Greatest Captains List

[BenchBrawl]

I understand we're missing a big side of the story when we're talking about captains but I would like to do a list anyway.Perhaps Top 20.I guess stanley cup wins , individual trophies , time spent as the captain of the team blabla... would have be major factors.The idea just popped in my head so I didn't have time to think about it I will try to make a list later but all helps would be appreciated.

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[Classic Devil]

Stevens, Yzerman, Sakic should all be placed on the list somewhere.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Messier, Francis, Brind'Amour, and Lemieux should be somewhere on that list as well.

 

[RabbinsDuck]

Beliveau
Yzerman
Gretzky
Sakic
Potvin
Messier
Stevens
Lemieux

 

[mco543]

This might be a stupid question, but is there a reason centers are named captain more often, or maybe just happen to be better at it, than wingers or defenseman?

 

[smitty10]

1. Wayne Gretzky
2. Mario Lemieux
3. Gordie Howe
4. Maurice Richard
5. Darryl Sittler
6. Jean Beliveau
7. Steve Yzerman
8. Joe Sakic
9. Ray Bourque
10. George Armstrong
11. Mark Messier
12. Gilbert Perreault
13. Bobby Clarke
14. Alex Delvecchio
15. Scott Stevens
16. Denis Potvin
17. Mats Sundin
18. Jaromir Jagr
19. Daniel Alfredsson
20. Rod Langway

HM: Shane Doan, Syl Apps, Yvon Cournoyer, Nik Lidstrom.

Just my opinion and in no particular order. Also, 17-19 I believe are big because they are three of the most famous European players of all time and have contributed a great deal to hockey in Europe.

 

[Gilles Meloche]

This thread screams Bobby Clarke....need a goal he would score it, need a pass he will make it, need a faceoff he will win it, need a hit he will throw it...pure heart and I hate the Flyers

 

[smitty10]

This thread screams Bobby Clarke....need a goal he would score it, need a pass he will make it, need a faceoff he will win it, need a hit he will throw it...pure heart and I hate the Flyers

Yup, I have him on my list.

 

[IggyFan12]

I will only include players I have seen since it is unfair to try compare a Richard to Yzerman when I saw Yzerman and know his leadership skills and would only be guessing about Richard. My list will be from the last 17 years starting from when I was old enough to remember watching hockey.

My top 20:

1) Sakic
2) Yzerman
3) Gretzky
4) Mario
5) Messier
6) Stevens
7) Lindstrom
8) Niedmayer
9) Iginla
10) Gilmour
11) Koivu
12) Crosby
13) Toews
14) Doan
15) Mike Richards
16) Linden
17) Alfredsson
18) Sundin
19) Rod Brindamore
20) Lindross

 

[seventieslord]

1. Jean Beliveau
2. Mark Messier
3. Bobby Clarke
4. Steve Yzerman
5. Milt Schmidt
6. Syl Apps
7. Joe Sakic
8. Scott Stevens
9. Denis Potvin
10. George Armstrong
11. Ron Francis

- what did Maurice Richard do to make a top captains list?

- what did Lemieux do other than play awesome hockey? He's not typically regarded as a great leader or the best sportsman/teammate. Good enough to be an NHL captain, sure, but he shouldn't be on people's top-10s either. Same with Gretzky, to a lesser extent.

- Crosby has a definite shot to end up very high on this list.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

You can vote Gretzky all you want, but hell even say the players looked more to Messier for motivation than him.
my top captains
Messier
Yzerman
Sakic
Bucyk
Stevens

 

[jkrx]

1. Jean Beliveau
2. Mark Messier
3. Bobby Clarke
4. Steve Yzerman
5. Milt Schmidt
6. Syl Apps
7. Joe Sakic
8. Scott Stevens
9. Denis Potvin
10. George Armstrong
11. Ron Francis

- what did Maurice Richard do to make a top captains list?

- what did Lemieux do other than play awesome hockey? He's not typically regarded as a great leader or the best sportsman/teammate. Good enough to be an NHL captain, sure, but he shouldn't be on people's top-10s either. Same with Gretzky, to a lesser extent.

- Crosby has a definite shot to end up very high on this list.

What did Howe do to not make it in the top 10? Otherwize I agree with your notion about Lemieux.

