And then I think about never having another conversation about how our power play is going or a trade or anything like that. I wouldn’t be the person I am without Bryan Murray.”
The rebuild is in full swing for Canada’s short track speed skating team and a new wave of Olympians looks ready to contend.
Four of six skaters named to the provisional team for the PyeongChang Games are firsttime Olympians: Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que.; Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que.; Jamie Macdonald from Fort St. James, B.C.; and Kasandra Bradette of Saint-Felicien, Que.
They claimed their spots during five days of heated competition at the Olympic trials in Montreal, which wrapped up on Sunday.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet it seems, but I’ve faced so many challenges over the years that this feels like a great accomplishment which makes me emotional just mentioning it,” said Bradette, 27.
“I’ve now accomplished what I thought I would never accomplish over all those years in speed skating. For a long time, the Olympics were just a distant dream for me. But these last four years, I’ve realized that I belonged there and that I needed to show it.”
The only veterans on the squad so far are 33-year-old Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., who made his fourth Olympic team and will look to add to his total of four medals; and 26-year-old Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., who won a bronze at Sochi in his Games debut.
Another four skaters will be added to the squad when it is fleshed out officially on Aug. 30. A skater seeking a bye and a discretionary pick will be added to each of the men’s and women’s teams.
Likely candidates to make the women’s squad are veterans Valerie Maltais and Marianne St-Gelais, who will be seeking byes from Speed Skating Canada. St-Gelais fell in training and missed the entire trials, while Maltais fell during the trials and withdrew last week. Both suffered concussion symptoms and were advised not to compete further.
Skaters have until the end of Monday to request byes. It is expected that veteran Francois Hamelin will make such a request, since he missed the fifth and final day of competition on Sunday due to concussion symptoms. Pascal Dion finished fourth in trials points and might have the inside track on a discretionary pick.
From start to finish of the 10-day event in Montreal, Girard and Boutin were the stars of the show, which bodes well for Speed Skating Canada. Team leaders Hamelin and St-Gelais have each declared Pyeongchang will be their final Olympics, and it appears the new wave is ready to fill the void.
Girard and Boutin clinched their Olympic berths on Saturday, a day before anyone else. Over the entire event, Boutin won eight of her nine races, including both the 500- and 1,000-metres on Sunday, the final day of competition.
“After having a tough time over the last several months, the results I earned at the selections are a great relief for me,” said Boutin. “The fact that I started the competition on a good note also helped me, and then I stayed focused on the task at hand and that’s what allowed me to do well.”
Girard won seven of nine races overall, topping off his tour de force with a win in the 500-metres on Sunday and a second-place finish in the 1,000-metres.
“I think it hasn’t really hit me yet, but the Olympics are the dream of every amateur athlete, and going there means I’ve reached my objective. And now, we’ll go out and perform over there,” said Girard.
The team’s power base is obviously in Quebec. Macdonald, the only westerner on the team so far, moved to Montreal to train full time with team veterans and it paid off.
“I can’t believe it for now, I’m still a little bit overwhelmed,” said Macdonald. “It hasn’t quite hit me. But it’s incredible. We’ll have a very strong team, I’m so proud of these girls. We all push each other so hard in training, and we’ve all worked so hard over this summer. It’ll be an incredible experience for all of us.”