OTTAWA — Call it Hockey Day in Ottawa!
Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and Daniel Alfredsson are expected to sit down to a news conference — together — along with Sens general manager Bryan Murray.
Until early this week, the relationship between Melnyk and Alfredsson had been on ice since the former Senators captain bolted to the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent in the summer of 2013.
But all is apparently well between the men, with word that Alfredsson may be hired to an off-rink job with the franchise — what Melnyk calls a "Welcome Home celebration."
Hockey Canada will also hold a special meeting of its board of directors at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, 100 years to the day after the first meeting of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in the same hotel.
The organization will then launch its 100th anniversary, cross-Canada celebration.
Here are some other, non-hockey-related events taking place in the capital:
— International Development Minister Christian Paradis will deliver a keynote address at the 2014 Canadian Humanitarian Conference;
— Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander appears at the Senate human rights committee to discuss Bill S-7, the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act;
— MPs Irwin Cotler, Scott Reid, Tyrone Benskin and Elizabeth May hold a press conference to mark the first anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death by calling for the release of three political prisoners who have been called the "Mandelas" of their countries;
— The 2014 Canadian Immunization Conference continues with over 800 leading experts gathered to share knowledge on immunization and vaccine safety.