Captain: Time To Award A Permanent One

The player wearing the captains 'C' is the identity of the NHL team he represents. And back in the beginning, the Wild brain trust (Risebrough-Lemaire-Tremblay-Ramsey) came up with what I thought was a quirky idea, rotate the player who wears that 'C'. At the time, all I could think about was the great history enjoyed by some of the NHL franchises and the great captains who have represented their teams. You had Yzerman in Detroit, Sundin in Toronto, Messier in Edmonton, New York, & I believe Vancouver, Sakic in Colorado...just a few off the top of my head, but you get the point. There is great history in each franchise and part of that is the team identity and the player who was selected to be the team leader. Then it hit me, this franchise has no history, no identity. The players, although embraced by the fans, were new to the Wild and to Minnesota. And the reality was that it was tough to say who would be coming and who would be going. The rotating captain idea was brilliant.

That was then and this is now. The team, under this regime, has been growing an identity. The history of this franchise is in its infancy, but it is ever evolving and being added to. But the time is right to throw away the rotating captain.

There have been, by my count, 22 different captains of this Wild franchise. Among them there were some very good leaders, with all of them deserving of the honor. I am not sure how the players take to the idea today, but in years past they all talked about how they were honored to be selected. They even had a ceremony, where the player who was selected at a practice session by the brain trust, would skate a lap with his newly 'C' embroidered jersey. It was fun and exciting for fans as well. We kept track of the teams progress and made comparisons according to who happened to be leading the team for that month. But all good things must come to an end.

The month of January is almost over and with it, a new captain will be named for February. As has been the case in the past, sometimes the current captain is a holdover from the previous month, but still not a permanent one. Mikko Koivu should be named the permanent captain. He is this teams identity, has the attention of his teammates, and is well respected throughout the NHL. Koivu is a player that this franchise is building around and there is no explaination that can be given to not name him the permanent team and franchise captain. There is a time and place for every tradition, but this one has outdone its usefulness. The fans know who the captain is...we have our captain...all that is missing is confirmation from our Wild.