Poll: Who is named the next Oilers captain?

[jukon]

I'm content to leave the C on Horcoff for now. I'm interested to see how he can contribute to a team that isn't dead last.

I would like to see Eberle start this season with an A though.

 

[dustrock]

New era, new CBA, let's have a new captain.

There's no way it would happen this year but it should.

If SJ can strip the C from Marleau and give it to JT, Oilers can do the same here.

 

[jukon]

New era, new CBA, let's have a new captain.

There's no way it would happen this year but it should.

If SJ can strip the C from Marleau and give it to JT, Oilers can do the same here.

What better way to mark a new era than naming new captains?

C-Hall
A-Eberle
A-Whitney

 

[Wheatking]

What better way to mark a new era than naming new captains?

C-Hall
A-Eberle
A-Whitney

Hall and Eberle are obvious. I think Whitney might be challenged by Smid for the other A.

Smid is a leader on and off the ice. I was really impressed when I heard that he took time to pick Paajarvi up from the airport and then take him out for lunch when he came to town for the first time for the summer rookie camp. That was in July. Hardly his job.

 

[jukon]

Hall and Eberle are obvious. I think Whitney might be challenged by Smid for the other A.

Smid is a leader on and off the ice. I was really impressed when I heard that he took time to pick Paajarvi up from the airport and then take him out for lunch when he came to town for the first time for the summer rookie camp. That was in July. Hardly his job.

I certainly agree that Smid is a top candidate on the back end. It's a toss up really but I would like to see a veteran keep an A. Horcoff and Hemsky are easily outweighed by Hall and Eberle. Not to mention Whitney has valuable playoff experience from Pittsburgh. If not Whitney than Smid is an excellent choice.

 

[Turrican*]

Hall and Eberle are obvious. I think Whitney might be challenged by Smid for the other A.

Smid is a leader on and off the ice. I was really impressed when I heard that he took time to pick Paajarvi up from the airport and then take him out for lunch when he came to town for the first time for the summer rookie camp. That was in July. Hardly his job.

Thats because he is a good ol' European boy!

 

[ekcut]

To start off, Horcs will not be bought out. As his contract dwindles down, he becomes tradeable especially to a team trying to hit cap floor. His contract is front end loaded so he will be only be slightly overpaid money wise while having a big cap hit. That is desirable to rebuildind teams. So he will be traded if we dont want him..... Which we still do.

2nd...."if" we are changing the guard, which could happen with a new coach, which is possible but doubtful, Eberle is the correct answer.
He is a leader by example, the fiercest competator on the team and very cerebral.

Follow eberle and Hall on twitter and you'll soon see who is a leader and who is 'just' a heck of a hockey player.

Whitney has one skate out of town...that means Smid or Nick Schultz will be an "a"

That leaves one other "a" which ifwe are changing the guard, will go to Nuge.

 

[SeriousBusiness]

Voted Hall. He should already have the C.

 

[AM]

The ghost of Horcoff past.

 

[NeverForget06]

IF horcoff is bought out this season, then Hall-C Smyth-A Smid-A. But if Horcoff lives out the last few years of his contract then I believe Hall will still be captain but perhaps Eberle and Schultz will become A's.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

IF horcoff is bought out this season, then Hall-C Smyth-A Smid-A. But if Horcoff lives out the last few years of his contract then I believe Hall will still be captain but perhaps Eberle and Schultz will become A's.

Pointless, he has NO future with the team, you give the 'A' to Eberle

 

[Njoy Oilers]

IMO Eberle would be a good choice:
-signed long term.
-composure on-ice. Not likely to let the "C" effect his performance or over feed his ego.
-mature enough to bridge the gap between the young guns and the vets.
-with his demeanour, he wouldn't come across as a kid throwing a tantrum when dealing with on-ice officials.
-vanilla enough with the media not to offend us hardcore fans that dissect every word and fill-in-the-blanks to fit our own opinion.

