The best captains in hockey history

[VanIslander]

Captains have three areas of responsibility:

#1 TEAMMATES

• motivate the guys in the locker room
• lead by example
• be one great enough to follow

#2 THE LEAGUE

• correspond with on-ice officials, especially on calls
• have the authority to convey coach-to-ref decisions

#3 THE PUBLIC

• handle media duties
• represent the team in the public eye

We herald guys who have aspects of the role. But who are guys who personify all three?

(Note: the #1 area has heroes of different parts of it. Who has done everything elite?)

Click to read more...

 

[MadLuke]

Biased obviously, but it is hard to not simply answer mister Beliveau.

For number he and his wife are hard to beat, from the play day until death, her seat behind the bench was legendary, she was MTL first lady and in a very rabid hockey market, Beliveau phone number was a regular name with his actual phone number that people called, he answered the door to fans visiting him at his private home.

When Turgeon became captain, tell the story that he went to have super with Beliveau, I never heard a bad word about him, the gravita and his look-stature, the voice, the level of play, the career it is like drawing a captain.

As for leading by example, seem really good as well.

 

[GMR]

 

[frisco]

Sidney Crosby.

My Best-Carey

 

[MadLuke]

Not sure how you start trying to rank Sakic-Yzerman-Bourque with each other, feel like a tier system where I have them mentally close to each other, but I feel the last 6-7 years put them above Toews, auto-immune/resporarity issues make it unfair.

Having to pick, maybe it would be Yzerman-Bourque-Sakic in that order, but feel nitpicky. Never saw or heard anything about them that would make anyfranchise having second thought about making them lifelong captain and face of their franchise (or the league). Crosby joined that tier for me a while ago and he is just cementing it more and more, outside one playoff series against the Flyers and too much ref talk early on, almost a no fault since.

 

[JackSlater]

There's no way any of us can confidently declare anyone the best captain. Certain captains - Beliveau, Yzerman, Messier, Toews etc. - have big reputations and various stories and attestations to how good they were as captains. If I had to pick a captain for an all time team of hockey greats I'd pick Beliveau but there are plenty of good options.

 

[blundluntman]

Won't say Sakic is the greatest of all time, but he's up there over the last 30+ years. Never struck me as a very vocal player in the locker room but he lead by example by always coming up in the clutch, being professional/composed and facing controversy head on. He was so well respected across the league that even Red Wings players wouldn't let Sean Avery chirp him when they were going at it in the early 2000's.

I don't really think any of us can confirm all 3 categories since there's a lot we can't see/hear but Messier and Potvin strike me as two guys that best exemplify all the criteria you mentioned (post expansion anyway). I'd go to war for guys like that as a player

 

[Weztex]

I love Sakic, but to me there's two little stains on an otherwise spotless capitancy. First, his reluctance to deal with the media while in Quebec City, and second, him signing an offer sheet with the Rangers one year after winning the cup. Maybe those aren’t fair points, I don’t know. But personally, they always irked me a little when Iooking at his tenure.

As for Toews, the whole Kyle Beach situation left a lot of questions about his dealing with locker room situations. A lot…

 

[VanIslander]

Having to pick, maybe it would be Yzerman-Bourque-Sakic in that order,...

Agreed, for their generation
(though Sakic limited, as discussed).
Beliveau, as stated.
Messier, for sure.

 

[VanIslander]

I want to add Canuck captain Luongo but the league (the NHL brass) didn't approve of a goalie being captain - the 1st such in over half a century - refusing to allow him to wear a 'C' on his jersey (he put it on his mask ) and he wasn't allowed to rep the team with on-ice officials. So, he coulda, shoulda, woulda been on this list, as he still tried to fill the role by giving refs an earful.

Epilogue: Kesler said it was bull. The two of them then led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals, then were traded away (kept were the inept twins in both round 1 and the finals, they having harvested greatly on the powerplay against a pk woeful San Jose squad inbetween).

 

[The Panther]

Monsieur Béliveau will see you now... if he deems you worthy....

 

[The Panther]

I mean, if we're being honest here, none of us can say who really is and isn't a "good" captain. We get to see about 2% of it, and then only the public mask, not the real guy.

Yzerman is an interesting case. I feel like (just my meaningless subjective impression) he was less vocal in the late-80s when still a young guy, and then became more of a speak-out guy when he was a grizzled veteran. Chelios tells the story of his first few games in Detroit, circa 1999, when he decided to leave his check to help out Yzerman, who was getting worked over in front of the net. Their opponent scored, and later Chelios says Yzerman reamed him out for leaving his check. Chelios says he was somewhat intimidated by Yzerman... which isn't necessarily bad. I think Yzerman, as a young guy, was really disliked by referees. Yzerman also had that brief period when he was frustrated by Bowman and once or twice kind of sounded off to the media about it.

 

[MadLuke]

There is some strong external sign at some level, someone loosing is captaincy (or deciding to remove the c) versus someone that keep it from 20 to retirement.

For Yzerman, Robitaille, I think, said he had a strong reputation to be the kind that organized out of rings activities and super for new arrival and so on, but that could have been the 90s era and that went he joined the team himself he did find it to be true.

If Patrice Bergeron was not a good captain and being a good captain is something that do exist, that would be quite the surprise.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Syl Apps

 

[JackSlater]

Won't say Sakic is the greatest of all time, but he's up there over the last 30+ years. Never struck me as a very vocal player in the locker room but he lead by example by always coming up in the clutch, being professional/composed and facing controversy head on. He was so well respected across the league that even Red Wings players wouldn't let Sean Avery chirp him when they were going at it in the early 2000's.

I don't really think any of us can confirm all 3 categories since there's a lot we can't see/hear but Messier and Potvin strike me as two guys that best exemplify all the criteria you mentioned (post expansion anyway). I'd go to war for guys like that as a player

Potvin is an interesting case. Definitely seems like he matured into a good leader, but early on when he was New York's best player (but not yet captain) he seems to have alienated his teammates quite a bit. This Sports Illustrated article talks about it, and I think that there is a New York Times article out there that goes into detail on it too.

UNDAUNTED AND UNHAUNTED

Basically a case of young prodigy doesn't understand why his non-superstar teammates cannot play like a superstar and live a superstar lifestyle. The Orr thing too.

I mean, if we're being honest here, none of us can say who really is and isn't a "good" captain. We get to see about 2% of it, and then only the public mask, not the real guy.

Yzerman is an interesting case. I feel like (just my meaningless subjective impression) he was less vocal in the late-80s when still a young guy, and then became more of a speak-out guy when he was a grizzled veteran. Chelios tells the story of his first few games in Detroit, circa 1999, when he decided to leave his check to help out Yzerman, who was getting worked over in front of the net. Their opponent scored, and later Chelios says Yzerman reamed him out for leaving his check. Chelios says he was somewhat intimidated by Yzerman... which isn't necessarily bad. I think Yzerman, as a young guy, was really disliked by referees. Yzerman also had that brief period when he was frustrated by Bowman and once or twice kind of sounded off to the media about it.

Yzerman definitely had that reputation. I remember a ref or two citing him as possibly the worst complainer at that time, and a particularly harsh complainer who would piss the ref off with his tone. Temperamental I guess.

I remember reading Hitchcock talking about the 2002 Olympics before and citing Lemieux, Yzerman, and MacInnis as big leaders on the team. Lemieux and Yzerman are the obvious, but you don't hear about MacInnis all that much in that way. We pretty much never get the full picture when it comes to who is or is not a leader, or to what degree, of course.