Tonights game four against the Penguins will be a very memorable one for everyone involved. With Pittsburgh up 2-1, a win tonight would have Ottawa in a stranglehold, and the series can very easily be over after game five back in Pitt. This would bring about two situations; the Penguins would advance to the conference finals, which no one outside of western PA wants to see, and that tonight may possibly be the last time Daniel Alfredsson steps out onto the ice at Scotiabank Place in front of 19,153 diehard emotional and excited fans.

After 18 seasons, Alfie still has the love, heart, and passion for the game that you don’t see in many players anymore. He is the NHL’s longest tenured captain at 14 years, and there is absolutely no question that he knows how to lead a team in the right direction. He holds virtually every record for the Senators, and is the current King Clancy Memorial Trophy holder, awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. Alfie considered retirement during this offseason, but decided to come back for another, and maybe one last shot at the cup. The season went south quick, losing three of their best players to injury. Without Spezza, Karlsson, and Michalek, noone really gave Ottawa a shot at competing. A huge part of the Senators success is the play of their young inexperienced forwards, and you can rest assured that these kids received the proper encouragement and leadership from Alfredsson, and it shows. The guy has a lot of accolades, from the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, to an Olympic gold medal with Sweden in 2006. However, Daniel never got the honor of hoisting the greatest trophy in the history of sports.

Ottawa showed in game three that they can hang with the Pens, and the Pens showed us that they’re not as much of a powerhouse as they seemed all season. We saw that with their struggles vs the Islanders, in which four of the six games played in that series were dominated by New York. Then in game three, down by one goal and shorthanded with under 30 seconds left, Alfredsson wasn’t going to let the Sens home crowd go home disappointed. He split the D and tipped in a pass top shelf right passed Vokoun to take the game to OT, which would eventually be won by Ottawa in double sudden death. Which sets the stage for tonight. If Alfie and company can pull off another win then they can guarantee Daniel at least one more appearance on home ice. These playoffs have shown that there isn’t any completely dominant team, and anyone has a shot on any given night. The return of Spezza into the lineup gives that extra boost that can put Ottawa in the drivers seat tonight, and hopefully tie the series up and make it a best of three. He hasn’t made any choices yet as to if he will retire after this season or not, but signs do point to the inevitable, and Scotiabank Place will be one emotional place tomorrow.

Much love Alfie, it was an absolute honor to get to watch you all these years. One of the truly nice guys in the sports world.