Your Top 10 Captains of All Time

[RyK15*]

I don't feel that any Captain who never won a Cup should be included. Also, it's important to remember that talent and leadership are 2 different things. Just because Gretzky won 4 doesn't make him the greatest Captain, because remember, he couldn't win one with the C in LA. Without including anybody pre-expansion, here's what I've got:

1. Yzerman
2. Messier
3. Potvin
4. Sakic
5. Stevens
6. Gretzky
7. Clarke
8. Lemieux
9. Gainey
10. Lidstrom

Click to read more...

 

[Reds4Life]

I can't put them in order, but I do know I would have Jean Beliveau up there for sure.

 

[Dark Shadows]

I don't feel that any Captain who never won a Cup should be included. Also, it's important to remember that talent and leadership are 2 different things. Just because Gretzky won 4 doesn't make him the greatest Captain, because remember, he couldn't win one with the C in LA. Without including anybody pre-expansion, here's what I've got:

1. Yzerman
2. Messier
3. Potvin
4. Sakic
5. Stevens
6. Gretzky
7. Clarke
8. Lemieux
9. Gainey
10. Lidstrom

Ill come up with a list later, but that is a bit off on Gretzky. It's hard to fault him for not winning a cup with LA. He played amazing and clutch and lead by example, but nobody was beating Roy that year.

Many players will credit Gretzky's will to win and dedication to effort making them the players they became. Mario Lemieux included, who was a guy with all the tools, but lacked the winning effort and coasted on his talent until he played with Gretzky in the Canada cup and when he saw just how hard Wayne played even in practice, giving his all every second he was on the ice, and showing unparalleled dedication. Lemieux cites this as the turning point in his career when he saw what it took to be the best.

A story you hear repeated by almost everyone Gretzky ever played with. Sather once said the rest of the team looked at Wayne, who was easily the best' and took the attitude "Wayne works so hard, we have to too"

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I don't understand why Yzerman tops these lists for so many younger posters. He won 3 Cups sure, but look at the strength of the Detroit roster compared, to say the New Jersey roster. Yzerman, like Scott Stevens, deserved a ton of credit for changing his game to be more team-oriented at the expense of individual accolades, and for getting his team to follow. But Stevens led a much weaker team talentwise to basically the exact same succcess. (3 Cups and a 4th final).

Also, a general observation: If you want your list to be truly and "all time" list, you should really include players from before 1970.

Sid Abel and Jean Beliveau are must-adds to start.

 

[Reds4Life]

I don't understand why Yzerman tops these lists for so many younger posters. He won 3 Cups sure, but look at the strength of the Detroit roster compared, to say the New Jersey roster. Yzerman, like Scott Stevens, deserved a ton of credit for changing his game to be more team-oriented at the expense of individual accolades, and for getting his team to follow. But Stevens led a much weaker team talentwise to basically the exact same succcess. (3 Cups and a 4th final).

Also, a general observation: If you want your list to be truly and "all time" list, you should really include players from before 1970.

Sid Abel and Jean Beliveau are must-adds to start.

Why should that matter at all? You could be the greatest captain ever with no championships. Abel, Stevens, Yzerman, Sakic, Beliveau, Lidstrom, Potvin, Bourque, Gretzky...whoever .. you cannot possibly tell who was the greatest captain. You can find praise etc. for every single great player ever.

 

[toob]

I don't understand why Yzerman tops these lists for so many younger posters. He won 3 Cups sure, but look at the strength of the Detroit roster compared, to say the New Jersey roster. Yzerman, like Scott Stevens, deserved a ton of credit for changing his game to be more team-oriented at the expense of individual accolades, and for getting his team to follow. But Stevens led a much weaker team talentwise to basically the exact same succcess. (3 Cups and a 4th final).

I personally never understood equating winning with leadership which so many do (and Stevie himself has a great quote about this linking of the two in Shooting From the Lip). I do think Yzerman is a great leader but many of the examples of why come before he won anything. I also dont know how to rank based on leadership and dont understand how/why people do it because it is way too nebulous.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Why should that matter at all? You could be the greatest captain ever with no championships. Abel, Stevens, Yzerman, Sakic, Beliveau, Lidstrom, Potvin, Bourque, Gretzky...whoever .. you cannot possibly tell who was the greatest captain. You can find praise etc. for every single great player ever.

I agree with you here that it's really tough to tell those guys apart. We could call all of them "great captains" and leave it at that without ranking them.

I just don't know why when these lists are made out, Yzerman is almost always over Stevens.

 

[BraveCanadian]

I agree with you here that it's really tough to tell those guys apart. We could call all of them "great captains" and leave it at that without ranking them.

I just don't know why when these lists are made out, Yzerman is almost always over Stevens.

Because no one likes the Devils.

 

[nik jr]

I personally never understood equating winning with leadership which so many do (and Stevie himself has a great quote about this linking of the two in Shooting From the Lip). I do think Yzerman is a great leader but many of the examples of why come before he won anything. I also dont know how to rank based on leadership and dont understand how/why people do it because it is way too nebulous.

completely agree

imo, it is basically impossible without being close to the players.

 

[tazzy19]

Gretzky led by example. His drive to win was infectious, and his dedication to personal and team success rubbed off on every player around him in a way that supersedes the vocal style of many of the aforementioned players. He led in a quieter way, but just as effective IMO.

 

[edog37]

I don't feel that any Captain who never won a Cup should be included. Also, it's important to remember that talent and leadership are 2 different things. Just because Gretzky won 4 doesn't make him the greatest Captain, because remember, he couldn't win one with the C in LA. Without including anybody pre-expansion, here's what I've got:

1. Yzerman
2. Messier
3. Potvin
4. Sakic
5. Stevens
6. Gretzky
7. Clarke
8. Lemieux
9. Gainey
10. Lidstrom

how is Sakic & Stevens ahead of Gretzky & Lemieux? And Clarke before Lemieux? I realize this is just for fun, but some biases definitely come through. Also agree with other posters about Beliveau....

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Toews is the all time leader in the intangibles stat, he should be on this list.

But as a Leafs fan, when I think leadership, I think Wendel Clark. I am not a huge fan of him as a player, but the guy did everything you could ask of a captain. He did not win a Cup, but I have never been one to judge individuals based on team accomplishments. That kind of logic leads me to believe some people would genuinely place Claude Lemieux over Eric Lindros, just as an example. After all, Lemieux had a hell of a post season career, right?

 

[FrozenJagrt]

how is Sakic & Stevens ahead of Gretzky & Lemieux? And Clarke before Lemieux? I realize this is just for fun, but some biases definitely come through. Also agree with other posters about Beliveau....

No out of this world to place Bobby Clarke over Mario Lemieux in terms of leadership. Lemieux was a pretty selfish player and not much of a leader for the first half of his career. I say that with the personal belief (see: bias) that Mario was the greatest player to ever lace them up.

 

[begbeee]

Messier & Stevens are my favourites.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

In no particular order:

Beliveau
Potvin
Stevens
Messier
Gretzky
M.Richard
Lindsay
Armstrong
Clarke
Apps

 

[Sturminator]

Not one mention of Bill Cook? How about Ted Kennedy? I'm not surprised nobody mentions Eddie Gerard, but is it asking too much for an all-time list to include all of post-consolidation NHL history?

 

[Slapshooter]

To be honest, captains are extremly hard to rank from a fan point of view. A very little actual data is available and you have to rely mainly on anecdotes by players and coaches.

 

[Little Ball of Hate]

1. Yzerman
2. Messier
3. Potvin
4. Sakic
5. Stevens
6. Gretzky
7. Clarke
8. Lemieux
9. Gainey
10. Lidstrom

Pretty good list. I'd move Gretzky up above Stevens and Sakic seeing as he won 4 Cups as captain. He might not have been the quintessential captain but the results are there.

How about Chara?

 

[Ishdul]

I hate the equating of good captaining with captaining a Cup winner. There's some correlation, sure, but it's such a lazy way to determine who is the best captain, as if captains who are on bad teams or just less talented themselves weren't giving good enough locker room speeches or weren't "leading by example". I am certain that if you took a poll of who the best captains right now are you would get, in some order, Lidstrom, Toews, Crosby and Chara as the first 4 picks, and people will agree that Thornton or Sedin or Ovechkin or whoever else was a great captain if their teams happen to win it all. I fully agree with the people who said that we have no clue who the best captains are.

 

[Hobnobs]

how is Sakic & Stevens ahead of Gretzky & Lemieux? And Clarke before Lemieux? I realize this is just for fun, but some biases definitely come through. Also agree with other posters about Beliveau....

I dont even see how Lemieux made the list.

 

[04' hockey]

Clarke has to be top 2 or 3 alltime.....did those Flyers teams, man for man, have ANY real chance to beat Bobby Orr and those Bruins ??

Clarke's leadership was the difference.....haven't seen a Flyers team that "tight" since.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

I dont even see how Lemieux made the list.

Markus Naslund on Mario Lemieux's leadership:

What I learned most from him is that Mario has something that not a lot of people have. He doesn't think he ever is going to fail. When you always have that approach, that you're going to make it, that you are going to make a difference, the mind is a pretty powerful thing.'

 

[No 19]

Joe Sakic
Steve Yzerman
Jarome Iginla
Sidney Crosby
Saku Koivu
Scott Stevens
Mario Lemieux
Jean Beliveau
Wayne Gretzky
Nicklas Lidstrom
Trevor Linden
Markus Naslund

 

[MXD]

Joe Sakic
Steve Yzerman
Jarome Iginla
Sidney Crosby
Saku Koivu
Scott Stevens
Mario Lemieux
Jean Beliveau
Wayne Gretzky
Nicklas Lidstrom
Trevor Linden
Markus Naslund

While Koivu is sometimes unfairly bashed in regards to his capitaincy, he just doesn't belong there.

... Markus Naslund, really?!

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

My post was going to be "Trevor Linden?". Then I saw Naslund....