Craig Anderson had an extraordinary 20-year career in the National Hockey League, but his remarkable achievements may have gone unnoticed in the sport's history.

Anderson was drafted by his hometown team, the Blackhawks, in the Third Round in 2001. He later played for Florida and Colorado before being traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2011, where he had his most successful and longest run. In the lockout-shortened 2012/13 season, Anderson led the NHL in Save Percentage (.941) and Goals Against Average (1.69) and was fourth for the Vezina. He remained as Ottawa’s lead Goalie for the rest of the decade, winning the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2016/17 for his admirable performance in between the pipes while dealing with his wife’s cancer.

Anderson concluded his career with Washington and Buffalo, retiring with a record of 319-275-73.

Standing at 6' 9" and born in the former Czechoslovakia, Zdeno Chara was a Third Round Pick in 1996 by the New York Islanders, but while he made the team a year later, he never figured into their long-term plans.  A trade to obtain the disgruntled Alexei Yashin sent Chara to Ottawa, and it would be evident in a few years that it was the Slovak Defenseman who was the best player in the deal.

Chara developed on the offensive side with the Senators, utilizing his size and booming shot to become a feared attacker while controlling his own blue line.  Chara moved to elite status in Ottawa, earning his first post-season All-Star honors (First Team in 2004 and Second Team in 2006) and was the anchor of a potent Sens team, but as this was a small market, Chara's skills soon exceeded what Ottawa could pay.

Chara signed with the Boston Bruins in 2006, and as good as he was in the Canadian Capital, he was even better in New England.  Named the Captain as soon as he arrived, Chara played for Boston for 14 seasons, collecting five more post-season All-Stars and the coveted Norris Trophy as the NHL's top Defenseman in 2009.  He led Boston to win the 2011 Stanley Cup, holding it higher than anyone else and did so in the same year he won the Mark Messier Leadership Award.

Chara finished his career in his 40s, with a season each in Washington and the New York Islanders.

Chara retires with the most Games Played by a Defenseman (1,652) and set records as the oldest Defenseman to score in the playoffs.

Internationally, “Big Z” won Silver as a representative of Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with two Silvers for Slovakia (2000 & 2012) in the World Hockey Championships.

Chara is an excellent bet for first-ballot entry.

Jason Spezza was the second overall pick in the 2001 Draft, chosen by the Ottawa Senators and selected behind Ilya Kovalchuk.  Braking out in 2005-06 with a 90 Point Season, Spezza followed that with 87 and 92 Point years, respectively, and was a top player on a contending team, though Ottawa continuously struggled in the playoffs.  An All-Star twice (2008 & 2012), Spezza requested a trade to a contender in 2014, and he was dealt to Dallas.  He concluded his career by signing with Toronto in 2019 as a Free Agent, where he provided a veteran presence on a team chasing the Stanley Cup

Spezza retired with 995 Points over a nineteen-year career, which was an impressive number for his era.  Internationally, Spezza won a Gold Medal (2015) and two Silver Medals (2008 & 2009) representing Canada.

Born in Liverpool, England, Alex Smith was raised in Ottawa and would become one of the best players ever to come out of that area.  Smith was a star with the original Ottawa Senators where he helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1927.  Twice as a Senator he would lead the NHL in Defensive Point Shares and he would do so again in his first and only season with the Detroit Falcons, who took him in the 1931 Dispersal Draft.  Smith would conclude his career with another season in Ottawa and then stints with Boston and the New York Americans.

Wade Redden is best known for his long tenure with the Ottawa Senators, where he anchored their blueline expertly for years.  With excellent two-way skills. Redden would receive Norris Trophy votes six times and was also an All Star in 2002.  Much of the success of Ottawa’s excellent teams of the early 2000’s can be attributed to Redden and he was also good enough to represent Canada in the World Cup and Olympics.

Known for his leadership, two-way hockey and (his wife, Carrie Underwood), Mike Fisher spent a lot of time with the Ottawa Senators would later Captain the Nashville Predators.  Fisher was regarded a very good defensive forward and three times he was in the top ten in Frank J. Selke Award voting.  An All-Star in 2015, Fisher would go down as one of the most respected locker room leaders in the game.

Dany Heatley is known for two things.  The first is the disaster that took place when he was a member of the Atlanta Thrashers, where he was responsible for his teammate’s death from a car crash.  The second is what he accomplished on the ice where he was a former Calder Trophy winner and a star for the Ottawa Senators.   Is he a Hockey Hall of Famer?   He probably is not, but his time with the Sens is better than he gets credit for, and he is a two-time Game-Winning Goals leader.

As we are working on the All-Time 50 players for each major North American franchise, we have the intent to eventually look at how each of those teams honor the past players/executives who worked for them.  With that in mind, it is major news to us that the Ottawa Senators have announced that they will retire the number of their former longtime forward, Daniel Alfredsson. 

Alfredsson was the 6th Round Pick in the 1994 Draft and would join the Senators a year later where he would win the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year.  The Swedish sniper played all but his final season with Ottawa and would score 1,108 Points.  He would be a six time All Star and was named a Second Team All Star in the 2005/06 campaign.

He is eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame this year and was ranked #8 for HHOF consideration by us.

Alfredsson’s #11 marks the 2nd number retired by the Senators.  When they rebooted over 20 years ago, they retired the #9 of original Senators player, Frank Finnegan, who was part of the push to return hockey to Ottawa.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Daniel Alfredsson for this latest accolade.

If you ask the fans of the Ottawa Senators, you already know the answer to this question. Alexei Yashin may have spurned the fans of Canada’s capital, but even they would agree that the Russian was a talented skill player. Now playing in Russia, Yashin had over 750 points in the NHL and probably could have hit the four digit mark had he chose to play more in North America (and not sit out a season in his prime due to a contract dispute).