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NHL ALL-STAR GAMEJanuary 29, 2012Daniel AlfredssonErik KarlssonMilan MichalekJason SpezzaOTTAWA, ONTARIO Team Chana – 12 UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER: I think it was him and a few others. I mean, to be able to play alongside him and being able to be on the same team as in the All‑Star, I think it's something that is more than you could ever dream of. And just the kind of guy he is. I think he has done so much for the city and this organization, it's something that he really deserves and something that I think or I know that he's cherishing a lot. Q. Daniel, obviously just a few minutes out of the event, but where do you think this will rank in terms of career highlights? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: From a selfish point it's going to rank really high, where it's just a whole ego weekend, pretty much. But it's been great to share this with Jason Milan and Erik, too. I think the way this year has kind of developed for us has been really good. I think these three guys have definitely led the way for us as a team this year to surprise everybody pretty much, individually, all of us have had really good starts or just over the halfway point. So it's been a lot of positives. Personally, I feel healthy. I'm having fun on the ice again. And to have a weekend like this, it's surreal. You can never dream of anything like this. And you don't really know how to embrace it really. I don't think until tonight, after the kids go to bed, you can kind of sit and relax. I'm sure I'll be dead tired. But kind of take it all in and realize that this is something that not everybody gets a chance to experience. And I don't know if I deserve it or not, but it's definitely humbling and it's been great. Q. Let me ask Jason, Milan and Erik to give me your thoughts about this whole weekend and what the experience was like for the three of you. UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER: For us to have this weekend at home was extremely special. Our fans have stuck behind us and been phenomenal this year. The city, the way they've embraced this, talking to guys in the locker room, everyone's had such a great time. Everyone's had such a warm welcome. The fans are generally just thrilled to have everybody around, and the game was really important and exciting for people but just having the presence of all the great players in the league here is a great thank you to a great hockey city and for us to be able to do this at home and with the four of us together, you're never going to get that opportunity again. Doesn't matter how long you play. So it's been a special weekend, and I've tried to soak in as much as possible. MILAN MICHALEK: Yeah, it was a great experience for me, it was my first time in an All‑Star Game, and the city put up a great show and everything was great. Just the guys loved it and everybody loved it and I enjoyed it. I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life. I'm happy I could be here. And I had lots of fun. Q. Daniel, I was just wondering if the weekend is more emotionally draining than physically draining from all the stuff you've been going through? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: Definitely it's been a lot of commitments, but it's been fun, too. Everything's been positive. We've been put on a pedestal pretty much the whole weekend, and we've tried to get back and tell everybody how good a city this is, the fans we have, good facilities. This is a great sports city. And we get so much focus because hockey is basically it, especially right now. And I'm way more emotionally tired than physically, it hasn't been‑‑ through the game today, but otherwise it hasn't been too much of that. Q. Milan and Daniel, can you guys talk about the goal what John Tavares has meant to you and, Daniel, can you talk about how dominant John was in the game? MILAN MICHALEK: He's a real good player, and we had lots of fun playing with him. And he made a great pass to me. I just put my stick down and put it in the net. These kind of plays he makes all year. So didn't surprise us. He's a darn good player. DANIEL ALFREDSSON: I think I haven't seen him up close in the games, you don't see all this skill the player has. But fantastic hands and eventual made some moves in the skills yesterday and in the game today. He can do them at a high speed, too, which is also impressive. He stays healthy, he's going to be a great player. Q. Daniel, two questions. One, did you really want to be MVP, especially after the end of the second period? And, two, has this weekend made you want to play next year even more than you contemplating it over the summer? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: I don't think it's made me want to play more. I think it's the way I feel on the ice and in important games makes‑‑ it's going to make that decision in how I feel physically. And I didn't really try at all in the third to score. (Laughter). Q. Daniel, can you talk about‑‑ I'm not trying to push you out the door, but when your career is over, how much have you thought about it looks like there's a job waiting for you with this organization, and has this week reaffirmed maybe your willingness to stick around? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: I'm not sure. I've thought about it a lot. And I haven't come up with a decision or I haven't discussed with Eugene or Bryan about what possibly I could do. I've been around hockey my whole life. Definitely it's something that interests me. There's no question. What role, I have no idea. I guess I'll have to wait and see. But hockey, I'm sure I'd love to try it and at what level and at what position, I don't know, it's ‑‑ I've got four kids at home, how much time do I want to put into it. And I know if I start by saying I'm just going to go in and maybe be a little bit of a consultant or whatever, I can't do anything halfway. And I know how that's going to end up. So I've got to talk to my wife and see what she thinks. But it would be very interesting. Q. Alfie, 400 goals, a thousand games, a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, scoring the winner in the Eastern Conference Final to get you there, where does this weekend rank with those? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: I haven't really‑‑ I'm still living it. It's kind of hard to place it, but it's been surreal. It's almost like you're walking on cloud nine. I don't know, to be honest. Q. Do you think it's something, when your career is over, you'll be able to sit back and put it in perspective? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: Of course. I think I will. But it's been more‑‑ it's more of a‑‑ I don't know if it's an accomplishment this weekend more than it's been maybe a celebration of what I've done before. And I'm obviously really thankful for that. But scoring the 400th goal a month ago at home here is more of a special feeling where you decide a game, we win the game at home. I have a lot of family and friends in the building. That rush that happens that second is unbelievable. And this has been more of whatever I do it's good and everybody thinks I'm great. It's been almost overwhelming, to be honest. Q. Can I just ask any of you guys who wants to answer this what it's been like to kind of witness it this weekend? UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER: I think it's been amazing to see the reception of the other players. You saw the respect of the guys, the guys trying to pass Alfie the puck and trying to get him his third goal. And the way guys have acknowledged what he's done in his career, when you see a guy put so much time into one team and have so much success, you know, hockey is a very respectful game. Guys really respect what Alfie has done in his career. So this was an amazing weekend to be part of and great to see the accolades that‑‑ like Alfie said, it's stuff he's done in the past that's given him the recognition he's gotten this weekend. As a teammate, we appreciate him, and we understand what he's done in our locker room. But for him to be on the national stage and people give him the recognition he deserves I think is something that we really enjoyed seeing. DANIEL ALFREDSSON: I think what makes it special is being here with these guys. That you go through everything day in, day out, and how you work toward something. And I've been fortunate to play a long time. What these guys do every day and they've helped me kind of get a second win this late in my career, that's what makes it fun to share with over people. And we have a lot of fun together in the locker room and when we travel and when we play games, we put a lot of effort into this. And we try to suck it all in as much as we can. And it wouldn't have been as much fun without these guys with me, that's for sure. Q. What was it like playing with the Sedins or was that something that you asked the coaching staff you could do? DANIEL ALFREDSSON: We talked about it. They asked me if I wanted to. I said I'd love to play with them. There's no question. Obviously it's fortunate to have Jason here who is a great passer in the game. I benefited a lot from him in previous years. And then to play with the Sedins, we always joke when we play them that they have something or some language that's almost alien that they understand each other and do things that we've joked if you‑‑ just gotta get the frequency, then you can understand the language. But nobody's figured it out. And if you can think the game a little bit, they're so good at anticipating and knowing what's going to happen before they get the puck, that's what's made them so good. I definitely benefited from that today and it was fun. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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