Friday, September 18, 2009

Captaincy in the New Era of Wild Hockey

The Strib’s Wild beat writer Mike Russo wrote an article about the Wild captaincy today. So this post may feel like I’m piggybacking…but the planning for this post started a couple weeks ago. One of the first things that popped into my scattered brain when Todd Richards was named coach was the captaincy. Finally, it seemed we may abolish Jacques Lemaire’s rotating captaincy. So, I set out to take the pulse of the Wild fans in my life. Here are the questions I asked and the results:

Should the Wild go with 1 captain all season?
The answer to this question was a unanimous “Yes.” The rotating captaincy has run it’s course.

Who Should Start the Season as Captain?
Almost unanimously, Mikko Koivu is the fan’s choice captain the Wild in this year of transition. Nick Schultz got one vote. Pavol Demitra also received a vote, but that was after a few beers and it was later determined that this voter meant Mikko Koivu.

Outcry for Koivu to be named permanent captain started last season, so this is no surprise. Wild fans have handed the “face of the franchise” tag over to Koivu. Women want him. Men want to be him. He’s on the brink of superstardom in Minny.

Who should be the Alternates?
There was a little more variety on the alternates. A very little. By the numbers, it’s Brent Burns and Nick Schultz with Andrew Brunette on standby for injury purposes.

The Official Word
Here are the Wild 2009-2010 captains based on the fan vote:

C: Mikko Koivu
 

A: Brent Burns



A: Nick Schultz

Do you agree with this captaincy group? How would you change it up? Do you think Todd Richards will go this route? Post your thoughts in the comments!

1 comment:

  1. Koivu - C
    Nolan - A
    Brunette - A

    I guess I would not mind seeing Burns or Schultz as alternates either.

    ReplyDelete

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