That said, I predict Hall will get it this summer after Horcoff gets bought out. The fans love him and he is already representing the team while courting FAs and at the draft.

Ha. My thoughts exactly. Someone else said he is cerebral compared to Hall when it comes to decision making as well. Oh well.

 

[Evets 81]

Depends to me. If the new captain squad is named after this season(assuming Horcoff gets bought out), then I'd want someone like Smid maybe, who has already become established and understands the way things work. For the A's, Eberle and Smyth(until he retires). Everyone in the dressing room knows the type of player Hall is and sees he is passionate, and they can build off of that energy whether he has a letter or not. I just don't think he should be a full captain quite yet. Wouldn't really be mad if he was named captain though, I can definitely understand why he would be given that title.

If the new captain isn't named until after Horcoff's current contract is up, then I would definitely say Hall for captain, Eberle as an assistant, and the last spot is left up for grabs to whoever takes a leadership role a few years down the road.

 

[s7ark]

General warning. Let's keep the talk on hockey and not unsourced rumours about personal lives.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

The general consensus is that Hall is earmarked to be the next Oiler captain.

The one thing that worries me right now, is the little bit of xenophobia there is between the Fab 4, and the Europeans.
Hall, and Eberle, showed a heck of a lot more camaraderie to Schultz than they did with MPS or Omark, and I wish I wasn't seeing this.


I really hope they don't give Yakupov that same treatment, and really welcome him into the '5'.


;(

 

[Wheatking]

The general consensus is that Hall is earmarked to be the next Oiler captain.

The one thing that worries me right now, is the little bit of xenophobia there is between the Fab 4, and the Europeans.
Hall, and Eberle, showed a heck of a lot more camaraderie to Schultz than they did with MPS or Omark, and I wish I wasn't seeing this.


I really hope they don't give Yakupov that same treatment, and really welcome him into the '5'.


;(

I wouldn't think too much of it. Not everyone has to be friends. It makes sense that 4 Canadian guys would have a lot in common. Just like it made sense that Paajarvi and Omark were drawn to each other. It also probably also wasn't a coincidence that Hemsky and Sykora got along so well. It's likely not just pride in their nation that makes them friends.

Gretzky, Messier, Lowe and Simpson seemed to have a "click" and Gretzky admitted that he and Kurri didn't hang out away from the rink. They don't all have to be best friends.

If Yakupov isn't going out with Hall, Eberle, RNH, Schultz and Whitney away from the rink, it's probably just because they aren't really friends. The Oilers aren't one big happy family and they don't have to be.

 

[DethOfDragnz]

As much as the young guns are the future I really think the C should go to a veteran player, who has the long term experience in the NHL. I think it should go to Smyth until he retires then probably to Hall. I think Hall really has those leadership qualities but I think he needs a few more years under his belt before he gets the C.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I wouldn't think too much of it. Not everyone has to be friends. It makes sense that 4 Canadian guys would have a lot in common. Just like it made sense that Paajarvi and Omark were drawn to each other. It also probably also wasn't a coincidence that Hemsky and Sykora got along so well. It's likely not just pride in their nation that makes them friends.

Gretzky, Messier, Lowe and Simpson seemed to have a "click" and Gretzky admitted that he and Kurri didn't hang out away from the rink. They don't all have to be best friends.

If Yakupov isn't going out with Hall, Eberle, RNH, Schultz and Whitney away from the rink, it's probably just because they aren't really friends. The Oilers aren't one big happy family and they don't have to be.

Being a minority I feel differently about this.

Do you know what its like to be 18 and away from your support network, and then not warmly welcomed by your immediate social circle?

Thankfully MPS had Omark to guide him a bit. He might not have been a great professional mentor by any means, but he was someone he could talk with after the game. Talk girls, videogames, movies, etc.

Good leaders identify Things like slumps, transition periods, They talk to you about it, help you through it, and really make the adjustment easy.




