OTTAWA - Daniel Alfredsson laced up his skates at his old stall in the Senators locker-room and put on the No. 11 jersey with the C on the chest just like old times. Except this was anything like old times.Players stepped onto the ice for warm-ups and made a receiving line for the man who earlier in the day announced his retirement. They tapped their sticks and Alfredsson saluted the adoring crowd for the first of many times as Alfie chants rained down.A remix of Alfredssons former goal song and one of his favourites, U2s Beautiful Day played. This was a one-of-a-kind moment for a one-of-a-kind face of the franchise.The traditional countdown to 11 minutes on the clock happened even before the game against the New York Islanders. Alfredsson met with team leaders Erik Karlsson, Chris Phillips and Chris Neil as he always used to, took a few line rushes and got to take part in his favourite post-practice game of keep-away.Karlsson, the ninth captain in Senators history and Alfredssons best friend on the team, even took the C off his jersey for warm-ups.While the Islanders went about their business, no Ottawa player left the ice until Alfredsson took one last lap with his stick raised to the fans. The 41-year-old, who signed a ceremonial one-day contract in order to retire with the Senators, left the ice to the sounds of Green Day singing I hope you had the time of your life.A video montage set to more U2 led in the rest of the pre-game ceremony. In addition to listing Alfredssons accomplishments, the final message read: The Greatest Ottawa Senator of All-Time.Alfredsson took one more lap, with the spotlight on him, and stood at centre ice waiting for wife Bibbi and sons Hugo, Loui, Fenix and William Erik to join him. With the boys wearing Karlsson jerseys, they took their place on the red carpet like Ottawa royalty, and Alfredsson thanked the fans for all the great moments and all the beautiful memories.He didnt want to say goodbye. The Alfredsson family sang along to O Canada, and then the former captain and the current captain had a ceremonial faceoff with the puck dropped by the kids.Alfredsson, who promised this year would be for his family, skated off alongside his wife as he left the ice at Canadian Tire Centre for the final time.On Thursday morning, Alfredsson reflected on the time of his life spent with the Senators as he called it a career. With family, friends and former teammates watching, the longtime captain read the speech he rehearsed 10 or 15 times and teared up reading to a friend over the phone.Alfredsson announced his retirement in the nations capital, his adopted hometown, the place he played 17 of his 18 NHL seasons. The captain from 1999 through 2013 who left 17 months ago to sign with the Detroit Red Wings got to put on his old sweater for one more day.The Senators pulled out all the stops to honour Alfredsson on what unofficially became Alfie Day in Ottawa. With his wife and sons in the front row and former teammates like Karlsson and Wade Redden looking on, the face of the franchise bid adieu, a decision prompted by lingering back problems.Alfredsson, who had 444 goals and 713 assists in 1,246 NHL games, tried to rehab the injury. If he played one more season, it would have been for the Red Wings.According to Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, he and general manager Bryan Murray would have welcomed him back to Ottawa.During the summer we spoke a couple of times, but it was more about how he felt and whether he could play 100 per cent, Melnyk said. Bryan and I said, Look, give us 80 per cent, were happy. And he would not play unless he was 100 per cent.Remembered fondly for the goal he scored against the Buffalo Sabres to send the Senators to the Stanley Cup final in 2007, for the love fest at the 2012 all-star game and for winning a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Olympics, Alfredsson also knows his career was marked with phone calls and major decisions.It began with the decision to leave Goteborg, Sweden at 22 to play for the Senators, who drafted him in the sixth round in 1994. Alfredsson was glad he and Bibbi, his girlfriend at the time, made the leap.One evening nearly 20 years ago a young man in a small town in Sweden got a phone call that would change his life, Alfredsson said. We began an incredible new chapter of our lives in your town starting in August 1995. Our marvellous boys were born here, and we grew from youngsters into aging parents. You made your town our town.Ottawa was Alfredssons town in his Calder Trophy season in 1995-96 and through 15 playoff appearances. One of his favourite memories was seeing thousands of people lined up along the street to celebrate the trip to the Cup final.It was an incredible experience to play hockey with so many great players, so many great friends over so many great seasons, he said. I really realize that Im a very lucky guy.Back problems flared up in 2011, what Alfredsson called signals that all these years of hockey had a cost.I worked hard to fight it off and I got some great help along the way, he said. But in the back of my mind, I still knew that the clock is ticking.With the clock ticking on his career, Alfredsson got to a crossroads in the summer of 2013, after he decided to continue playing but did not have a contract to return to the Senators. On the morning of June 29, he said he got a call from an old Swedish pal.This call started a process that would launch the next chapter in our lives, Alfredsson said of signing with Detroit. It was a very, very hard decision to make: changing teams, uproot my family, start over again in a new place. But change helps you grow.No doubt the relationship between Alfredsson and the Senators organization was strained by his departure. But during and after an off-and-on injury season with the Red Wings that still included him tying for the team lead in scoring, Alfredsson stayed in touch with Murray.I have great respect for Daniel and I know he has