After spending his final season in the National Hockey League as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, Daniel Alfredsson returned to the city that he called home for 17 years on Thursday and announced his retirement with the Ottawa Senators.
Before the Senators play the New York Islanders on Thursday night, Alfredsson will take part in the pregame warmups as well as a ceremonial puck drop as a final goodbye to Senators fans and the Senators organization.
Alfredsson was the face of the Senators franchise for much of his career, the captain for 13 years and will remain its leading scorer for sometime with 1,108 points. Jason Spezza, the player who was second with 668 points, was traded over the summer while no current member of the team has more than 300 career points with the team.
A free agent following the 2012-13 season, Alfredsson rejected the only NHL team he had ever played for and signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, where he would go on to finish tied for the team lead in scoring with 49 points in an injury-shortened 68-game performance. He made no immediate decision on his future following the season, and as the 2014-15 season began the Red Wings were prepared to give him as much time as he needed to see if he was able to continue on for another season. But back problems prevent him from playing a 19th season in the league and led to his official retirement announcement on Thursday.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said on Thursday during the retirement press conference that they wanted Alfredsson to return to play for the team, but that his back injury would not allow that to happen. Alfredsson later added in the Q & A portion of his press conference that if he had decided to play this season that it would have been with Detroit.
Instead, he will sign a one-day contract with the Senators and take part in one final warmup with the team.
The Senators needed to get special permission from the NHL to allow Alfredsson to take part in their pregame warmups.
