Oh Captain, My Captain

For some now (and Dewey will confirm this), I've been saying that Jerome Iginla is without question the right choice as Captain of Canada's TwentyTen Olympic hockey team.

My reasoning was as follows: The guy is respected among his peers as the best leader in the game...a poll of NHLers earlier this year said just that. Also, the guy is heart and soul (now Dewey, I don't want to hear a tangent about heart again...it matters!). My final contention in reasoning that Iggy was to be captain, was that Sid was just not ready to shoulder that type of burden this early in his career. My thinking was that Iggy would be the perfect choice to "hold" the C for Sid until the next international event, be it the Olympics or the re-emergence of the World Cup of Hockey.

Well...all has changed within the last few days. For those of you with your heads in the sand, the Kid just hoisted the Stanley Cup as the games youngest ever Captain to do so. Not only that, Crosby was a warrior throughout the playoffs, single-handedly guiding his team through the first two rounds of the playoffs before Malkin awoke and stole the show. Plain and simple, the kid can lead. Plain and simple, Team Canada will be Sidney's team. Not that it won't be Iggy's team...but I now contend that Sidney Crosby will wear the "C" for Team Canada next February in Vancouver.

There will be those who say, "It doesn't matter who actually wears the "C", anyone who's been in a dressing room knows that unlettered guys are often the most influential to their teammates." I don't disagree. But I do believe that whoever wears the "C" in Vancouver does not just wear it for the other 22 guys in the dressing room, the captain will be the face of the entire nation. This team cannot win on home ice without the will of the entire nation. The entire nation needs to see and believe in leadership of their captain. Captain of Team Canada might be the most important job in all of hockey. The entire nation now has a leader to believe in, in Sidney Crosby. Along with Iggy, the team already has a head start on the competition.

My prediction for the leadership or next year's team:

Captain - Sidney Crosby
Assistants - Jerome Iginla & Scott Niedermayer (if Scotty boy doesn't decide to retire)