Capitals' Captaincy

[gymineer]

First, some confessions:

- I've never been on the Cap's bench or in their dressing room.

- I am a caps fan, but I don't reside in Washington, so I don't get the same level of media exposure that many locals do.


Now, I think the Captains and Alternates are largely a symbolic role, and I actually think Ovechkin is a great leader in many ways. However, it's hard to deny the shift in his scoring that has followed him taking on the formal role of captain. I know there are other factors affecting his production as well (the league adapting, injuries, pressure, etc).

I know taking away the captaincy from someone is a bit of a slight, but in a perhaps incomparable situation it did happen to Luongo in Vancouver (and they made the cup finals shortly thereafter). The idea being that people just wanted that star player (Luongo) to focus on goaltending - much like I think the Cap's fans would like Alex to focus on scoring goals.

Adding to my desire to see Ovy just go back to an "A", is the fact that every time I see Brooks Laich play or get interviewed I can't help but think that the guy absolutely reeks of Captaincy material.

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Jesus, not this again.

Ovechkin's the leader of the team. He's not getting the 'C' taken away.

Brooks Laich is great for some sound bytes, but there's no evidence whatsoever that he's even one of the top 3-4 leaders of the team.

[Liberati0n]

Brooks Laich as captain?

[Otter]

Laich, the guys who runs his mouth and never backs it up and gets paid roughly twice what he's worth should be captain?

"but he changed a tire!"

quit

[Langway]

Brooks just plays one on teevee.

[SimplySensational]

Watch an interview when the team loses and his mistakes costed the team. Its still the team as a whole did bad. Usually you expect someone to take responsibility if they are captain.

[n3ss]

I think I'd take Troy Brouwer over Liach.

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Posts like this really put me over the edge on whether I think trading Laich is a good idea. If we did get rid of him, we wouldn't have to deal with these idiot topics.

[NeilYoung]

I still don't understand the constant love for Brooks Laich, classic say all the right things, rarely do them


Also this thread is as stupid as it was the last ten times

[blokeyhighlander]

Laich is a mini-whipping boy round these parts. He spits out cliches at an obnoxious rate.

There's only one other player that has captain potential on this team, and that's Backstrom.

[Liberati0n]

Originally Posted by blokeyhighlander

Laich is a mini-whipping boy round these parts. He spits out cliches at an obnoxious rate.

There's only one other player that has captain potential on this team, and that's Backstrom.

Alzner.

Also, I hope you didn't mean to imply that Ovechkin actually does in using "other."

[Mystlyfe]

I wonder when people will realize that Laich isn't even an alternate captain on this team. He's been behind guys like Jason Chimera, Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer, Mike Knuble, and Tom Poti.


Also, hilarious nobody mentions Halpern as captain material.

[Backstrom #19]

Originally Posted by Mystlyfe

I wonder when people will realize that Laich isn't even an alternate captain on this team. He's been behind guys like Jason Chimera, Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer, Mike Knuble, and Tom Poti.


Also, hilarious nobody mentions Halpern as captain material.

You do realize that Brooks has been wearing the "A" since Backstrom has been out?

[Liberati0n]

Originally Posted by Backstrom #19

You do realize that Brooks has been wearing the "A" since Backstrom has been out?

That's disappointing in terms of Hunter's judgment.

[amjay13]

ntsa!

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Originally Posted by sonsofcain

That's disappointing in terms of Hunter's judgment.

And why is that?

[Liberati0n]

Originally Posted by NobodyBeatsTheWiz

And why is that?

I just don't think Laich is a leader at all. Boudreau and Laich were just about in love and Boudreau (as far as I remember) never gave him an A.

[Mystlyfe]

Originally Posted by Backstrom #19

You do realize that Brooks has been wearing the "A" since Backstrom has been out?

So he's what, 6th on the captaincy depth chart? Definitely captain material!

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Originally Posted by sonsofcain

I just don't think Laich is a leader at all. Boudreau and Laich were just about in love and Boudreau (as far as I remember) never gave him an A.

And how do you know this?

[Backstrom #19]

Originally Posted by Mystlyfe

So he's what, 6th on the captaincy depth chart? Definitely captain material!

Trying to cover up your mistake by making a joke!

[Liberati0n]

Originally Posted by NobodyBeatsTheWiz

And how do you know this?

I said "I think." It's just my read on it. I also don't like the guy at all, so....

[Mystlyfe]

Originally Posted by Backstrom #19

Trying to cover up your mistake by making a joke!

It's not like he regularly wears the A when the teams' healthy, so I really don't see your point. Chimera, Knuble, and Backstrom all wear the A ahead of Laich on the regular basis. Why does anyone think that Laich would be captain ahead of them? Hell, Chimera wore the C in the pre-season when Ovechkin didn't play.

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Originally Posted by sonsofcain

I said "I think." It's just my read on it. I also don't like the guy at all, so....

You do realize, that you're pretty much doing the exact same thing the OP is, right?

You're making a judgement on Laich's leadership without any relevant knowledge, whatsoever.

[Carlzner]

orlov for captain

[Liberati0n]

Originally Posted by NobodyBeatsTheWiz

You do realize, that you're pretty much doing the exact same thing the OP is, right?

You're making a judgement on Laich's leadership without any relevant knowledge, whatsoever.

Yeah, but I have better judgment.