great respect for the Senators for what happened here, said Murray, who coached Alfredsson for two seasons, including 2006-07. It wasnt very hard for us to get together and talk. He took me for a drive in his new car. He drove me out to my old house in Birmingham (Michigan). He showed me where he lived. We had I think mutual respect for each other all along.Setbacks in Alfredssons rehab kept him from playing and forced him to make one final decision.It finally came to the point: Could I play a little bit? Maybe, Alfredsson said. I dont know what I price I would have had to pay down the road. I felt it was no fun just being on the edge or on the cliff of maybe or maybe not playing. It just felt right.It wouldnt have felt right to the Senators if Alfredsson had said his goodbye to the NHL in Detroit. Again, the phone rang.Bryan said he and Mr. Melnyk had spoken and had an idea that I should not end my career in Detroit but with a proper retirement here in our adopted hometown, Alfredsson recalled. I spoke with (Red Wings GM) Ken Holland about my retirement and that Bryan and Mr. Melnyk wanted me to retire as an Ottawa Senator, and Ken encouraged me to retire here. He said its the right thing to do.Alfredsson, lauded not just for his Hall of Fame hockey career but his charitable contributions in Ottawa, is about as normal a person as a superstar athlete can be. To him, this felt like too much.I never believed that my career entitled me to any special treatment, Alfredsson said. However Bibbi and I both agreed this was the right thing to do and it would give us a chance to say thank you to the people and the fans of Ottawa.Alfredsson received a lengthy standing ovation after his speech of 749 words, including four in French for the bilingual market he represented: Merci et a bientot. He doesnt know how soon he might get back into hockey but is reserving this year for his family and for himself to reflect on his career.Im just very grateful for this opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, Alfredsson said. And please no more phone calls for a while.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Stitched Detroit Lions Jerseys .TV Series: Duck Dynasty. Detroit Lions Jerseys China . 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Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand.BOSTON - Stuck in a four-game losing streak, the Columbus Blue Jackets rested their All-Star goalie and let backup Curtis McElhinney have another shot at the Boston Bruins.McElhinney answered with 34 saves as Columbus ended its own skid and stopped Bostons five-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory over the Bruins on Saturday night.It feels good. Obviously, you want to be the catalyst that comes in and responds to a situation and I felt like I gave the guys an opportunity to win tonight, said McElhinney, who was also in net for the Blue Jackets in a 6-2 rout of the Bruins on Dec. 27 in Columbus.Boston hadnt lost a game in regulation since, going 9-0-3 and winning five straight until stalling Saturday night at home.Matt Calvert scored the go-ahead goal with 3:03 left in the third and added an empty-netter in the final minute as Columbus responded from a 2-1 loss at the New York Rangers the night before by finishing strong in Boston.It was nice to see them get that second one there to put us ahead and, obviously, the third gave us the distance, said McElhinney, who got the start as Sergei Bobrovsky rested in the second night of the back-to-back games.Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, extending his point streak to 13 straight games, and Calvert battled through a stomach bug while ending an eight-game stretch without a goal.Despite the illness and a shot to the head in the second period, Columbus coach Todd Richards said Calvert never stopped hustling.Thats what you want to see from the guys that are working, Richards said.McElhinney didnt allow anything past him after Carl Soderbergs goal 11:34 into the first period tied the game at 1.The tie stood as McElhinney and Boston goalie Tuukka Rask exchanged saves through the second and third periods until Calvert broke the stalemate by backhanding in a rebound off a slap shot by Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky got the Bruins to bite on aa fake and had a full windup for a shot that got through Rasks pads and hovered just outside the goal line before Calvert got his stick on it.ddddddddddddBoston pulled Rask for the extra skater and Calvert capitalized with a shot from just inside the centre line with 38 seconds remaining.Rask, who finished with 28 saves, was still fuming over Calverts first goal and stormed straight to the tunnel after the final buzzer. Boston had allowed just six goals during the five-game streak.It was night and day from the past whatever games we played well, Rask said. We started a little slow and then we gained our game in the first period. Then, the second and third we were just back to the old habits.Johansen gave Columbus a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal 7:57 into the first period, extending his franchise-record points streak to 13 straight games.Soderberg tied it 11:34 into the first on a one-timer off a pass from Loui Eriksson.McElhinney buckled down from there and also survived taking a direct hit to the head on a slap shot by Zdeno Chara.It felt good because it didnt go in, McElhinney said. Thats always a start with his shot. Big guy, big shot.NOTES: The Bruins issued a statement from club president Cam Neely on the death of longtime radio broadcaster Bob Williams, who died Thursday at age 85. For a generation of New England hockey fans, Bobs legendary voice was synonymous with the Bruins and he will always be a part of our clubs history, Neely said. ... Boston LW Brad Marchand served the first of a two-game suspension for slew-footing Derick Brassard of the New York Rangers on Thursday. ... 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