What Daniel Alfredsson's first game as a Maple Leaf coach is all about

Associate coach, an ex-Ottawa star and Senators assistant, will have an interesting evening in Montreal running Toronto's B team.

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As if Daniel Alfredsson needs reminding he’s not in Ottawa anymore, Saturday night will seal the deal.

The Hall of Fame Senators’ forward will be coaching the Leafs — in Montreal — staring down both of Ottawa’s bitter rivals. But as he worked a split squad practice at the Ford Centre in the morning (Jim Hiller had the main team downtown for the home game) Alfredsson was not concerned with the weird bench optics.

“It’s hockey,” said associate coach Alfredsson, who’d been assistant in Ottawa after his retirement. “I look forward to (a night of head coaching) but the main focus is still just working on our team stuff.

“We’re not going in with a perfect game plan to win a playoff series, but we definitely want to put our best foot forward and show that what we’re working on in camp is starting to stick.”

Hiller, Alfredsson and other new assistants John Gruden and Brad Werenka have had a complicated job in their first Toronto camp this week. They must evaluate 70 players, get as many into four exhibition games as possible and keep some ice time for Leafs who are a lock to start on Sept. 29.

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Alfredsson was able to use Nick Paul, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sissons, Easton Cowan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Troy Stecher on Saturday as part of NHL rules to provide paying customers some name recognition for a pre-season game. But there were a lot of Marlies in the mix.

“It’s a lot harder for the guys trying to make the team with this set up of the shorter camp,” Alfredsson conceded. “But you can tell (Saturday’s) game means a lot to them. This group also came into camp in great shape and have practiced and hopefully they show well tonight.”

Just as the home-team Leafs were to face a lesser known Habs’ crew, the Montreal-bound group were going to draw Cole Caulfield, Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson.

“We’re looking more at ourselves,” Alfredsson insisted. “We’re implementing some different ideas to the group. looking to work off tonight and get some film. The biggest thing for the guys is that even though we want to work on technical stuff, we want to play the game, use their hockey IQ.”

Alfredsson was utilizing Cowan as a fourth power-play forward in the practice, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson the lone defenceman.

“It’s really OEL on the point,” Alfredsson said. “The way it draws up, Easton could be at the point, but we don’t have any set places he can be. It depends how the play develops. I like him on the half wall and he’s good on the other side going downhill from what I’ve seen.”

Alfredsson will see a lot of power play duty as he did in Ottawa, but defers to Hiller.

“Jim has a lot of experience there (he ran the unit while in Toronto as an assistant). I don’t know if I have any groundbreaking stuff to offer, but I have my philosophies. We’ll try to work on that.”

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