The new year is off to a great start for former Ottawa senator Mika Zibanejad.
On Friday morning, Zibanejad was named to the Swedish Olympic team next month, joining Erik Karlsson and Filip Gustavsson, who also wore the Centurion patch.
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Then, on Friday night, Zibanejad became the first man to score a hat trick in an NHL Winter Classic, helping the New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 at LoanDepot Park in Miami. Zibanejad scored all the goals, recording a five-point night, which was also a World Cup first.
“I think it’s hard to wrap my head around the whole day like that, but yeah, it’s been a great 12, 16 hours. It’s been a fun day,” Zibanejad told the media after the match.
With the game taking place in Florida, four miles from a beach, it certainly wasn’t the coldest of winter classics, but hot or cold, there’s something the Rangers love about the great outdoors. Although “Miami Mika” hasn’t been there for all, New York is now 6-0-0 in away games.
Zibanejad now has 35 points in 42 games this season, and when a former Senator has a day like that, it’s easy for Senators fans to wonder, “How did we let this guy get away with it?”
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Zibanejad was Ottawa’s first-round pick, sixth overall in the 2011 NHL Draft, and while he was good in his early years in the capital, he was still young and developing. In his first two full seasons, he hovered around a near 40-point pace. The next two improved to 46 and 51, and each season became a little more productive than the last.
In July 2016, in his second month as the Senators’ new general manager, Pierre Dorion traded Zibanejad and a second-round pick to the Rangers for center Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick. The young Swede was still only 23 years old and was due for a big raise in 2017, while Brassard’s early deal meant that, in actual salary, he was only owed $3.4 million over the final two years of the deal.
Much like in Ottawa, Zibanejad’s first two years on Broadway remained solid, but not yet elite. Those stats came in year three, sparking an excellent career where he had 624 in 691 games over a decade in New York.
When Zibanejad returns from Italy, he will also reach the 1,000 career game mark, which would certainly be filed in Ottawa’s voluminous “Those Who Left” file.
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Meanwhile, after an unforgettable day on Friday, Zibanejad watched an NHL broadcast on TNT as fake Miami snow gently fell on his head. As the game’s MVP, his former teammate and compatriot, Henrik Lundqvist, gave him a gaudy Winter Classic necklace with a massive pendant.
By Steve Warne
Ottawa hockey news
January 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, United States; New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) receives a necklace from Henrik Lundqvist after being named MVP of the Winter Classic 2026 ice hockey game against the Florida Panthers at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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