Captains in hockey

[lmanchur.]

After the SuperSkills Competition, CBC had a round table discussion about the role of captains in hockey.

Hockey is different than any other pro sport, concerning their captains... how many people here know who the captain(s) are of the San Fransisco 49ers?... or the Montreal Expos?... or the Colorado Rockies?

In the NHL, all you have to do is look at the player's jerseys, and the captain is promenantly labled with the "C" on his jersey in the upper left corner.

What are the qualities of a captain? Should he be loud, or quiet and lead by example? Obviously, he should be good with the media. Should he be the leading scorer? -- the coach's favorite player, or... well.. not!? Should he be selected by the players or, like the "olden days," by the coach?

I think the ideal captain is one that leads by example, one that is not extremely hard on his players, but is always positive, acts well in the media, and is chosen by his teammates, as he is the leader of the team, and everyone must rally around him. I guess the example of the player I mentioned is Wayne Gretzky.

What does everyone else think?

[Edited by SC-Lee on 02-03-2001 at 11:47 PM]

[Wedge231]

Yeah but wasn't Leetch the captain when Gretzky was a Ranger?

[lmanchur.]

True, but who was the leader during the Oilers dynasty?... and in Los Angeles when Gretzky was traded there?... and in St. Louis when Gretzky was there for three months?

The answer to ALL of the above is Wayne Gretzky.

...and to say Gretzky wasn't a leader when he was with the Rangers is considerably incorrect. You can bet young guys like Manny Malhotra learned a lot from him and looked up to him, even though he wasn't wearing the "C" on his jersey.

[Wedge231]

True true. I was just stating the facts.