Alfredsson, Phillips to captain teams for Senators Alumni Classic

OTTAWA -- Chris Phillips said the thing he misses most about playing in the NHL is the company of his teammates.
The defenseman, who spent his 17-season NHL career with the Ottawa Senators after they chose him with the No. 1 pick of the 1996 NHL Draft, will get a chance to catch up with many of them at the Senators Alumni Classic at the Canada 150 Rink outdoors on Parliament Hill on Dec. 15, the night before the current Senators and Montreal Canadiens play the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic at Lansdowne Park (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV).

Phillips, who retired after the 2014-15 season as the Senators' leader in games played (1.179), is one of 34 players who will participate in the game.
Among those joining him will be forward Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators' leader in goals (426), assists (682) and points (1,108); goaltender Patrick Lalime; forward Alexandre Daigle, the No. 1 pick of the 1993 NHL draft; forward Alexei Yashin, selected No. 2 in the 1992 NHL Draft; and forward Mike Fisher, who played for the Senators from 1999-2011 and retired after helping the Nashville Predators reach the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
The former Senators will be divided into two teams, captained by Phillips and Alfredsson. A draft will be held Thursday. The Senators Alumni Classic is free to the public with limited seating. There also will be two large screens on the lawn of Parliament Hill for fans to watch the game.
"Everybody is excited to come back," Phillips said. "The excitement of the [Senators] outdoor game, the 100th anniversary [of the first NHL game], the guys getting back together and throwing on our uniforms one more time, is going to be a lot of fun.
"I'm pretty fresh out of it now, but anyone asks me what I miss about the game, that's the biggest thing, being in the locker room, around the guys. To get a bit of that atmosphere back, we're all going to enjoy that. I'm excited to see the guys coming back. It's going to be a lot of fun just to have the reunion of guys, let alone the game that's going to be a great experience up on Parliament Hill."

Laurie Boschman, the captain of the first Senators team in 1992-93, said he's looking forward to the setting for the Senators Alumni Classic.
"To have a game on Parliament Hill with that backdrop, that's what's outstanding," he said.
The NHL100 Classic will be the culmination of the League's Centennial celebrations and coincide with Canada's 150th celebration, the Senators' 25th anniversary and the Stanley Cup's 125th birthday.
The Senators and Canadiens, two of the founding members of the NHL, played on the League's opening night, Dec. 19, 1917, a game won 7-4 by the Canadiens.
The Canadiens will be making their fourth appearance in a regular-season outdoor NHL game. Montreal is 2-1-0 in three prior games, most recently winning 5-1 against the Boston Bruins at the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
It will be the first time the Senators are hosting an outdoor game. They won 4-2 against the Vancouver Canucks at the 2014 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at BC Place in Vancouver on March 2, 2014.

#

SENATORS ALUMNI CLASSIC ROSTER

GOALTENDERS:Patrick Lalime, Pascal Leclaire, Damian Rhodes, Ron Tugnutt
DEFENSEMEN:Brendan Bell, Filip Kuba, Jim Kyte, Janne Laukkanen, Curtis Leschyshyn, Norm MacIver, Chris Phillips, Lance Pitlick, Wade Redden, Dennis Vial, Jason York.
FORWARDS:Daniel Alfredsson, Magnus Arvedson, Radek Bonk, Laurie Boschman, Randy Cunneyworth, Alexandre Daigle, Shean Donovan, Mike Fisher, Denis Hamel, Martin Havlat, Denny Lambert, Rob Murphy, Randy Robitaille, Bryan Smolinski, Brad Smyth, Shaun Van Allen, Todd White, Alexei Yashin, Rob Zamuner