urnament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. No. 9 Wisconsin has stirred plenty of excite

After 17 seasons with the Ottawa Senators - 13 as team captain - Daniel Alfredsson officially said goodbye to the only NHL home hes ever played in. Alfredsson, who was at Ottawas Royal Health Centre on Thursday to help promote his charitable focus on mental health awareness, also explained his reasons for choosing to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. "To Ottawa, to the always loyal Sens fans, to the Sens organization - thank you from the bottom of our hearts," said Alfredsson, who was welcomed into the room with cheers from attending fans. "When I did my last contract for four years ending in the (2012-13) season, I was asked to help the team manage the salary cap by adding on a extra year to my contract," he said in an opening statement. "I agreed. Each side fully expected I would retire and not play the 2012-13 season." However, after the 2012 season, I told the Sens I wanted to play another season. I also asked to look at a possible extension this upcoming season at a fair amount to balance out the two years for both of us. They agreed. Sadly, the contract negotiations went nowhere. But I played out the season as I had promised and I believe this past season, in my view, was a very special one." Alfredsson became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and was free to talk to teams in a limited capacity mandated by the NHL. "In late June this year, I decided I had it in me to play one more season," he added. "I told management I was willing to return and I reminded them of our agreement from the year before." Alfredsson surprised many a few days later when he signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Red Wings. The Senators, unable to come to terms with their longest-serving player, made a blockbuster trade just hours later acquiring winger Bobby Ryan from the Anaheim Ducks. "I respected Bryan (Murray) for everything hes done for this team as a coach and GM," said Alfredsson. "I understand it was hard for them to make it work under my terms." In a follow-up interview with Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun, Murray said he wasnt sure Alfredssons agent J.P. Barry gave his client all the details over the contract negotiations between both sides. "I can say this: Im disappointed," Murray told The Sun after hearing what was said at the news conference. "It seems Alfie isnt totally informed of what went on. That had to do with J.P. - didnt tell me the truth during the week. He kept saying I cant get in touch with Alfie. I will get back to you with a number. "He never got back to me. I never heard back from him after the phone call on Tuesday (July 2). Alfie called me himself on Thursday night to tell me that he was leaving. I said to J.P. during the earlier conversations I cant pay you $7 million. Thats what they asked for for the year. "I offered $4.5 million. I said, Both of us hopefully are flexible and we will talk. (Barry) said he would get back to me. I just took for granted that would happen and it never happened. I never heard back. I have not J.P. since the $7 milliion (demand in New York) Saturday meeting we had. It was $12 million for two years and $7 million for one. Thats disappointing." Barry - one of the games most prominent player agents - responded to Murrays remarks, telling TSN on Thursday afternoon that his client had taken below market deals before and that the negotiations were simply done in the best interest of the business at hand. "Shooting the messenger is something I have never believed in nor will I ever," Barry explained. "Its just not productive in our business to make negotiations personal." "I decided not to respond in July when Bryan chose to criticize my role as an agent in this process. It was an emotional day. I get it. "The fact is this was a negotiation concerning impending free agency. We made multiple offers and invited them to negotiate. They provided a number on the weekend prior to July 5 and said this is all they can do due to internal budget restrictions. It wasnt a market offer in our estimation. They wanted Daniel to take a below market deal again after he had done the same several times previously and we didnt feel that was appropriate." Daniel and I spoke every day during the process at length. Essentially, the Senators wanted us to present lower offers to them and that is not how the process works. When a player has impending free agency and the Club wants to keep that player, they need to present their best offer and not ask the player to negotiate against himself. The interview window opened after we couldnt bridge the gap over the weekend and a new opportunity and a new challenge came along. By that time it was simply too late. I wont make any further comments. Its time to move on." NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Ottawa Citizen Thursday afternoon that the league doesnt intend to investigate on whether or not the Senators intentionally circumvented the salary cap with Alfredssons previous contract. "I would say that if negotiations went down precisely as Daniel described (them), that would be a concern," Daly stated in an email to The Citizen. "We havent independently verified that, and at this point we dont intend to." Alfredsson made his NHL debut with the Senators in 1995-96 after being selected in the sixth round of the 1994 draft by Ottawa. