Daniel Alfredsson isn’t quite sure where his Olympic gold medal might be.
“It’s in a drawer in my office right now,” he said, “I think.”
The Ottawa Senators captain won the hockey gold with Sweden in Italy in 2006, just the Swedes’ second Olympic gold in men’s hockey. He’s not big on the keepsakes, so he says most of his hockey souvenirs will likely stay in boxes and only be brought out when his three sons show an interest.
The gold medal occupies a special place on his resume, if not on his wall.
But unlike the commonly-held stereotype which states Olympic gold is the pinnacle for European hockey players, Alfredsson still views the winning of the Stanley Cup as the greatest accomplishment in hockey.
“If I don’t win the Stanley Cup, I’ll say the gold medal means more to me than it does now,” joked Alfredsson, who will be playing in his fourth Olympics in Vancouver in February. “Winning Olympic gold is not something you’re thinking about every day in the summer during your workouts. You’re preparing for an NHL season, for a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup.
"Olympic gold is icing on the cake and it’s great to have a chance to go there and win.
"For the athletes in just about any other sport (at the Olympics) a gold medal is the biggest thing you can win. I think a lot of the guys (hockey players) are going to say the top thing is the Stanley Cup, for a lot of reasons.
“It’s almost hard to compare the two. The Olympics is such a short tournament. In the NHL, you have to get into the playoffs to start with, then you need to win four rounds. That’s what makes winning it so attractive. The Stanley Cup has to be the ultimate because it’s so hard to achieve.”
That’s not saying Alfredsson and his countrymen wouldn’t mind making it a double in Vancouver in February.
They will go into the tournament as one of the favourites along with Canada and Russia, a veteran Swedish team with the likes of Alfredsson, Detroit Red Wings captain Nik Lidstrom and Peter Forsberg, playing back in Sweden this season, looking for a golden Olympic swan song.
“Me and Niklas are pretty sure this will be our last Olympics,” said Alfredsson, who just celebrated his 37th birthday. “But we talked about that the last time, in ’06. Who knows if this is the last chance? It’s still an exciting time and it’s an exciting tournament. We’ll be able to put together a good team. I don’t know if we’ll be ranked with Canada or Russia, but I think we can definitely compete with them on a one-game basis.”
The Swedish hockey program has enjoyed a resurgence in the last few years after an emphasis on systems over individual skills led to a decline in the country’s hockey fortunes.
“Just look at the world junior tournament the last couple of years,” said Alfredsson. “Sweden is playing really exciting hockey, a much more aggressive style of play. We’ve got more young guys who look good and we’ve had several high picks in the draft.”
Alfredsson ripped it up in Turin, leading the Swedes in scoring with five goals and five assists in eight games, finishing just a point behind Olympic scoring leaders Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu of Finland. Sweden finished third after the preliminary round in Group B and beat Switzerland in the quarterfinals, the Czech Republic in the semis and the Finns in the final.
Given this is likely his last Olympic experience as a player, Alfredsson intends to bring his wife, Bibi, and the boys to the Games. Like the rest of the NHLers, the Swedes will stay in the Olympic Village.
“That’s part of the beauty of the whole experience, otherwise it would just feel like another road trip,” said Alfredsson, “and you get free McDonald’s.”
