September 17, 2003
The Burdens Of Leadership
Chris Pronger doesn't want to be Captain of the St. Louis Blues anymore. Veteran defenseman Al MacInnis will take over, and Steve Ovadia at Puck Update doesn't understand why:
Pronger said he gave up being captain to concentrate on playing. I never understand when players talk about how hard it is to be captain. What do they have to do? It's not like being captain of a ship. Those guys have a lot of responsibility. But being captain of an NHL team? Come on. There's no steering. You really just have to iron a C on your uniform. I bet there's even someone who can do it for you.
Funny as far as it goes, but there's more to being Captain of an NHL squad than meets the eye. If you look around, there really isn't any handbook as to what the responsibilities of a Captain are, but I did find an interview with Hockey Hall of Fame member Darryl Sittler, where he shared his thoughts on being named Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs:
When they asked me to be captain, I remember thinking, “What are the responsibilities? How am I going to approach this?". One reason they picked me as captain was because they liked my work ethic. The other responsibility of a captain, especially in Toronto, is having a public profile. I had to be involved in the community, to be the spokesperson for the players, and to create the environment off the ice where the players and families can get together with a sense of camaraderie. I was also aware of the importance of communication with the GM and the coach.
So, not exactly just wearing an iron-on "C" on your chest. But there's more. A Captain is expected to be an example to the rest of the team on and off the ice -- something which often means having to police the behavior of your teammates. Sometimes it might mean taking a rookie to the woodshed after he blows an on-ice assignment.
At other times, it might mean publicly calling out a lazy teammate who seems more concerned with padding his offensive stats than he is with backchecking and playing a total game. Just ask Mark Messier, widely credited with being the best Captain in the history of hockey. Better yet, ask Peter Nedved, who was often the target of Messier's ire during Nedved's first stint with the Rangers in the mid-90s.
One last thing: in many cases, a Captain is often unofficially designated as the team's on-ice representative with the referees. In many cases, you have to put up with guff from your teammates who don't think you're working the refs hard enough (how many times have you seen Steve Yzerman and Chris Chelios skate up to the ref after a play stoppage after a melee?).
Put it all together, and being the Captain can be a pretty teriffic burden, especially for Pronger, who's still rehabing from a broken wrist that kept him off the ice most of last season. Better to have him concentrating on getting back in game shape, than worrying about whether or not the rookie on the fourth line is finishing his checks or not.
UPDATE: Tom Wheatly has more details on Pronger's decision.
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11:53 AM