Bleacher Reports Top 5 Captains of All Time

[stevieisthebest 80]

I found this article on NHL.com, its their top five captains of all time. Really its something we all know but it's always good to see Stevie on these lists. They five players are not ranked in any particular order.

Bleacher Report

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Scott Stevens should have been there. So should Bobby Clarke. I'd take Gretzky out and probably Sakic.

Can't argue with Yzerman, Beliveau and Messier. They should be on anyone's top 5.

[egroen 384]

Scott Stevens should have been there. So should Bobby Clarke. I'd take Gretzky out and probably Sakic.

Can't argue with Yzerman, Beliveau and Messier. They should be on anyone's top 5.

Good choices - I'd probably bump Messier though. Most of these guys became better leaders with age, while Messier literally became a 'bad' captain - demanding too much ice-time, causing division in locker rooms and just believing all his own hype.

Potvin is another guy I consider.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Scott Stevens should have been there. So should Bobby Clarke. I'd take Gretzky out and probably Sakic.

Can't argue with Yzerman, Beliveau and Messier. They should be on anyone's top 5.

Stevens and Yzerman were the definitions of a captain. They'd sacrifice ANYTHING to help the team win, great locker room guys. They both had a way with words and knew when to speak up.

[Barrie 900]

Call me crazy, but I think all this Messier talk as being such a great leader is a little overrated. I don't think he'd be in the conversation if the 1994 Rangers didn't win. There's to much attention on one year.

Just my opinion.

[Nevermind 363]

Call me crazy, but I think all this Messier talk as being such a great leader is a little overrated. I don't think he'd be in the conversation if the 1994 Rangers didn't win. There's to much attention on one year.

Just my opinion.

No, I think you're absolutely right.

[wingslogo19 281]

He's not in the top 5, but who I've always had a lot of respect for is Trevor Linden

[gcom007 1,465]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Bleacher Report is just a giant collection of amateur blogs? Legitimate (if you can still even call them that...) are bad enough, but some of the blogs on that site are just dripping with stupidity; armchair drivel at its best. I'm fine with the idea of people having a blog and a voice, but I think it gets fuzzy when they start trying to pass themselves off as proper journalists when they blatantly are not beholden to the same standards of integrity and accuracy.

[Barrie 900]

No, I think you're absolutely right.

One of my cousins is a Canucks fan. Messier's 3 years in Vancouver, according to my cousin, was a complete joke. They hate him out there.

egroen mentioned Messier's ice time at the end of his career. I've heard he hurt the development of some of the Rangers young players because he wanted first line minutes.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Scott Stevens should have been there. So should Bobby Clarke. I'd take Gretzky out and probably Sakic.

Can't argue with Yzerman, Beliveau and Messier. They should be on anyone's top 5.

f*** Bobby Clarke. He was a highly skilled player on a stacked team protected by goons, but good captain? Good captains don't do things like this unprovoked in friendly exhibition games against obviously undermatched teams:

My choices (no order) would be:

Steve Yzerman

Maurice Richard

Jean Beliveau

Joe Sakic

George Armstrong

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Scott Stevens should have been there. So should Bobby Clarke. I'd take Gretzky out and probably Sakic.

Can't argue with Yzerman, Beliveau and Messier. They should be on anyone's top 5.

Good choices - I'd probably bump Messier though. Most of these guys became better leaders with age, while Messier literally became a 'bad' captain - demanding too much ice-time, causing division in locker rooms and just believing all his own hype.

Potvin is another guy I consider.

These guys get it.

[HockeyTownHouligan 57]

1.Luongo

2.Luongo

3.Luongo

4.Luongo

5.Luongo

:clap: :clap:

[cjm502 165]

Gretzky was a good player but I have never looked at him as a leader. If he was not as good of a player as he was there is absolutely no way he would have had the C. I have always thought Messier was pretty overrated as a captain also. Those two need to be bumped off the list. Someone said Stevens should be on there, I agree with that for sure. There are a lot of guys I would consider over Gretzky and Messier.