Hall is great with the media, but I don't see him taking a lot of responsibility for helping his other team mates get better. Horcoff had the rookies over for dinner pretty regularly. Something you'd expect from a captain.

I can't see Hall being as welcoming just yet. Maybe in a couple of years. His game is solid, but he does't have his shizzle together.



Being isolated at that age could see that turning an otherwise bright young player like Yakupov into a personality like Zherdev..

 

[sepHF]

The general consensus is that Hall is earmarked to be the next Oiler captain.

The one thing that worries me right now, is the little bit of xenophobia there is between the Fab 4, and the Europeans.
Hall, and Eberle, showed a heck of a lot more camaraderie to Schultz than they did with MPS or Omark, and I wish I wasn't seeing this.


I really hope they don't give Yakupov that same treatment, and really welcome him into the '5'.


;(

Aye I've noticed that a bit too. To be fair though I think they asked MPS to live with them initially but he preferred to live on his own as he had already been for a few years.

That's why it's nice to have guys like Smid and Hemsky, I really hope Ladi gets an A.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Aye I've noticed that a bit too. To be fair though I think they asked MPS to live with them initially but he preferred to live on his own as he had already been for a few years.

That's why it's nice to have guys like Smid and Hemsky, I really hope Ladi gets an A.

Czech's absolutely hate russians.

:/


Hoping Laddy and Ales aren't like that but historically there's a lot of bad blood.

 

[sepHF]

Czech's absolutely hate russians.

:/


Hoping Laddy and Ales aren't like that but historically there's a lot of bad blood.

Hemmer seemed to like Samsanov

 

[Wheatking]

Being a minority I feel differently about this.

Do you know what its like to be 18 and away from your support network, and then not warmly welcomed by your immediate social circle?

Thankfully MPS had Omark to guide him a bit. He might not have been a great professional mentor by any means, but he was someone he could talk with after the game. Talk girls, videogames, movies, etc.

Good leaders identify Things like slumps, transition periods, They talk to you about it, help you through it, and really make the adjustment easy.




Hall is great with the media, but I don't see him taking a lot of responsibility for helping his other team mates get better. Horcoff had the rookies over for dinner pretty regularly. Something you'd expect from a captain.

I can't see Hall being as welcoming just yet. Maybe in a couple of years. His game is solid, but he does't have his shizzle together.



Being isolated at that age could see that turning an otherwise bright young player like Yakupov into a personality like Zherdev..

I don't think Yakupov is going to be a loner or isolated. It sounds like he was one of the more popular players in Sarnia. I'm just saying who's to say Yakupov is even going to want to hang out with Hall and the rest of the young Canadians? Maybe they will become friends but if they don't, I'm sure Yakupov will find a way to survive.

Zherdev didn't turn into a "Zherdev". He was high maintenance from day 1. That's his personality. Yakupov will make friends. He's an extrovert that isn't going to need to be baby sat by Hall.

Czech's absolutely hate russians.

:/


Hoping Laddy and Ales aren't like that but historically there's a lot of bad blood.

I really think you're over analyzing this. I highly doubt two adults are going to ignore a 19 year old just because he's a Russian. For the record, Smid and Grebeshkov were very tight...and Yakupov's stall is beside Hemsky and Smid so I don't think Krueger expects a problem either.

 

[sepHF]

Czech's absolutely hate russians.

:/


Hoping Laddy and Ales aren't like that but historically there's a lot of bad blood.

It's funny that we were just talking about this... Yakupovs been assigned to a locker stall between Hemsky and Smid

 

[Free*]

The sample size is way too small. Nuge has played 2/3rds of a season, Yakupov, Schultz and even Klefbom have played 0 NHL games, who is to say one of them isn't a Yzerman/Lidsrom type captain?

Don't give the C prematurely. They will know who leads the team better, the worst thing ever would be having to change captains in a few years because the players lose confidence. That would sour hockey relations for sure and could split the team.

 

[edmonton_ice]

Blue Collar Town Blue Captain

Smid