Captaincy Removed

[Macke*]

The Vancouver love in with Linden really goes over the top sometimes... I mean we get it he was apart of a Cinderella team that lost in 94 stop bringing it up every 10 seconds.

I mean the stuff you read on the message boards, hear the radio is just way to much.

You have radio hosts in Vancouver on the 1040 who have stated that in his prime Linden was a top 30 player of all time (Blake Price) and Dave Pratt calling Trevor a Hall of Famer thanks to his work with the NHLPA.

 

[Moses Doughty]

Hmmmmmmmmm.................

Messier signed for the 1997-98 season in a three year $20 million deal and had his worst season since he was a rookie points wise and then was injured for the next two seasons.

And the Canucks during his tenure?

1997-98 - Out of Playoffs
1998-99 - Out of Playoffs
1999-00 - Out of Playoffs

No idea why they would hold a grudge based upon that.

You blame him for being injured for two years? I'm sure he did it on purpose. And yeah he did suck his fitrst year though

 

[thefifthsedin*]

Bure delivered "the mother of all elbows" to Shane Churla if you recall

i recall that, but that was retaliation for being bullied, he did it to bryan marchment and todd simpson too. the only reason don cherry made a deal out of it and called it 'the mother of all elbows' was that he didn't liked bure for bure being russian. simple as that. had a canadian, say bobby clarke or phil esposito who did the same stuff on regular basis, done the same thing he hadn't fuzzed about it.

so here's 'the father of all elbows'

 

[Oilers1*]

i recall that, but that was retaliation for being bullied, he did it to bryan marchment and todd simpson too. the only reason don cherry made a deal out of it and called it 'the mother of all elbows' was that he didn't liked bure for bure being russian. simple as that. had a canadian, say bobby clarke or phil esposito who did the same stuff on regular basis, done the same thing he hadn't fuzzed about it.

so here's 'the father of all elbows'

Not that Messier wouldn't throw an elbow, but that definately was not one.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

NHL coach extrordinaire Rick Ley stripped Ron Francis of the captaincy of the Whalers for Pat Verbeek. Francis was traded soon after and we all know how well that turned out.

 

[gerhart]

Not that Messier wouldn't throw an elbow, but that definately was not one.

Modano had just gained control of the puck and that was certainly not an elbow. Great hit!

 

[cupcrazyman]

didn't Crazy Harold Ballard remove the "C" from Sittler ?

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

didn't Crazy Harold Ballard remove the "C" from Sittler ?

In Brian McFarlane's book "History of Hockey," he shows a letter of resignation from Sittler as team captain due to the Leafs trading of Lanny McDonald to the Colorado Rockies. Within the letter is "I have had little or no contact with Mr. Imlach and it is clear that he and I have different ideas about player and management communication ... I don't want to let my teammates down. But I have to be honest with myself..."

 

[CapsCrazyX17]

Adam Oates was stripped of his captaincy in DC after demanding a trade.

Similarly, a disgruntled Brendan Witt was stripped of his co-captaincy after he asked to be traded.

There were lots of disgruntled Caps during those "dark-days" of Bruce Cassidy and Jagr

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

"mostly Coach Keenan"???

Many try to pin it on Mike Keenan. That was done before Keenan came to Vancouver. It was done by the unethical sleazeball Pat Quinn - you know the guy banned for life from the NHL for "conduct prejudicial to the game" per Quinngate.

What was worse was Messier being given Number 11 that had been retired on the death of Wayne Maki. Even more astonishing was that Quinn had been a teammate of Maki when he was a Canuck.

Quinn was GM when Messier was signed and if you recall he initiated the PR fiasco of giving Wayne Maki's #11 to Messier. Number 11 was retired in honour of Wayne Maki. Pat Quinn lied when he said it was not and gave it to Messier.

As far as "unofficially retired" it depends upon who you listen to. As a matter of course I immediately reject anything Pat Quinn has to say given his past history of being a stranger to the truth.


Maki jersey status unresolved; [Final Edition] Elliott Pap. The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, B.C.: Oct 17, 1997. pg. C.1

And this:

Canucks look rich and confused; [Final Edition]
By Damien Cox Toronto Star. Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Aug 28, 1997. pg. D.9

The Maki family was never consulted before Messier was given Number 11 despite Messier's and Quinn's lies to the contrary.

The Big Irishman is scum of the worst order and John Zeigler should not have commuted his lifetime ban from the NHL to a supension and fine for Quinngate.

Your hate for Quinn sees no limits does it

 

[thefifthsedin*]

Modano had just gained control of the puck and that was certainly not an elbow. Great hit!

uh, yes? ... great hit?

sneaking up from behind like a second class pickpocketer, hitting an unsuspecting player in the head, really classy move right there

or is it that that's called leadership?, i may have missed the whole point ...

 

[David Puddy]

Bruce Driver was given the captaincy of the New Jersey Devils on opening day of the 1991-92 season 15 days after Kirk Muller was traded after walking out of camp.

I came across a New York Times article that wrote that Driver, who had served as the Devils' representative to the NHLPA for sometime prior to being named team captain, wished to be replaced as the union representative, but President/GM Lou Lamoriello and Head Coach Herb Brooks chose to name Scott Stevens captain on September 24, 1992.

The naming of Scott Stevens as captain, however, had everything in the world to do with Stevens. His leadership and impact on the team was strongly fealt in his first year in New Jersey. If Scott Stevens wasn't on the Devils roster, I doubt that Driver would have been removed as team captain.

Patrik Elias was stripped of his captaincy when Brent Sutter became the coach of NJ. We were never really given a good explanation. Sutter's official line was that he wanted to make players earn the captaincy in camp. Elias had been the captain for only a year and seemed at times to struggle with the pressure, so that was part of it. Either way, it was handled in a very Bush League fashion - Elias found out that he was stripped of the captaincy through the media, not from his new coach - and it fueled rumors that Sutter didn't like Europeans very much. Eventually the captaincy was given to Langenbrunner without much explanation.

It worked out in the end - Langenbrunner has settled into becoming a nice captain - but it certainly was not handled well.

Patrik Elias really didn't have a bad season as Devils captain. He put up 69 PTS, which led the team, in 75 GP. That was his fourth best season in terms of point production. Elias also put up 10 PTS in 10 playoff games while wearing the "C." In the following season as a rotating alternate-captain, Elias only had 55 PTS in 74 GP.

That's why I don't really go along with the notion of Elias being burdened by the captaincy.


Jamie Langenbrunner had what for him was an average season, 13 Goals and 41 PTS in 64 GP, when he first became captain. I do remember reading the odd "take the 'C' away from him" comment during that season. If he had another season like that over 82 games in 2008-09, I doubt that there would be as wide respect for him as captain among fans.


There is one last thing to add about Elias. He eventually set up a meeting with Brent Sutter to find out why Sutter seemed to personally dislike Elias.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Your hate for Quinn sees no limits does it

It is limited by his unethical behaviour.

 

[Remington 700]

Messier has six Stanley Cups and internationally three Canada Cup Tournaments (1984, 1987 and 1991), one World Championship (1989) and one World Cup (1996). 38 international games and 32 points.

Canada finished second in that world cup, but point taken. I'm biased though I can not stand Messier. When I was a kid Petr Nedved was my favriote player and Messier went out of his way to torture him.