Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson is one of the most well-respected veterans in the NHL. The 40-year-old has more than 400 goals and 1,000 points in his 16-year career. When Alfredsson talks, people listen. That’s what makes his most recent comments such a major concern for Senators fans.
Ottawa dug itself into a 3-1 hole against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an embarrassing 7-3 loss in Game 4 on Wednesday night. After the game, reporters asked a frustrated Alfredsson if he believes the Senators can win three straight to take the series.
“Probably not,” he said, via Erin Nicks of NHL.com. “I mean, with their depth and power play right now, you know, it doesn’t look too good.”
That’s certainly an honest and realistic assessment, but it’s one a team would be better off hearing from the media than its captain. In reality, Alfredsson was probably just furious with the way his team had played. Still, his message was a powerful one.
“When you look at what we did, it wasn’t good enough,” he continued. “Does that mean [Pittsburgh] was good? Did we make them good? Who really cares? From our point of view, we didn’t manage the puck [well], we didn’t execute our passes, and subsequently, we got punished in the neutral zone. We turned way too many pucks over and gave them some freebies. It would have been nice to have the lead for a little bit longer, but now we’re back on our heels again. We didn’t shut them down when it matters.”
The Penguins are stacked, and most people had them penciled into the Stanley Cup Finals before they added Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow at the trade deadline. Ottawa would be fortunate to steal another game with the way Pittsburgh is playing, but it has to sting to hear a player who has been with the team since 1995 admit that. If this turns out to be Alfredsson’s last season with the Senators, he won’t be remembered for packing it in against the Pens. However, hearing the words “probably not” can’t be easy for the team or its fans.
H/T Puck Daddy
