Oh Captain, My Captain

I was thinking of starting this article with a few lines from that famous Walt Whitman poem (the one where the title of this blog is taken from for those who didn't pay attention in High School English; oh wait, I was one of those people. I had to look it up), but I quickly realized that it was about a captain, dead, at the end of his ship's voyage. And the ship I want to write about is far from the end of it's voyage. I am speaking of the Philadelphia Flyers; whose journey is just about to begin anew. Only, the USS Orange and Black has no captain.
In hockey, the role of a captain is much larger and significant than any other sport. In football, there are multiple captains each game, and they often change from game to game. And in basketball and baseball...well, I don't think they even have captains. I direct your attention to exhibit A: The year is 2004 and the Flyers are beginning their "second season." They start against their arch rival, the New Jersey Devils. It didn't take long for the captain to make his mark. In game 1, Keith Primeau comes flying down the wing. Devils goaltender, Martin Brodeur, assumes that Keith will take it around the back of the net. And looking at the size of Primeau and the speed he had going in that direction, it was a pretty safe asumption by Brodeur. But, out of nowhere, Primeau makes a move to the front of the net and slides it by Broduer. I bring this particular play up because it was the beginning of Primeau's transformation. Primeau would go on to literally put the team on his back throughout the playoffs, only to tragically fall a game short of the Stanley Cup Finals. Had they made it, Primeau would have easily won the Conn Smythe throphy; awarded to the most vauable player throughout the playoffs. While he had been captain all year, he never displayed the skill, athleticism, physicality, determination, and leadership all at once, like he did throughout every moment of that playoff run. So when he made that move on Broduer in the first game of the playoffs, no one knew what they were about to witness over the next month. Without the play of their captain, the Flyers would not have made it past the second round.
Keith Primeau rose to such high levels of leadership after that season, that when he was injured the following season (following the lockout) the team never again had the sense of direction and leadership they had with Keith in the lineup. That injury, an elbow to head by a player this writer can't seem to remember (eventhough he swore he would never forget), proved to be career ending as Primeau retired following the season. The Flyers tried to name a new captain in Derian Hatcher later that year following the injury, and in Peter Forsberg the following year. With the "C" on Hatcher, the team coasted aimlessly into the playoffs and got ousted by Buffalo in the first round. And when the Flyers gave the "C" to Forsberg following Primeau's retirement, the team stumbled to their worst performance in franchise history; due largely in part to Forsberg being out of the lineup for much of the year due to injury.
The point is that the "C" on a player's sweater is so much more than a letter. On, the right person's sweater, it can be a force more powerful than any pass, deke, save, hit, or statistic. Now, the Flyers have a retooled team ready to erase the nightmares of last season. On paper, they look like a definite playoff contender; a huge step from last season. But they also have yet to name a captain. Naming the right one can immediately transform a playoff contender into a Stanley Cup contender.
So who on this current Flyers roster is the right guy? Well, I'm a strong believer in not giving the captaincy to a new addition, unless there is no clear alternative. And in this case, that is not the situation. There a few players from last season who could hold the "C" quite nicely. My first pick, and he's been my pick since Primeau got hurt, is Sami Kapanen. Kapanen may not have the biggest numbers, and he is certainly not biggest guy, but he is a guy that everyone in that locker room respects. He never shies away from contact, and he will always do whatever it takes to help the team win. He leads by example. There has been much talk about making Simon Gagne the captain. Now, before last year, I was totally against this. Not because he is a bad player, but because he seemed reluctant to accept it. You can not force leadership on somebody. However, after last season, he showed a lot of maturity, and appears ready to accept his role as the team's leader. That said, there are still better alternatives. His linemate, Mike Knuble is one of them. Mike, since his arrival after the lockout, has been a strong presence on the ice and in the locker room, and he can provide some offensive punch.
The Flyers had plenty of leadership in their locker room following last season, and they have even more now after adding three players who were captains on their previous teams (Daniel Briere, Jason Smith, and Kimo Timonen). I think Kapanen is the right choice for captain, but that's certainly not saying the other players mentioned couldn't get the job done as well.