Edited February 16, 2011 by cjm502

[Chairman Maouth 97]

Good choices - I'd probably bump Messier though. Most of these guys became better leaders with age, while Messier literally became a 'bad' captain - demanding too much ice-time, causing division in locker rooms and just believing all his own hype.

f*** Bobby Clarke. He was a highly skilled player on a stacked team protected by goons, but good captain? Good captains don't do things like this unprovoked in friendly exhibition games against obviously undermatched teams:

As a 14 year old I played against Clarke in an exhibition game when he was in his prime with the Flyers. I'm surprised he didn't do that to me. He sure as s*** high sticked and speared me. You've got to understand that he just doesn't care. If he was on the ice it was all personal and he had to win no matter who he was playing against. That's part of being a good leader in my opinion.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Chairman Maouth

[vladdy16 2,154]

No love for Mats Sundin? Seeing as how I can never limit myself to 5 of anything, my list would be 7-10 long and Sundin would be in there.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

f*** Bobby Clarke. He was a highly skilled player on a stacked team protected by goons, but good captain? Good captains don't do things like this unprovoked in friendly exhibition games against obviously undermatched teams:

My choices (no order) would be:

Steve Yzerman

Maurice Richard

Jean Beliveau

Joe Sakic

George Armstrong

I hate Clarke more than anyone here, but I won't discredit his reputation as a leader for that franchise.

He was the heart and soul of those Flyers teams, and not just their best player.

[cjm502 165]

No love for Mats Sundin? Seeing as how I can never limit myself to 5 of anything, my list would be 7-10 long and Sundin would be in there.

Thats one person I would have over Gretzky and Messier.

[zombi 43]

No Toews? WTF!

[HankthaTank 1,100]

How come no one has mentioned Bourque? He was definitely one of the greatest leaders in the history of a very very storied franchise. Amazing player too I might add.

NOTE: I can't open this website on my computer for whatever reason so not too sure if it is on bleacherreports list. Just haven't seen a single person mention him on here yet.

[Theophany 110]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Bleacher Report is just a giant collection of amateur blogs? Legitimate (if you can still even call them that...) are bad enough, but some of the blogs on that site are just dripping with stupidity; armchair drivel at its best. I'm fine with the idea of people having a blog and a voice, but I think it gets fuzzy when they start trying to pass themselves off as proper journalists when they blatantly are not beholden to the same standards of integrity and accuracy.

I'm with you; I used to read Bleacher Report "articles" now and again, but stopped when I realized I pretty much had to rant at the stupidity of the authors after almost everything I read on there.

There are hidden gems, but frankly most of the crap over there is just that: crap.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

How come no one has mentioned Bourque? He was definitely one of the greatest leaders in the history of a very very storied franchise. Amazing player too I might add.

NOTE: I can't open this website on my computer for whatever reason so not too sure if it is on bleacherreports list. Just haven't seen a single person mention him on here yet.

Bourque was a great captain.

Reason he wasn't mentioned is because the list narrowed it down to 5 players only. At least that's why I didn't mention him. He'd probably be a candidate for top 10 captains if I had to put that together.

[Hiei 192]

If Saku Koivu would've stayed captain longer in Montreal, i'd put him here.

Yzerman without a doubt

Stevens without a doubt (he may not have been a scoring leader, but by god if he couldn't hit somebody)

Messier gets some credit for winning with the oilers post gretz and then ending the Rags 53 year drought.

Beliveau without a doubt.

Always thought Arnott and Langenbrunner were decent, maybe not top 5 but sure up there.

And lest we forget, Brendan Shanahan was the captain for the Hartford Whalers when we picked him up.

[Barrie 900]

No Toews? WTF!

No Crosby either! This is bogus!

[eva unit zero 271]

Some players not mentioned who captained teams during the same era as Gretzky and Messier who were better captains are Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Scott Stevens, Denis Potvin, Doug Gilmour, Trevor Linden, Ron Francis.

[RusDRW 155]

As a 14 year old I played against Clarke in an exhibition game when he was in his prime with the Flyers. I'm surprised he didn't do that to me. He sure as s*** high sticked and speared me. You've got to understand that he just doesn't care. If he was on the ice it was all personal and he had to win no matter who he was playing against. That's part of being a good leader in my opinion.

following your logic Matt Cooke along with Chris Pronger are the best leaders right now.