Notes: Wings delighted to celebrate Daniel Alfredsson

OTTAWA - It will be a special night in Ottawa tonight as the Senators retire the No. 11 jersey of their longtime former captain, Daniel Alfredsson.
Alfredsson spent the final season of his 18-year career with the Detroit Red Wings, in 2013-14, so the Senators planned the event for the night the Wings were in town.

"For us to be part of that celebration is something that we will remember," Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "Alfie was only here playing for one year but he stayed in the area for another couple years. For us Swedes, we spent a lot of time with him and his family and for me growing up in Sweden, seeing him, one of the big four for us - (Mats) Sundin, (Peter) Forsberg, (Nick) Lidstrom and him. He showed me a lot of things both on and off the ice."
Wings coach Jeff Blashill didn't get a chance to coach Alfredsson but he has gotten to know him a bit since Alfredsson retired.
"He's a big-time gentleman," Blashill said. "I was a big fan of him when I watched - I don't remember the playoff series but it was near the end in Ottawa - when he just kind of took the team over and said 'We're going to win this series.' He had that ability in him. He was a great player. I thought he was excellent the time he spent in Detroit. He just obviously had the injury. I thought he was excellent. It's cool we get to be there and see it and see one of the greats."
Although Alfredsson dealt with injuries during that season in Detroit, he did score 18 goals and 31 assists in just 68 games.
"It was great, obviously, just like playing with Nick, all those years," Niklas Kronwall said. "Such a smart player, but so humble, a true professional that did everything right, he was one of those guys to look up to and take in and learn as much as possible."
Both Zetterberg and Kronwall also played with Alfredsson on Team Sweden in international competitions.
"The first time I played with him was World Championship and then we played in Turin in '06 when we won the gold," Zetterberg said. "All those four guys were there, their last chance to win something big with the national team. We found a way. It was very special."
Alfredsson finished with 444 goals and 713 assists for 1,157 points in 1,246 games.
"His career, the numbers and all the things he accomplished speaks for itself ever since he stepped on the ice in Ottawa, not only a great player, but a great person, a great ambassador for not only Ottawa, but for the game of hockey," Kronwall said.
As great a player as Alfredsson was, many people talk about the person he was off the ice.
"Alfredsson was a tremendous leader," Jared Coreau said. "Everyone speaks highly of Daniel Alfredsson. I've never heard anyone speak poorly. He worked very, very hard. He worked hard every day in practice and in games. Just a good guy. I was a rookie when he played in Detroit and he talked to me no differently than if he was talking to Henrik Zetterberg. That's something that stands out to me as well and just overall a good person and a great player."
Zetterberg said all of the Wings would be out to watch the 45-minute ceremony, which takes place before warm-ups.
SPECIAL FOR COREAU, TOO: While everyone will be celebrating Alfredsson, a group of about 20 will be celebrating the return of an almost-hometown hero, Coreau.
Wings coach Jeff Blashill said Coreau would make the start against the Senators.
"Jared, I thought, played good in the game against Florida and got the win," Blashill said. "He had a real good preseason, he had a good start to the Pittsburgh game. The third period was a tough one for the whole team. He's a big guy with lots of ability. I've watched him get so much better over the course of the last three years. He's been an elite player in the American League and what you love to do is wait for guys to become elite in the American League and then come up here and get a chance to show that they can do it up here. So he's going to get another opportunity to do that. We know we need to have great goaltending in order to win and we're hoping he can give us that tonight."
Coreau grew up in Perth, Ontario, about 40 minutes from Ottawa, and will be making his third career NHL start in a building that he used to visit to watch games.
The most important member of Coreau's fan club will be his grandmother, Patricia Thompson, who is 92.
"She's never seen me play a hockey game before, minor hockey or anything. Never," Coreau said after the team's optional morning skate. "My father and mother are going to pick her up and my dad's best friend, so I guess he's like her date for the night."
Coreau said he's attended probably 30 games at the Canadian Tire Centre.
"My mom would get us tickets all the time," Coreau said. "In this very locker room I did a hockey camp here once. They brought us in here and whoever could guess where Wayne Gretzky sat in his last game here won a signed Marian Hossa card or something like that. It was over in that corner there and I was the one that picked it, so it was pretty cool. I looked to see if it was still signed but I think they removed the piece of wood that was there."
Coreau said his first time here was when he was seven years old.
"My first game here was against the Buffalo Sabres," Coreau recalled. "Dominik Hasek and Damian Rhodes. It was 3-0 Buffalo but I woke up the next day and said to my parents I want to be a goalie. I think they looked into their wallets and were like, 'Uh-oh!"
Although he admired Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime, his favorite was Curtis Joseph, who played for the Wings from 2002-04. That's why he wears No. 31.
"To be honest, I didn't like the Leafs, I like the color blue," Coreau said. "He had a lot of blue gear and I had the same matching gear in my hometown Perth. They were blue and white. The Blue Wings, so that's kind of ironic. I watched Curtis Joseph a lot, haven't had a chance to meet him but hopefully one day."
To start near his hometown on a night honoring Alfredsson is something Coreau will always remember.
"I watched him a lot growing up," Coreau said. "Meeting him at camp my first year was pretty amazing. That's a guy, that how many years, 20 years or so, anyone that can play that long you have to respect them. That's a lot of hard work and he had a lot of success. I'm pretty honored to be here for his big night. I think there will be quite a few people in the stands getting pretty emotional. There will be a lot of emotion in the building."
OPTIONAL SKATE: Many of the Wings did off-ice work during the optional morning skate.
Besides Coreau and Petr Mrazek, forwards Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha, Drew Miller, Steve Ott, Tomas Jurco and Justin Abdelkader skated.
The defensemen who skated were Danny DeKeyser, Xavier Ouellet, Jonathan Ericsson, Ryan Sproul, Brendan Smith, Nick Jensen, Alexey Marchenko and Mike Green.