With Chris Pronger‘s career looking more and more likely to have the book closed on it in the very near future, the debate over who should be named the next Philadelphia Flyers captain has already begun to rage.
There are a few candidates and a case could certainly be made for each. The real contenders for the ‘C’ will likely booil down to three real possibilities: Claude Giroux, Kimmo Timonen, and Daniel Briere. When you take a real look at the three, there really is no debate as to who should be named captain.
Claude Giroux isn’t the longest tenured Flyer of the three, but you can be sure he’ll be here long after the other two are gone. Giroux is on the cusp of superstardom in the NHL, if he didn’t already reach it in 2011-12. G showed he has the chops and the numbers to be one of the top few players in the National Hockey League for a long time.
But when you’re talking about a captaincy, you’re talking about more than just the numbers. The work ethic and leadership are qualities we’ve seen from Giroux in the past year, particularly in the playoffs.
Giroux really is the total package as a player, both on and off the ice. It’s very hard to argue against him as a choice, expecially when you consider a final factor: his age. Don’t underestimate that part element of this process.
The ‘C’ is obviously serious business in the NHL. I wouldn’t expect them to give it to the defenseman with maybe a year or two left in him, or the forward who constantly finds himself in the middle of trade rumors every summer.
No, you give it to the budding superstar who has become the face of the franchise. At the end of the day, that’s the route I expect them to go and completely expect to see Claude Giroux sporting a ‘C’ on his chest when the season rolls around.
For more on the Flyers’ captaincy debate, Flyers writer David Cattai has made a case for each in his latest series. Give it a look:
