Alfredsson, Forsberg praise Declaration of Principles

STOCKHOLM -- Former Ottawa Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson is interested in the
Declaration of Principles
, unveiled by the NHL and the NHL Players Association two months ago, because he has four hockey-playing sons, giving him a stake in the future of the game at the youth level.
"I think they're very good points, valid points, and I totally, fully support all of them," Alfredsson said before taking part in a Declarations of Principles event at Ericsson Globe on Thursday. "I think the toughest part is making sure everybody lives by them."

The Declaration of Principles were developed by and for hockey stakeholders like Alfredsson to build character, foster positive values and develop important life skills, and at the same time inspiring fans and players and pushing communities to offer the best hockey experience possible.
The NHL and NHLPA were joined by 17 hockey organizations from around the world in creating the Declaration of Principles.
"I think in youth hockey there is a mentality at times where winning is really important and maybe too important and you forget about the process, what it's about," Alfredsson said. "It's about building character, building group chemistry, how to be in a group, that if you want something you have to work for it to get better. I really applaud them for what they've taken up, and hopefully it can be implemented in all youth hockey throughout the world."

Alfredsson and Hall of Fame center
Peter Forsberg
were part of bringing the Principles to Stockholm on Thursday.
They skated with 35 players, boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 15 years old, all from different Stockholm Ice Hockey Federation clubs, selected to participate in the event with the Swedish legends because they represent the qualities from the Declaration of Principles.
"It was really fun being out there," said Johannes Adel, 12, from the Vasby IK Hockey program. "I got to meet Peter Forsberg and Daniel Alfredsson and that was so cool. I am very proud about being nominated. All was really fun."
In addition, there were 31 adults, a mixture of equipment managers, board members, referees and coaches selected to participate in the event.
The equipment managers met with their equivalents from the Senators and Colorado Avalanche, and the coaches met with members of the coaching staffs from the NHL teams.
Alfredsson and Forsberg put the kids through drills and skated with them for approximately an hour after the Avalanche and Senators wrapped up their final practices in advance of the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series games.
The Avalanche and Senators play Friday (2 p.m. ET; NHL Network, TSN5, RDS, ALT, NHL.TV) and Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHL Network, SN, RDS, ALT, NHL.TV). They will be the first NHL regular season games outside North America since 2011.
"With my kids, I want them to go out there and have fun and have fun for a long time," said Forsberg, who has three kids, all five and younger. "I'm a big believer that you don't have to be a professional and the best when you're 15 or 16. It's a game and you want to go play. I think it's a good statement here with these kind of guidelines [the Declaration of Principles] of what hockey and sport should be all about."