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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 3088196" data-attributes="member: 2012">Sakic leads captains in seniorityCanadian Press9/26/2006 2:22:07 PMJoe Sakic begins the new season as the NHL's longest-serving captain.The 37-year-old centre inherited the distinction when Steve Yzerman retired after 20 years in the role with the Detroit Red Wings.Sakic was named captain of the Quebec Nordiques in 1992, and he has continued to lead the team since it moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995.Mats Sundin, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs since 1997, has the second-longest tenure.Montreal's Saku Koivu and Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson assumed the responsibility in 1999, Vancouver's Markus Naslund has had the distinction since 2000, Edmonton made Jason Smith captain in 2001 and Calgary gave the C to Jarome Iginla in 2003.Others continuing on in the captain's role are Mike Modano in Dallas, Scott Niedermayer in Anaheim, Olli Jokinen in Florida, Shane Doan in Phoenix, Patrick Marleau in San Jose, Mattias Norstrom in Los Angeles, Scott Mellanby in Atlanta, Alexei Yashin of the Islanders, Dallas Drake in St. Louis, Adrian Aucoin in Chicago and Rod Brind'Amour of the Hurricanes."Rod is by far the best captain I've ever played with," says Carolina forward Eric Staal. "He's a guy that's going to say things at the right time."He lets you do what you need to do to get prepared but he's not going to let anything slide. He's the hardest-working player I've ever seen and you need that, especially from your captain. He's just a great guy all-around and we're so lucky to have him as our leader."Nine of the 30 teams will have new or no captains.Centre Peter Forsberg takes over in Philadelphia from the retired Keith Primeau and says he hopes to emulate Sakic, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1996 and in 2001. Forsberg plays a rambunctious style of hockey, but he's not a screamer."Joe wasn't real vocal either," says Forsberg. "He led by example."He was always the last one off the ice. He doesn't need to scream and yell. He's just a great captain, a great leader."Adam Foote, a key cog on defence on those championship Avalanche rosters, is the new captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Luke Richardson was captain last year before being traded.Defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom is expected to take over from Yzerman in Detroit, although the Red Wings are being coy."We're going to name a captain opening night," coach Mike Babcock said during training camp.Star right-winger Jaromir Jagr is expected to be named captain of the New York Rangers, although no official confirmation has been forthcoming.Tim Taylor is the new captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chris Clark takes over in Washington.Nashville will name a new captain to replace Greg Johnson, who now is in Detroit, before the start of the season. Prime candidates are Paul Kariya, Kimmo Timonen and Steve Sullivan.Boston hasn't had a captain since Joe Thornton was traded last Nov. 30, and the Bruins have yet to make an announcement for this season.New Jersey went without a captain last season and nobody has been tabbed for the C thus far.The Minnesota Wild select a different captain each month.Pittsburgh has decided it won't have a captain."The biggest reason why is out of respect for what Mario Lemieux did for this franchise," explained head coach Michel Therrien. "We'll keep doing what we did after Mario retired last year."Teen sensation Sidney Crosby will ascend to the post, but not quite yet.Taylor, a third-line centre, is an excellent example of a team opting for a player with a strong work ethic rather than star status to wear the C.Taylor got to know some of the most respected captains in recent league history as a teammate of Yzerman in Detroit, Ray Bourque in Boston and Mark Messier with the Rangers."You can't fly off the handle when things aren't going well," says Taylor. "At the same time, you have to keep an even keel even when things are going real well."Previous captain Dave Andreychuk retired last winter.Clark is another not-so-big-name with a C. He replaces Jeff Halpern, who left for Dallas via free agency. Olaf Kolzig would be the captain but the rules disallow goaltenders because the league doesn't want goalies skating from the crease to the penalty box to debate referees' calls.The Capitals had considered 2006 rookie of the year Alexander Ovechkin but the Russian forward declined, saying he wants to improve his English before taking on such a responsibility."Leadership is not a sometime thing or a come and go thing," GM George McPhee explained in picking Clark. "It is an all-the-time thing."Chris Clark has all-the-time leadership qualities. He is a leader in the mould of one of our all-time favourites, Dale Hunter, who was a quiet man off the ice, a cantankerous, ultra-competitive player on the ice."</blockquote>

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