Daniel Alfredsson was 17 years old when fellow Swede Mats Sundin was selected No. 1 by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1989 NHL Draft, becoming the first European player to be selected that high. Now, 33 years later, Alfredsson will join Sundin in the Hockey Hall of Fame this Monday. In a special testimonial for NHL.com, Sundin welcomes his countryman to the Hall of Fame:
First off, let me say how fantastic it is that Daniel Alfredsson is going into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
What a well-deserved honor this is. And what an inspiring journey he’s had to get here, a path that is not typical of those who’ve made their way into the Hall.
Heading into this year there were four Sweden-born players in the Hall — myself, Borje Salming, Peter Forsberg and Nicklas Lidstrom. This time around, Daniel and the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, will go in and boost that number to seven — almost double.
For Swedish hockey, it’s a boost at the right time. Participation at the grass roots level has been waning a bit, so the well-earned publicity comes at a great time.
The Sedins, of course, were early first-round picks (No. 2 and 3 in the 1999 NHL Draft). Daniel had a much longer road.
Think about it. He was selected in the third round (No. 133) by the Ottawa Senators in the 1994 NHL Draft. And he spent the rest of his illustrious career proving to the hockey world that he deserved to be picked higher.
The fact that he is part of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 is verification that he did just that.
I remember golfing with him this past summer in Toronto. He was telling me about his road from being such a later-round pick to where he is today. It’s incredible. How many players in the Hall of Fame made it there after being such a low pick. You wonder how he could have been overlooked like that for so long.
Video: NHL stars discuss Alfredsson’s HHOF induction
The fact that he made it to where he has from there is so impressive to me. It says a lot about him as a player and as a person.
Alfie and I, of course, got to see each other a lot during those Battle of Ontarios between the Maple Leafs and Senators. Ottawa had such talented teams. Think of the list of players that were there at that time: Alfie, Dany Healthy, Marian Hossa, Alexei Yashin, Zdeno Chara, Radek Bonk and Chris Phillips. The list goes on. They had such skill. Yes, we ended up winning those four head-to-head series in five years, but it was far from easy. Those were outstanding Ottawa teams.
With Alfie, he was always the constant. He would never take days off, games off, shifts off. He was the leader by example for that team. There were never any lulls in his game. He could score, he could back check, all while being the heartbeat of that franchise.
A lot was made about his fake stick toss. Years later we laugh about it. It was the heat of the battle.
To recap: On Jan. 8, 2004, he faked throwing his broken stick into the stands during a game against the Leafs in Toronto. The fans weren’t happy about it and neither was our coach at the time, Pat Quinn. I was serving a one-game suspension for tossing a broken stick into the crowd the previous game, and it was Alfredsson’s way of playfully rubbing it in.
That was just one example of how the Battle of Ontario could get heated sometimes.
Daniel represented what Swedish hockey was all about: Competitive, no quit, quiet leadership. He was the captain of the Senators from 1999-2013 and always carried out the honor with class.
He should be proud of all he accomplished. He came by his career honestly. And now it’s fantastic that he’s being inducted. I’m so thrilled for him.
At the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, he, Nick Lidstrom and I were part of the management team for the Swedish entry at the World Cup of Hockey. We had a great time, even though the team never got as far as we’d hoped.
Now, he’s going to join Nick and I again, this time in the Hall.
Well deserved.
.