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHLs top rookie and went on to play in six All-Star games. Ottawas captain since the 1999-2000 season, Alfredsson is the all-time leader in games played, goals and points for the team. He played all 1,178 games of his NHL career with the Senators, putting up 426 goals and 682 assists. Files from The Ottawa Sun and The Ottawa Citizen were used for this report. Custom Duke Blue Devils Jerseys Cheap . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. Custom College Jerseys Outlet . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. http://www.collegejerseyscustom.com/ . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Wholesale Custom College Jerseys . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Discount Custom Jerseys . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. No. 9 Wisconsin has stirred plenty of excitement in Madison with a sudden rise into the top 10 and the Badgers host big underdog Georgia State on Saturday (noon ET) before the nail-biting portion of the schedule begins.Wisconsin (2-0) recorded its 36th consecutive non-conference victory at Camp Randall with a 54-10 trouncing of Akron last week and more importantly didnt take a step back after stunning then-No. 5 LSU 16-14 in the season opener at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.We want to do that every week no matter (where) were ranked, senior running back Corey Clement said. We have to approach every game as if were not in the rankings at all.The Badgers werent picked by pundits in the preseason to make much noise in the Big Ten -- and they havent yet -- but are one of five conference teams ranked in the top 13 on the strength of the LSU victory.Wisconsin gets a chance to validate that performance when it visits No. 12 Michigan State next week, followed by a trip to No. 4 Michigan, a home game against No. 3 Ohio State and a road contest with No. 13 Iowa. Throw in Nebraska at home Oct. 29, and the Badgers arguably own the toughest five-game stretch in the nation.But first, Wisconsin must get past the 34-point underdog Panthers (0-2), who are last among the 128 FBS teams in rushing defense (394.5 yards per game). That could give coach Paul Chryst the opportunity to use Clement sparingly after he left the Akron game in the second quarter with an ankle injury and 111 yards with two touchdowns.I would have played if it was closer, said Clement, who is 86 yards shy of becoming the 16th player in school history to rush for 2,000. But seeing that we were up a lot, why risk it to turn into a bigger injury? Ive dealt with injuries in the past and I know its nothing to play with. I really had to be mature about the situation. I had to really sit back and let other guys take the load and then Ill be back for next week.The Badgers should be stronger on defense now that inside linebacker T.J. Edwards is back in the fold. The redshirt soophomore, who led Wisconsin with 84 tackles last season, played against Akron after missing the LSU game with a fractured left foot.ddddddddddddI was itching (to play), Edwards said. It was hard for me to sit and wait.The Badgers allowed 24 points in their first two games and appear to have a defense capable of shutting down some of the Big Ten heavyweights.Weve started the first two games the way youd like, Chryst said. If you want to form your identity, then you have to do it again and again.Wisconsins depth in the secondary will be tested as junior cornerback/kick returner Natrell Jamerson could miss 4-to-6 weeks with a leg injury sustained against Akron. Freshman Caesar Williams is a leading candidate to support the top two corners in junior Derrick Tindal and senior Sojourn Shelton.Clement is expected to replace Jamerson, who is also a full-time special teams performer, as the No. 1 kickoff returner.My first thought is I feel bad for Natrell, Chryst said. Hes a neat kid, fun to be around. Yesterday, in talking with him, hes got the right approach.Badgers senior quarterback Bart Houston is off to a good start by completing 64.2 percent of his 53 passes and spearheads an offense which recorded 294 yards rushing and 292 passing last week.Wisconsin sophomore kicker P.J. Rosowski boasts eight touchbacks on 13 kickoffs this season and could help neutralize the threat Georgia States Glenn Smith presents. The junior running back averages 31.9 yards per return with a long of 88. Wisconsin recorded touchbacks on 13 of 71 kickoffs in 2015.The Panthers are coming off a 48-14 loss to Air Force last week in which they yielded 464 rushing yards to the run-happy Falcons. Georgia State lost its opener 31-21 to Ball State.Panthers junior quarterback Conner Manning, a transfer from Utah, completed 51.8 of his 56 passes and has a favorite target in senior wide receiver Robert Davis (11 catches, 140 yards). ' ' '