Did we lose the war against “assistant” captain?

[tarheelhockey]

I always preferred that the 'A' stand for 'Assistant' Captain - like one is assisting with the leadership duties that are typically associated with the Captain.

'Alternate' makes it sound like one is an alternative option for the Captain role, rather than actively assisting with the leadership duties (IMHO)

I see it the opposite way — there is no such thing as “assisting” the captain.

Why? Because the captain is defined as the player who may speak to the officials near the referee’s crease at the penalty box. That task requires no assistance, it’s just a conversation.

What happens when the captain is on the bench? Another player on the ice takes his place… an alternate player… the alternate captain.

 

[Mr Positive]

Antiquated now.

Antiquated captain?

 

[JKG33]

Alternate captain is stupid

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Antiquated now.

They should call it Antiquated Captain since it's usually some old dude.

EDIT: dammit @Mr Positive

 

[elmaco]

It's alternate, this is just a case of the person in charge of social media not knowing that.

 

[Soul Assumption]

There is a coach, there is an assistant coach. Same for the captain. It's obvious.

 

[Paper]

Assistant to the Captain.

 

[thadd]

It doesn't matter.

It's just a letter on your jersey that lets you talk to the on ice officials more often.

There is a coach, there is an assistant coach. Same for the captain. It's obvious.

Alternate coach would be interesting.

Lack of job security would scare the hell out of the coaches.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Growing up I was told alternate captain is correct and people who think it’s assistant captain are mistaken.

Barkov named Team Finland captain for 4 Nations Face-Off | NHL.com

Panthers center calls it 'huge honor'; became 1st Finnish captain to win Stanley Cup last season

www.nhl.com

Now the NHL itself is calling them assistants.

What the heck.


Yeah yeah old man yells at cloud.

I’m with you, but “literally” now means “not literally”, so…

 

[wolfgaze]

Because the captain is defined as the player who may speak to the officials near the referee’s crease at the penalty box. That task requires no assistance, it’s just a conversation.

When I made reference to 'leadership duties' I was conveying that the captaincy role is something way more than who gets to speak to the officials. What are captains expected to do for an organization besides speak with the officials on the ice? Now apply your answer to the 'Assistant' Captain notion, and it can be reconciled.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Rule 6 of the rule book makes it clear that they are correctly called Alternate Captains.

We can’t even get broadcasters to stop saying ‘offsides’, this is an even tougher battle.

 

[tarheelhockey]

When I made reference to 'leadership duties' I was conveying that the captaincy role is something way more than who gets to speak to the officials. What are captains expected to do for an organization besides speak with the officials on the ice? Now apply your answer to the 'Assistant' Captain notion, and it can be reconciled.

In that interpretation, the captain can be whoever you want, including the goalie.

On the ice, where the letters are relevant, there’s a clear definition as to what the “C” and “A” mean.

 

[wolfgaze]

In that interpretation, the captain can be whoever you want, including the goalie.

Hmm what interpretation? The players with the C's and A's have leadership duties that are not expected of the other, particularly younger players on their teams. Those duties clearly extend beyond only speaking to the refs on the ice. How is that an interpretation rather than an accurate observation of the landscape? This discussion topic cannot apply to 'whoever' because it only applies to the players that are given the C/A's by their organizations. Right?

On the ice, where the letters are relevant, there’s a clear definition as to what the “C” and “A” mean.

You feel the letters cease being relevant once the players leave the ice? So those roles assigned by those letters aren't relevant in the locker room between periods, nor in any team environment where the players aren't actively playing hockey? Interesting perspective.

 

[Nikki Potnick]

Assistant to the Captain*

 

[nowhereman]

Adjacent captain

You all lose.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Hmm what interpretation? The players with the C's and A's have leadership duties that are not expected of the other, particularly younger players on their teams. Those duties clearly extend beyond only speaking to the refs on the ice. How is that an interpretation rather than an accurate observation of the landscape? This discussion topic cannot apply to 'whoever' because it only applies to the players that are given the C/A's by their organizations. Right?



You feel the letters cease being relevant once the players leave the ice? So those roles assigned by those letters aren't relevant in the locker room between periods, nor in any team environment where the players aren't actively playing hockey? Interesting perspective.

