{"id":789190,"date":"2026-07-08T22:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/789190\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T22:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:41:07","slug":"alfredsson-had-to-move-on-from-senators-to-further-coaching-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/789190\/","title":{"rendered":"Alfredsson \u2018had to move\u2019 on from Senators to further coaching career"},"content":{"rendered":"

So imagine the level of hurt and dismay fans in the Canadian capital are harboring right now after the Hall of Fame forward opted to join the staff of Toronto Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller, just a couple of weeks removed from being an assistant under Senators bench boss Travis Green for the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

The common message coming out of Ottawa after the announcement Tuesday was clear, at least from the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Anywhere but Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cI totally understand it,\u201d Alfredsson said during a Zoom call from Sweden on Wednesday. \u201cThere\u2019s no question.\u201d<\/p>\n

So much so that he started his availability with reporters with a heartfelt message to Senators supporters, who wanted to know why such a move was made by the franchise\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 1,108 points (426 goals, 682 assists) in 1,178 games from 1995-2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove you as always,\u201d he told them. \u201cThank you. I understand this is an interesting day but also an exciting chapter for me as I expand my coaching career.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Alfredsson, it\u2019s all about pursuing new opportunities behind an NHL bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To that end, the 53-year-old confirmed that he\u2019d been interviewed earlier this summer by Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka and fellow Swedish Hall of Famer Mats Sundin<\/a>, Toronto\u2019s senior executive advisor of hockey operations, for the coaching job that eventually went to\u00a0Hiller. When Alfredsson\u2019s contract with the Senators expired at the end of June after he\u2019d already informed Ottawa he wouldn\u2019t return, the Maple Leafs circled back and offered him the job of associate coach under Hiller, which he accepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to earn my way to get my experience \u2026\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould I have loved to stay, and then become the coach of Ottawa? Maybe. But no one stays as the coach forever in one spot no matter how popular you are. You\u2019ve got to perform. And for me, to get better as a coach, this is the path I knew at some point I had to move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don’t hand out jobs easily in the NHL. It\u2019s a tough job to get. When I had this opportunity, I felt it was the right one for my coaching career, without a question.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Hiller beat out Alfredsson and dozens of other candidates to replace the fired Craig Berube, Sundin discussed with him other roles within the organization. While the former Senators captain didn\u2019t see it as a fit at that time, Hiller\u2019s subsequent sales pitch to be part of his staff, including an elevated role from what he had in Ottawa, appealed to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I had my interview with Jim, then I felt this could be a good step and great challenge for me,\u201d said Alfredsson, whose duties will include improving Toronto\u2019s power play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So imagine the level of hurt and dismay fans in the Canadian capital are harboring right now after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-789190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}