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GMRwings1983

Best Captains by Team

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I hope this generates some good debate. A lot of these were slam dunks, but others were close. I had a hard time especially with Vancouver, Anaheim, Buffalo and Chicago.

Ducks - Scott Niedermayer

Thrashers - Scott Mellanby

Bruins - Ray Bourque

Sabres - Pat LaFontaine

Flames - Jarome Iginla

Hurricanes - Ron Francis

Blackhawks - Pierre Pilote

Avalanche - Joe Sakic

Blue Jackets - Adam Foote

Stars - Derian Hatcher

Red Wings - Steve Yzerman

Oilers - Wayne Gretzky

Panthers - Brian Skrudland

Kings - Wayne Gretzky

Wild - Mikko Koivu (they finally made up their minds :clap: )

Canadiens - Jean Beliveau

Predators - Greg Johnson ( :lol: sad but true)

Devils - Scott Stevens

Islanders - Denis Potvin (edging out Yashin :P)

Rangers - Mark Messier

Senators - Daniel Alfredsson

Flyers - Bobby Clarke

Penguins - Mario Lemieux

Coyotes - Shane Doan

Sharks - Owen Nolan

Blues - Brian Sutter

Lightning - Dave Andreychuk

Leafs - George Armstrong

Canucks - Trevor Linden

Capitals - Dale Hunter

Edited by GMRwings1983

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Only two I disagreed with. Although, there were quite a few players I didn't even recognize their names.

Armstrong captained the Leafs during their best ever years and was a great leader for them. Gilmour wasn't even the best Captain of the last 20 years for them, with Sundin and Wendel Clark being ahead of him. He captained them nowhere. Don't see how you can make that call.

As for Modano, he was only a captain for like a year or so, while Hatcher was the captain for a long time, on a team full of veteran players like Carbonneau, Hull, Zubov, Skrudland and Modano. The fact that he was captain instead of those guys shows a little about his leadership skills and what his teammates thought of him. If Modano was a good captain, he wouldn't have been stripped of it for Brenden Morrow after such a short time.

However, if you agree with me on everything else, then I shouldn't be complaining. I've never met anyone who can agree with me on 28 out of 30 things. :hehe:

Edited by GMRwings1983

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Armstrong captained the Leafs during their best ever years and was a great leader for them. Gilmour wasn't even the best Captain of the last 20 years for them, with Sundin and Wendel Clark being ahead of him. He captained them nowhere. Don't see how you can make that call.

As for Modano, he was only a captain for like a year or so, while Hatcher was the captain for a long time, on a team full of veteran players like Carbonneau, Hull, Zubov, Skrudland and Modano. The fact that he was captain instead of those guys shows a little about his leadership skills and what his teammates thought of him. If Modano was a good captain, he wouldn't have been stripped of it for Brenden Morrow after such a short time.

However, if you agree with me on everything else, then I shouldn't be complaining. I've never met anyone who can agree with me on 28 out of 30 things. :hehe:

So your argument for Sundin being a better captain is that he led the leafs somewhere? :blink:

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Penguins - Mario Lemieux

Its Crosby, no one embodies the douchebaggery of the Pens like he does, Lemieux before he let the boy wonder bunk bed in his house was a class act, which does not fit the city, the team or the fan base.

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Its Crosby, no one embodies the douchebaggery of the Pens like he does, Lemieux before he let the boy wonder bunk bed in his house was a class act, which does not fit the city, the team or the fan base.

Well damn, why don't you tell us how you really feel?

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So your argument for Sundin being a better captain is that he led the leafs somewhere? :blink:

No, but the teams he played on weren't as good as some of those Leafs teams Gilmour had, with few exceptions. I just think Sundin was a better captain than him and did more with less, especially in later years in Toronto.

In any case, Armstrong has to be the best Leafs captain ever, even if people remember Gilmour or Clark more nowadays. I was talking about all-time Captains and not say the last 20 years or so.

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No, but the teams he played on weren't as good as some of those Leafs teams Gilmour had, with few exceptions. I just think Sundin was a better captain than him and did more with less, especially in later years in Toronto.

In any case, Armstrong has to be the best Leafs captain ever, even if people remember Gilmour or Clark more nowadays. I was talking about all-time Captains and not say the last 20 years or so.

Sundin was never a leader in my eyes. Gilmour had the fire to be a leader.

In 02 when the leafs had that run to the confrence finals, they did so without Sundin, once he returned they played like s***. I've just always seen Sundin as a good player but not a great captain

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Good list. I'd put Crosby ahead of Lemieux. Lemieux was a great player and a decent leader, but Crosby. The DB torch burns brightest with him as someone else mentioned. Plus I think Crosby will prove to be a better, all around player by the time it's said and done.

full_wall_of_fire.jpg

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Plus I think Crosby will prove to be a better, all around player by the time it's said and done.

:scared: Better than Lemieux?!

I may be wrong, but before coming out of retirement, didn't Lemieux have the best points per game average in NHL history? Lemieux was pure class. Crosby will never compare in any sense.

Also, Crosby made the Penguins and their fans douches - the franchise was fine before he got there.

Edited by Zetts

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Armstrong captained the Leafs during their best ever years and was a great leader for them. Gilmour wasn't even the best Captain of the last 20 years for them, with Sundin and Wendel Clark being ahead of him. He captained them nowhere. Don't see how you can make that call.

