KARLSSON ENLIVENS OTTAWA
Senators’ choice of captain veers from team’s safe, stodgy path
Karlsson was, and remains today, the antithesis of Ottawa. He’s outspoken, brash, confident and stylish, and that’s why the Senators’ decision Thursday to make him the ninth captain in team history was an inspired one. James Gordon
Ottawa knew right away what it was getting into with Erik Karlsson.
In his first chat with the media after the Senators made him the 15th overall pick at the 2008 NHL Draft — which just happened to take place here in the capital — Karlsson joked that he was better than his dad at hockey and said that if he ever got to play an exhibition game against his idol (and revered Ottawa captain) Daniel Alfredsson, “I will take it easy on him, because he’s old.” He then spent the next several rounds charming old-school hockey execs around the team’s draft table.
Said Tim Murray, the Senators’ assistant general manager at the time: “He’s one cocky kid, that’s for sure. He’s a special kid.”
Karlsson was, and remains today, the antithesis of Ottawa. He’s outspoken, brash, confident and stylish, and that’s why the Senators’ decision Thursday to make him the ninth captain in team history was an inspired one. It breathed life into a franchise and fan base that have had to deal with altogether too much bad news lately. It also makes him the undisputed face of the squad and, by extension, an outgoing, flashy ambas- sador for a city so boring we once selected “Technically Beautiful” as our slogan and recently fined a folk music festival for being too loud.
The decision to go with Karlsson is also a departure for a team that has often matched the stodgy vibe of the city. The beloved Alfredsson never was the rah-rah type, leading by example for 13 seasons until his ugly split with the team over money two summers ago. His replacement last season, Jason Spezza, was the ultimate establishment candidate: a big, rangy, Canadian centre who was groomed for stardom as a teenager in Toronto and eventually learned to stick to all the right clichés.
The Senators could have continued down that same, safe path by calling on defenceman Chris Phillips, a soft-spoken, respected greybeard who’d long campaigned for the job. Phillips would have made a fine choice, too. He’s done plenty for the community in his 16 years here, and his defence-first mentality is a big hit with hockey conservatives who eschew Karlsson’s brand of freelancing. It would have been easy to name Phillips captain.
Instead, the Senators will take a risk with the 24-year-old Karlsson, who when asked for his thoughts on Ottawa’s second round, Game 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins two springs ago, opined that “sometimes, s--t happens.” A man unafraid to shake his digital fist at one of the team’s biggest sponsors on Twitter when his Internet doesn’t work or wear really pointy shoes and camouflagetrimmed suits. A man who might not be the team’s most responsible player on the ice but is miles away the best player on the ice.
He’ll be joined for the foreseeable future by winger Bobby Ryan, signed Thursday to a surprise $50.75-million, seven-year contract.
On the day he was acquired in a part hockey, part public relations trade with the Anaheim Ducks the day Alfredsson walked, Ryan famously told fans here he was “coming in hot.” Karlsson, arguably the best blueliner on the planet right now, has been a firecracker since the moment he arrived.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Senators can overcome a stingy player salary budget, an unproven defence corps and a forward group that lacks star power to return to the playoffs this season, but with Karlsson and Ryan at the helm, you can be sure of one thing: it won’t be boring.