A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: The Team Doesn’t Need A Captain

By Lissa Albert

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May 14, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) faces the media during a press conference at the Bell Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

One name that comes up all the time is Carey Price. What people may not know is that goaltenders are exempt from wearing a letter, that same Rule 6.1:

"No playing Coach or playing Manager or goalkeeper shall be permitted to act as Captain or Alternate Captain."

There are logical reasons for this: a goaltender cannot leave his crease to discuss matters of penalties or rules with the referees, or conduct any of the other duties a captain does (ceremonial face-offs, for example).

But anyone who follows the team knows that the unnamed captain of the Habs has been Carey Price for more than just this season. He displays the leadership qualities of calm, level-headedness and maturity. It’s been said he speaks up in the room for motivation, and he certainly shows that he stands tall as a leader on the team.

He just doesn’t need a letter on his jersey to prove that. And if he doesn’t, why does there necessarily have to be any player with that “C”?

Brendan Gallagher weighed in, when interviewed on “locker clean-out day”:

I don’t believe the Habs will remain captainless. When asked at his post-season press conference, Marc Bergevin had this to say:

"The captain debate isn’t for today. It’s a conversation we’ll have later. Someone like Brendan Gallagher has a lot of potential … he’s a player with a formidable work ethic, who doesn’t take games off, doesn’t even take shifts off. … Gallagher is a player who eventually could have a letter on his jersey. He has a lot of leadership qualities."

But in March of this year, in a conversation with Journal de Montréal’s Renaud Lavoie, Bergevin hinted that it is a question to be pondered. He stated that he was happy with the way things were, and that naming a captain was no certainty. And that has made me wonder.

Here’s my radical idea: what if there were no captain at all? What if – as long as there is no hard-and-fast rule in the NHL mandating one – the team went with the 4-A trend? It worked well this season, and the team succeeded despite not having a “C” on anyone’s jersey.

I have to go back to Markov’s statement that there should not be just one leader on a team, but 22 leaders. Is there a real need for a named captain, or can the Habs continue with everyone stepping up, and the named alternates playing the official roles as needed?

Of course they can continue this way. They did, all year long.

And I’d love to know what you think. Should there be a captain named for the Canadiens’ 2015-16 season? Leave your vote, and any comments below. Maybe this idea isn’t so radical after all!

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