O Captain, My Captain

So, Mike Fisher is hanging up the skates and riding off into the sunset with his beautiful wife. But where does that leave the Predators? In search of a new captain, obviously. It’s never easy to replace an important player on a team that reached the championship round of their sport, and it’s even tougher to replace the veteran captain that helped lead the team to that round. This is just my opinion on who should take the reins and lead this team, hopefully, back to another Stanley Cup Final.

First, I’d like to talk about what Mike Fisher brought to this team in terms of on ice production as well as off-ice leadership. In 17 seasons (11 with the Ottawa Senators, 7 with the Nashville Predators), he amassed 276 goals and 309 assists for a total of 585 points in 1,088 games played. Anyone who can use google can find those stats. What you can’t find so easily is the professionalism he displayed, the grit he brought to every single game, the way he defended his teammates, or the influence he had on the community. Mike Fisher will be missed in Smashville, and throughout the league. Barring a Brett Favre-esque saga, Fish will stay retired and that means one thing: We gotta pick a new captain!

Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subban, Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg are probably the front runners for the job, and each one of those guys would probably wear the “C” with pride and represent the club adequately. But, again, picking a new captain can’t be an easy task for a club that was just two wins away from the pinnacle of their sport. This article will try to explain who I think is deserving of the captaincy and who I think will end up receiving the highly coveted title.

As a novice hockey fan, I’m still learning the intricacies and nuances of the game. But, some things were pretty easy to pick up on and jumped out at me. One guy, specifically, was so magnetic to me that I could not have picked any other player as my personal favorite. P.K. Subban is one of the most polarizing figures in the NHL, undoubtedly. Some fans hate him, while others absolutely adore him, for good reason. He’s a wonderful role model and benefactor for children in the two cities he has now played. Subban has already adapted to the city affectionately referred as Smashville, even offering up his best Johnny Cash impersonation in a city that lives and breathes country music. On the ice, he’s an amazingly talented defenseman, who can skate with the speed and skill of a forward, and has already won a Norris Trophy.  Fans in Montreal couldn’t believe management would trade a fan favorite like Subban, who seemingly was on the verge on being named captain there. He may not have done himself any favors in the City of Saints, by fighting with teammates in practice and butting heads with the front office and coaching staff, but his talent and leadership abilities were put on full display during Nashville’s historic cup run. His tenure with the Preds may be considerably shorter than more deserving candidates, but his marketability, leadership, and talent make him my personal top pick for the next captain of the Nashville Predators.

Now, this article wouldn’t be worth a read if I didn’t also talk about the player that will probably be awarded the highest honor a team can bestow upon them. Roman Josi is a heck of a player, finishing fourth on the team with 49 points and led the defensive corps. Another All-World defenseman that Nashville has stockpiled over the years, originally a second round pick that has blossomed into a top pairing D-Man, is the longest tenured D-man on the roster currently. He’s more of the strong, silent type who lets his play do the talking, a la Shea Weber who wore the “C” for four seasons before being traded to Montreal for P.K. Josi is young and has a very team-friendly deal.

Now, none of us can say who’s the de facto leader in the dressing room, but as a fan of the team who watched as much hockey as I could over the last year and a half, these two men are by far the most deserving in my eyes. I look forward to seeing one of them wearing that “C” on the new uniforms the Preds will don next season as we push towards another Stanley Cup Final.