Rotating captaincy? No, thanks!
Taking an early morning peak over at RDS, I noticed that their poll of the day was whether or not the Montreal Canadiens should employ a rotating captaincy option before selecting a definitive captain for the 2009-2010 season. This caught me by surprise, naturally, because I’ve always thought of RDS as being a collection of hardliners bent on the French Question and the rich history of Les Glorieux. After all, these are the guys that regularly host Bertrand Raymond on L’Antichambre.
So, how it comes to this? Is the organization that undecided? Earlier this week, it was reported that Andrei Markov was offered the captaincy. No offense to Andrei, but I feel that his quiet demeanor and overall working knowledge of the English (not to mention French) language would be a hindrance to his handling of the media; especially after those blowout losses or heartbreaking shootout defeats. Markov is more of an on-ice captain, leading the squad with his superb passing and sound defensive play. In the locker room, I simply feel he would lack the charisma and know-how of a Saku Koivu, for instance.
But, the heart of the matter is who is going to be our next captain, and when will he be announced. No, I’m afraid that this is not Buffalo or Minnesota. Rotating captains may fly in those markets, but the people of Montreal and Quebec in general place the Habs on a higher pedestal than that. With such famous past captains as Jean Beliveau, Toe Blake, Yvan Cournoyer, Henri and Maurice Richard, it would be downright embarrassing to have Josh Gorges one week, Maxime Lapierre the next, etc. Not that I don’t think those players would make formidable captains in their own right, the fact that the entire procedure would look like a trial and error scenario is, quite frankly, something that this franchise is above and beyond of.
Fear not, Habs fans, we will be issued a good captain in due time. Whether he be one of the new guns (Cammalleri, Gomez, Gionta) , or a seasoned team veteran (Markov), or an emerging talent (Lapierre, Latendresse), rest assured that he will be well aware of the weight on his shoulders and how to handle it.
This is one issue that I can say is the least of our concerns, for the moment. Let’s be sure to prioritize team chemistry and success over who wears the ‘C’ on their jersey this year.
Doesn’t surprise me. Though the guys might be hardliners, they’re not stupid.
The fact is it’s not very realistic that at this point in time either Maxim Lapierre (who a year ago and maybe some time again) was battling for an NHL job) or Guillaume Latendresse (who is very young and also no lock for the lineup long term) get the captaincy.
Aha, that means Markov (No), Gomez, Gionta or Cammalleri in all likelihood. All those guys are here for 5 more years, and so the captaincy, barring trade would be sewn up, one would assume for that period, as it was with Koivu.
Enter the rotating system. One more year for the young studs to prove their mettle. Next season both Lapierre and Latendresse look like much more credible candidates.
Hence, RDS and gang are being true to form, and quite politically savvy too. Fair play to them, they’re only expressing opinions.
I’m with you on settling on a guy, but would also be open to annually revisiting by player vote – it would certainly make the whole captain thing a bit less of an all summer sensation for the Habs.
I think having a captain would be better for the franchise… I don’t really see a rotating captaincy in Montreal.
I’m kinda surprised that the players won’t choose their captain.
But that’s ok… it’s not a big deal for me.
I’m on cloud 9 now that Habs hockey is back!
Take it from a semi-hardliner, these guys on RDS are NOT hardliners.