 

[seventieslord]

What did Howe do to not make it in the top 10? Otherwize I agree with your notion about Lemieux.

Gordie? Well, aside from the fact that he spent very little time as a captain, nothing.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

What did Howe do to not make it in the top 10? Otherwize I agree with your notion about Lemieux.

Howe was an NHL captain for what? A couple of unsuccessful years? Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, and Alex Delvecchio were all longer serving captains.

I would definitely have Sid Abel on the greatest captains list. Here is my attempt:

1) Jean Beliveau
2) Mark Messier
3) Bobby Clarke
4) Sid Abel
5) Denis Potvin
5) Scott Stevens
6) Steve Yzerman
7) George Armstrong
8) Dit Clapper
9) Joe Sakic
10) Bill Cook
11) Emile "Butch" Bouchard
12) Syl Apps
13) Wayne Gretzky
14) Milt Schmidt
15) Dave Keon
16) Ted Kennedy
17) Toe Blake
18) Ted Lindsay

After that I can't make up my mind, but the following are all options in no particular order:

Alex Delvecchio
Dirk Graham
Ron Francis
Rod Brind'amour
Sylvio Mantha
Babe Seibert
Guy Carbonneau
Newsy Lalonde
Doug Gilmour
Jarome Iginla
Art Coulter
Mario Lemieux
Shane Doan
Nicklas Lidstrom
Henri Richard

Maurice Richard and Yvon Cournoyer were each captains of dynasties, but strangely there isn't much written on their leadership abilities.

I only included NHL captains, otherwise Boris Mikhailov would have a good shot at the top 10.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Just to be clear , this is not about who was the better player and happens to be captain , but anyway i'm surprised nobody even mention Serge Savard.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Just to be clear , this is not about who was the better player and happens to be captain , but anyway i'm surprised nobody even mention Serge Savard.

With some of the Montreal Canadiens, it's really tough. They have so many great players and leaders, but only one can be captain at a time. And Savard was only captain for 2 years - the two years after the 70s dynasty ended.

 

[VanIslander]

A half dozen overlooked and underappreciated greats:

Harvey Pulford captained Ottawa to Stanley Cup wins over nine challengers; Eddie Gerard captained them to three Stanley Cup playoff championships.

Doug Young captained Detroit to their first two Stanley Cup championships, in back to back seasons, the second time he was injured and couldn't play but still rode the bench and barked encouragement alongside his teammates.

Syl Apps captained Toronto to four Stanley Cup championships.

Denis Potvin captained the Islanders to four Stanley Cup championships.

And the great Soviet captain of the 70s Boris Mikhailov is equal as a leader in international accomplishments.

I'll leave the more recent and popular great captains of hockey history to others.

 

[RabbinsDuck]

You can vote Gretzky all you want, but hell even say the players looked more to Messier for motivation than him.
my top captains
Messier
Yzerman
Sakic
Bucyk
Stevens

Gretzky also says Lemieux was better than him and Larionov had better on-ice vision... he's very generous in his compliments and generally very humble. A lot of the guys listed above are not the vocal "rah rah" type captains.

Fact is Gretzky was captain for 4 of Edmonton's 5 Cups. Maybe Messier can be the greatest alternative captain of all-time.

 

[Regal]

1. Jean Beliveau
2. Mark Messier
3. Bobby Clarke
4. Steve Yzerman
5. Milt Schmidt
6. Syl Apps
7. Joe Sakic
8. Scott Stevens
9. Denis Potvin
10. George Armstrong
11. Ron Francis

- what did Maurice Richard do to make a top captains list?

- what did Lemieux do other than play awesome hockey? He's not typically regarded as a great leader or the best sportsman/teammate. Good enough to be an NHL captain, sure, but he shouldn't be on people's top-10s either. Same with Gretzky, to a lesser extent.

- Crosby has a definite shot to end up very high on this list.

I agree with Lemieux to some extent, but I disagree with Gretzky. He had his issues earlier in his career, being called a whiner, etc (not unlike Crosby), and he may not have been a big speech guy and motivator like Messier, but when you see the best player in the league work as hard as he did and have the passion and will to win that he so obviously did, it's hard not to follow his example.

 

[FinHockey]

I would like to see someone's list of the greatest European-born captains in NHL history.

