After being captain-less for the past two seasons, the longest stretch without a ‘C’ stitched onto a player’s jersey in franchise history, the Columbus Blue Jackets look to have a captain named and available for the 2014-2015 season.
As the youngest team in the NHL, with an average age of just over 26 years old according to nhlnumbers.com, the Jackets need a captain that will be with them for a very long time, to guide this young team into something special.
We saw very exciting hockey from this young and inexperienced team this April, when they took the Pittsburgh Penguins to six games, but lost, in the 1st round. We had a chance to see some young stars break out for their two overtime wins, the first two playoff wins in their 17-year existence. Jack Johnson led the team with 7 points during the playoffs, while Ryan Johansen and Brandon Dubinsky both amassed a point-per-game in the series.
A captain is also someone who leads the team, not only mentally/emotionally, but also on the score sheet. In times like that, when it matters the most, the playoffs, like those three men did.
Columbus is one of six teams across the league without a captain, but the only one who started and finished the season with only assistant captains, who were Mark Letestu, Jared Boll, Dubinsky and Johnson.
Dubinsky came over to Columbus in the summer of 2012 via the trade that sent former captain Rick Nash to the New York Rangers. Dubinsky wore his passion on his sleeve during his time in New York, which sometimes led to management, fans, and critics alike getting mad about his antics.
During a 2012 playoff game against Ottawa, he was ejected from the game and as he was leaving, threw and absolutely destroyed a Gatorade cooler. There were some people that said that was playoff passion, others saying it was him being a buffoon. But that is what the captain needs, passion! A captain can not be somebody who hides his emotions in times like that. During the regular season, yeah maybe, but not during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Also, just this morning, the 28 year-old signed a six-year extension that kicks in after this upcoming season, meaning he will play for Columbus until 2021. Should he don the ‘C’ across his heart starting next season, and remain with the team until the termination of his contract, he will become the longest serving captain in Jackets history.
Another one with a long contract, until 2018, tied for longest time for any defenceman on the team, Johnson is easily another candidate. Another leader acquired through trade in February of 2012 from Los Angeles, Johnson seems to be the candidate most likely to be named captain by GM Jarmo Kekalainen and head coach Todd Richards.
Johnson has seen and played a lot more intense hockey than fellow leader Dubinsky, despite playing eight less NHL games (498 vs 490). However, Johnson has played a ton more international games for their country, the USA. Jack has played 74 games at both the senior and junior leve.l including a trip to the Olympic final in 2010. Brandon has donned the red-white-and-blue only 10 times. Johnson was even named captain for the U.S. team at the 2010 IIHF World Championships, a team on which Dubinsky played on.
The two other alternate captains, Boll and Letestu, will obviously still be thought of during the captain-naming process by management, but they have a much lower chance to receive the role. Their contracts expire in 2017 and 2015 respectively.
Despite the fact that Boll still has three seasons remaining on his contract, he may be the least likely choice out of the four, as he only played 28 games last year, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist, with an average ice-time of 7:38. A captain shouldn’t be a bench warmer, in the press box, or in the infirmary.
With the acquisition of Scott Hartnell from the Philadelphia Flyers this off-season, you can pencil Hartnell in as another candidate, but still very unlikely as he only just arrived in Ohio. In a few years, if an ‘A’ is available and Hartnell is still a Jacket, he may just be the perfect choice to become an assistant captain, as he was in Philly.
Young and upcoming stars for the team such as Johansen, Ryan Murray, Matt Calvert and Boone Jenner can also become captains if the organization wants a captain “for the people”, meaning a young captain for a young team, like the Islanders and Avalanche have.
Whoever this team chooses to be their sixth captain in franchise history after Lyle Odelein, Ray Whitney, Luke Richardson, Adam Foote and Nash, fans in the State of Ohio will still have a lot to cheer about (no, not the fact the LeBron is going home), as this team will have a great future. We saw it in their short lived playoff run (we also saw how passionate their fans are) and we should be seeing many more playoff games at Nationwide Arena for a long time to come.
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