To help celebrate NBC Rivalry Night, NHL.com will look at a rivalry within the rivalry of the featured game on Wednesday nights. For this week, we are trying to determine which franchise icon starting over in a new spot -- the Detroit Red Wings' Daniel Alfredsson and the Philadelphia Flyers' Vincent Lecavalier -- has had the biggest impact on his new team.
For most of the past decade, the first name thought of when the Ottawa Senators were mentioned was Daniel Alfredsson. The same went for the Tampa Bay Lightning; Vincent Lecavalier was the face of that franchise.
But this summer Alfredsson and Lecavalier packed up and moved to new addresses, stunning their respective fan bases.
Lecavalier was the first to go when the Lightning used a compliance buyout to get out from the remaining seven years of the 11-year, $85 million contract he signed in July 2008. Days later he signed a five-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Alfredsson was an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the common perception was if he was going to keep playing at age 40, it would be only with the Senators. Instead contract talks broke down, and Alfredsson ended up signing a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
Each has had positive and negative moments this season, from injuries to tough losses and emotional returns to their former homes. In fact, Lecavalier will sit out Wednesday due to back spasms, while Alfredsson has been battling a groin injury. Still, each has had a major impact at his new address.Heading into Wednesday, has one player stood out more than the other? Let's break it down and reach a conclusion:
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D. Alfredsson |
V. Lecavalier |
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After 17 seasons with the Senators, including the final 13 as captain, Alfredsson's departure from Ottawa was the shocker of the summer. A 1994 sixth-round pick (No. 133), Alfredsson's name dominates the top of the Senators record book; he's the club's all-time leader in games played (1,178), goals (426), assists (682) and points (1,108), among other categories. The Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 14 times in his final 16 seasons, including two trips to the Eastern Conference Final and a spot in the 2007 Stanley Cup Final. |
Famously dubbed the "Michael Jordan of Hockey" when the Lightning made him the first pick of the 1998 NHL Draft, Lecavalier never quite reached that level but did pretty well in 14 seasons with Tampa Bay. He's the franchise leader in games played (1,037) and goals (383), and is second in assists (491) and points (874). He helped the Lightning win the 2004 Stanley Cup. |
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The verdict: When healthy, Alfredsson has been a solid complementary part to the Red Wings' top-line stars, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. But the case could be made that Lecavalier has been the Flyers' best skater. He not only has scored big goals, he's shown his willingness to adapt to different situations, including a shift to right wing to get him and Flyers captain Claude Giroux on the ice together at even strength. In addition, Lecavalier also quickly has emerged as a leader and a strong voice in a Philadelphia locker room that skews young. Alfredsson hasn't had to step into any leadership roles in Detroit, but with Zetterberg out at least two weeks with a back problem and Datsyuk out indefinitely with a concussion, the Red Wings will need him to take a bigger role in the offense. |
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