Article content continued

During his first training camp in Ottawa, Karlsson stayed with the Alfredsson family in Kanata, enjoying familiar meals and watching the sons of Alfie grow up. The boys loved having Erik around to play games. Karlsson could relax, knowing his ‘big brother’ would accompany him for team functions like practices and meetings.

“He took that pressure off me about things like being on time, he just did them automatically,” Karlsson says. “And I picked up on it.”

Nearly a decade later, the roles have changed dramatically.

The former captain, Alfredsson, is a senior advisor of hockey operations with the Senators. Karlsson is the captain now and best player on a team driving toward its first playoff spot in two years.

Karlsson never has lacked confidence, or the ability to lead a team on the ice, yet he continues to tap into a resource like Alfredsson, as does everyone on the hockey operations staff from general manager Pierre Dorion on down.

“We still talk on a regular basis and see each other on a regular basis even though we’re not on the same schedule any more,” Karlsson says. “We still make time for that. We’re very close, and if there are things I need to bounce off someone, he’s my go-to guy.”

A keen observer, Alfredsson is always willing to share opinions on hockey and other commitments.

“He’s been through most of it and he’s very good at looking back on things he thought he could have done better,” Karlsson says. “He helps me out in any way he can.

“The biggest quality he has is that he leads by example. Whether it’s on the ice or off, he doesn’t have to say the big words, the big speeches, he just has to act like himself every day and that rubs off.”