I’m saying any player can be a leader, and the letter may or may not have anything to do with it. I’m gonna speculate that Alexei Yashin was less of a leader for the 1999 Senators than Daniel Alfredsson. Or that Zhamnov ever meaningfully occupied a leadership role for the Hawks.

If you want a current example, I seriously doubt it’s Jordan Staal doing the talking between periods.

On the other hand, wearing a “C” on your sweater has an actual functionality with a clear definition in the rulebook. Regardless of who does what behind closed doors, captain is a specific role with specific delineated duties. The existence of an “A” has nothing to do with leadership, it’s a matter of functionally enabling there to be a captain on the ice virtually all the time. This is the reason for alternate captains to exist. Whereas assistant captains do not exist — the captain doesn’t need assistance with anything.

 

[AUAIOMRN]

It's not as bad as calling lacrosse goals "the Michigan", I can't believe that caught on.

 

[Bender Duster]

100% assistant captain in western Canada circa 1900 to forever.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

Lawson Crouse is referred to as an associate captain in Utah.

and he plays for hockey club, nuff said

 

[wolfgaze]

I’m saying any player can be a leader, and the letter may or may not have anything to do with it.

I wasn't aware anyone made the argument that there are players who cannot be leaders? When organizations give the 'C' and 'A's' to certain players - are there not expectations associated with those roles that are not placed upon, let's say 1st and 2nd year players? Of course there are. Which is why it makes sense that a players can 'assist' with the leadership duties in the same way that it makes sense that assistant coaches 'assist' with the coaching duties. I don't know why this is controversial.

The existence of an “A” has nothing to do with leadership, it’s a matter of functionally enabling there to be a captain on the ice virtually all the time. This is the reason for alternate captains to exist.

So the alternate captain roles given to intentionally selected players by the organization have 'nothing to do with leadership'? Let's just agree not to discuss this topic with one another. Cool?

 

[cptjeff]

I wasn't aware anyone made the argument that there are players who cannot be leaders? When organizations give the 'C' and 'A's' to certain players - are there not expectations associated with those roles that are not placed upon, let's say 1st and 2nd year players? Of course there are. Which is why it makes sense that a players can 'assist' with the leadership duties in the same way that it makes sense that assistant coaches 'assist' with the coaching duties. I don't know why this is controversial.

There is a rule in the rulebook that only a captain may discuss calls with a referee or approach the referee's crease (that half circle outside the penalty boxes) to speak to the referees when they are in it, and if the captain is not on the ice, a designated alternate may. Goalies, by rule, may not be captains or alternates because for them to skate out of the net to the referee's crease (which players may not enter when refs are discussing calls) would significantly delay the game. Goalies may be leaders on a team, but they are not allowed to fill that role. Hence why when Luongo was the captain in Vancouver a few years ago he wasn't allowed to wear a letter on his jersey, and they had three alternates instead.

That's the formal job of a captain in hockey. Obviously there are additional leadership duties, but that is an informal team role, not an official in-game role. Alternates are called "alternates" because they're the ones allowed to talk to the refs when the captain is not on the ice. You're not allowed to leave the bench to argue a call, so you should, in theory, always have a captain or an alternate on the ice to do it.

Obviously, the talking to refs rule is never enforced. Refs discuss calls with any player all the time, anywhere on the ice, and don't usually bother with the referee's crease. But you occasionally see it when they're sorting out a large bunch of penalties at once. Captains or alternates will wait outside the crease and argue their cases. But that's why they're called alternates- they sub in for the captain for discussions with refs when the captain is not allowed to leave the bench.

 

[ijuka]

Growing up I was told alternate captain is correct and people who think it’s assistant captain are mistaken.

Barkov named Team Finland captain for 4 Nations Face-Off | NHL.com

Panthers center calls it 'huge honor'; became 1st Finnish captain to win Stanley Cup last season

www.nhl.com

Now the NHL itself is calling them assistants.

What the heck.


Yeah yeah old man yells at cloud.

How could "alternate" captain possibly be correct? That doesn't even begin to make any sense grammatically. Maybe "alternative" captain, but "alternate?" Or is this another American English thing?

 

[Duder54]

Weird, I always thought the “A” stood for “Assorted”

 

[Seiza]

The A is for Almost Captain..