 

[Unaffiliated]

Of recent captains I only really think of Yzerman, Sakic and Stevens. Lidstrom somewhat as well, but the first three moreso.

edit: Lemieux =/= recent for this.

 

[seventieslord]

Howe was an NHL captain for what? A couple of unsuccessful years? Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, and Alex Delvecchio were all longer serving captains.

I would definitely have Sid Abel on the greatest captains list. Here is my attempt:

1) Jean Beliveau
2) Mark Messier
3) Bobby Clarke
4) Sid Abel
5) Denis Potvin
5) Scott Stevens
6) Steve Yzerman
7) George Armstrong
8) Dit Clapper
9) Joe Sakic
10) Bill Cook
11) Emile "Butch" Bouchard
12) Syl Apps
13) Wayne Gretzky
14) Milt Schmidt
15) Dave Keon
16) Ted Kennedy
17) Toe Blake
18) Ted Lindsay

After that I can't make up my mind, but the following are all options in no particular order:

Alex Delvecchio
Dirk Graham
Ron Francis
Rod Brind'amour
Sylvio Mantha
Babe Seibert
Guy Carbonneau
Newsy Lalonde
Doug Gilmour
Jarome Iginla
Art Coulter
Mario Lemieux
Shane Doan
Nicklas Lidstrom
Henri Richard

Maurice Richard and Yvon Cournoyer were each captains of dynasties, but strangely there isn't much written on their leadership abilities.

I only included NHL captains, otherwise Boris Mikhailov would have a good shot at the top 10.

Good calls on Abel, Bouchard, Clapper, and Kennedy.

VI - good calls on Gerard and Pulford, too.

I agree with Lemieux to some extent, but I disagree with Gretzky. He had his issues earlier in his career, being called a whiner, etc (not unlike Crosby), and he may not have been a big speech guy and motivator like Messier, but when you see the best player in the league work as hard as he did and have the passion and will to win that he so obviously did, it's hard not to follow his example.

Let me just clarify that my "criticisms" of Lemieux only apply to Gretzky in very minute quanitities. I think he's a great leader. I just don't think that his reputation as a leader warrants top-10 status and it's too easy to put him there just because of how great a player he was.

(similarly, jkrx just asked about Gordie Howe, who was rarely a captain, and in a current all-time draft I'm in, we had to talk a guy out of giving Orr a letter because there were three better leaders on the roster)

 

[Johnny Engine]

Howe was an NHL captain for what? A couple of unsuccessful years? Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, and Alex Delvecchio were all longer serving captains.

I would definitely have Sid Abel on the greatest captains list. Here is my attempt:

1) Jean Beliveau
2) Mark Messier
3) Bobby Clarke
4) Sid Abel
5) Denis Potvin
5) Scott Stevens
6) Steve Yzerman
7) George Armstrong
8) Dit Clapper
9) Joe Sakic
10) Bill Cook
11) Emile "Butch" Bouchard
12) Syl Apps
13) Wayne Gretzky
14) Milt Schmidt
15) Dave Keon
16) Ted Kennedy
17) Toe Blake
18) Ted Lindsay

Ted Kennedy definitely deserves to be higher, and Dave Keon kicked right off, that list. We all know Keon was as exemplary a player, but I've heard so many negative reports about his personality (including Lanny McDonald saying he "did nothing" for him as a rookie), that it's hard to consider him a leader anywhere besides the ice, let alone the 15th best captain in NHL history.

A little disappointed with the lack of Eddie Gerard love here. Edit: nevermind, I see VI mentioned him.

 

[jkrx]

Gordie? Well, aside from the fact that he spent very little time as a captain, nothing.

Sorry, I was thinking strictly of leadership qualities and not if they had a "C" on their chest.

As I watch the lists I happened to notice that there is only NHL captains. What about Mihkailov, Jörgen and Kenny Jönsson? I wouldnt say that NHL captains are better than international team captains.

Edit: Also the lists seems to favour captains on good teams while I would say Darryl Sittler and Alfredsson are/were incredible captains for their teams.

 

[timekeep]

This thread screams Bobby Clarke....need a goal he would score it, need a pass he will make it, need a faceoff he will win it, need a hit he will throw it...pure heart and I hate the Flyers

My thoughts exactly, but I don't hate the Flyers.