And to add to your argument, Gilmour wasn't even the Leafs Captain when they went to the WCF in 1993 and 1994, it was Clark. Dougie was Captain after Clark was traded before the 1995 lockout shortened season, and only wore the C until he was traded to NJ at the 1997 deadline.

I think Armstrong is a no-brainer!

Edit: Great list GMRwings1983, no arguments or disagreements from me at all!

Edited by Barrie

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Good list. I'd put Crosby ahead of Lemieux. Lemieux was a great player and a decent leader, but Crosby. The DB torch burns brightest with him as someone else mentioned. Plus I think Crosby will prove to be a better, all around player by the time it's said and done.

I say "No" to both points here. Lemieux is ahead of Sakic and Yzerman on the all-time greatest list. Crosby is no where near Sakic and Yzerman territory.

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Ducks - Paul Kariya

Sabres - michael peca

Blackhawks - Chris Chelios

Avalanche - Joe Sakic

Blue Jackets - Rick nash

Canadiens - Maurice Richard

Blues - Chris Pronger

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I say "No" to both points here. Lemieux is ahead of Sakic and Yzerman on the all-time greatest list. Crosby is no where near Sakic and Yzerman territory.

Not yet but he's off to a pretty good start. I'm projecting in the case of Crosby. He's managed to improve an area of his game pretty much every season. People like to compare present day Crosby to Legends like it could ever be a fair comparison. Given time, there's really no reason to believe that he won't eclipse Sakic and Yzerman someday. It's not like their numbers and achievements are THAT untouchable.

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Maybe I don't follow hockey close enough or know enough about it, but how can we as fans even gauge something like this? We really barely know anything if anything at all about how these guys run their team or are as people. I mean what criteria are we looking at? I couldn't even tell you the difference between Yzerman and Lidstrom as captains.

This is a serious question, I just dont know how you guys are coming up with these lists. Again, maybe some people just do more homework than I do. All I know is what I see from watching games and highlight reels, which tells me nothing about how good of a captain someone is.

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Maybe I don't follow hockey close enough or know enough about it, but how can we as fans even gauge something like this? We really barely know anything if anything at all about how these guys run their team or are as people. I mean what criteria are we looking at? I couldn't even tell you the difference between Yzerman and Lidstrom as captains.

This is a serious question, I just dont know how you guys are coming up with these lists. Again, maybe some people just do more homework than I do. All I know is what I see from watching games and highlight reels, which tells me nothing about how good of a captain someone is.

Just like any other 'Best of' list. A glorified popularity contest. :)

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Sundin was never a leader in my eyes. Gilmour had the fire to be a leader.

In 02 when the leafs had that run to the confrence finals, they did so without Sundin, once he returned they played like s***. I've just always seen Sundin as a good player but not a great captain

Any Swede will disagree with you with a passion. Might just be a national team thing though. Can't say I followed the Leafs enough to make an argument based on that.

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Not yet but he's off to a pretty good start. I'm projecting in the case of Crosby. He's managed to improve an area of his game pretty much every season. People like to compare present day Crosby to Legends like it could ever be a fair comparison. Given time, there's really no reason to believe that he won't eclipse Sakic and Yzerman someday. It's not like their numbers and achievements are THAT untouchable.

and he's got a lot of growing up to do too.

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Ducks - Paul Kariya

Sabres - michael peca

Blackhawks - Chris Chelios

Avalanche - Joe Sakic

Blue Jackets - Rick nash

Canadiens - Maurice Richard

Blues - Chris Pronger

I picked Sakic for Colorado. I'm not that argumentative.

Kariya and Chelios were close ones for me, and Pronger I quickly dismissed when I remembered Sutter's rep as a great leader of the Blues in the 80's.

Maybe I don't follow hockey close enough or know enough about it, but how can we as fans even gauge something like this? We really barely know anything if anything at all about how these guys run their team or are as people. I mean what criteria are we looking at? I couldn't even tell you the difference between Yzerman and Lidstrom as captains.

This is a serious question, I just dont know how you guys are coming up with these lists. Again, maybe some people just do more homework than I do. All I know is what I see from watching games and highlight reels, which tells me nothing about how good of a captain someone is.

Just going on their reputations for most and the others I just posted my opinion on. I was never in the Wings locker room, but from what I've heard from players and seen on the ice, Yzerman was a pretty good captain. Same with guys like Stevens or Messier. For others it was harder, but if you are a fan of the game's history, you can make educated opinions (or guesses) on those too if you study the history of the game and its players enough.

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Any Swede will disagree with you with a passion. Might just be a national team thing though. Can't say I followed the Leafs enough to make an argument based on that.

Definitely a national team thing, Sundin is largely viewed as a loser at the NHL level

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Definitely a national team thing, Sundin is largely viewed as a loser at the NHL level

I wouldn't say that. He was a good leader.

Naslund too, which is another good Swedish captain, and he's the one I'm surprised no one has argued on me with. I had a hard time choosing between him and Linden.

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:scared: Better than Lemieux?!

I may be wrong, but before coming out of retirement, didn't Lemieux have the best points per game average in NHL history? Lemieux was pure class. Crosby will never compare in any sense.

Also, Crosby made the Penguins and their fans douches - the franchise was fine before he got there.

crosby didn't have the goalies to shoot on that lemieux and gretzky did. if you put sid and ovie in the era with lemieux and gretzky, you have a 4 person race for the art ross on your hands. that's why i will not put my best captains of all time because it's apples and oranges.

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