Who knows how much longer Daniel Alfredsson will play for the Ottawa Senators.

The hope is that his back responds well to surgery and he can play another season or two.

Eventually, though, this father of four will step aside, and join the real world. As the club’s first legacy player, Alfie can have any role in the organization he desires, but I spoke to him yesterday about a different kind of role — being a hockey dad. The captain has two boys playing minor hockey in Ottawa, Hugo, 8 and Loui, 5,  just starting out.

“Do you yell at Hugo to work harder, like a real hockey dad?” I teased him.

“I don’t say a word,” Alfredsson said, about his arena presence. “We do talk about the game in the car.”

Alfredsson said he will have more to say at the rink when he retires and he starts coaching minor hockey, which he plans to do. He may even raise his voice on occasion. But he was struck by the manner a local soccer coach had when coaching Hugo this past summer. The coach didn’t know a lot about the game, but he was so enthusiastic, Alfredsson says, that his passion and positive attitude was infectious.

Sounds a bit like the kind of hockey coach Alfie would like to be — with the added bonus of the expertise he can bring from nearly 20 years of NHL experience as an elite player playing for all kinds of coaches.

We’re guessing Alfredsson will be a “player’s coach” on the local circuit.

Tags: Alfredsson, Daniel Alfredsson