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Habs "C" a Leader in Gionta |
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The Canadiens have finally made official what everyone has known since Francois Gagnon of La Presse reported it on the eve of the annual golf tournament: Brian Gionta is the captain. Andrei Markov and Hal Gill will hold the alternate titles, and this long-winded issue is finally put to bed.
Gionta was the most obvious choice to begin with, despite Markov's tenure with the team. Mike Cammalleri alluded to the importance of Stanley Cup experience as a factor in that decision, and it's clear the Canadiens felt the same way about it.
It wasn't coincidence that of the players Bob Gainey overhauled the Canadiens with, Cammalleri was the only one without Stanley Cup experience (You could count Paul Mara too, but he wasn't brought in for anything more than insurance). Gill, Gionta, Gomez and Moen have all won it. Jaroslav Spacek and Marc-Andre Bergeron have played for it. Cammalleri clearly has that distinct clutch-scoring ability and abundance of strong character that will eventually turn him into a champion.
Gainey chose these players to rebuild the Canadiens with because he didn't have anyone like them in the previous lockerroom. After two years (one very successful one spoiled by a lousy showing in the second round of the playoffs and one brutal awakening in which everything that could go wrong did) Gainey looked around his room and saw nothing that resembled the tradition of the Montreal Canadiens--winners.
Of the many candidates considered in this race, Gionta best embodies winning. His work ethic is second to none on the team. If it wasn't Cammalleri or Plekanec providing the offense last season, it was Gionta. His leadership was a huge factor in their playoff success, and the respect his teammates have for him was apparent from day 1. He always says the right thing, he always stands up for his teammates and he's not too shy to show humility when the team underperforms.
The Canadiens will benefit from this decision. It's important to have a liaison between the coach and players, as it's equally important to have an appointed leader to be looked to in those all-important moments where the team needs to be rallied or awoken. Having a captain is a major contribution to the stability of a team, and one can't help but feel things wouldn't have been as erratic for the Canadiens last season if they had appointed one earlier.
It took time for the players of this team to learn each others' tendencies, characteristics and feelings towards the system being imposed by the coach. It took time for one or two, or three players to grab the reins and have everyone pull in the same direction. All that adjustment time may have been reduced if the team's leadership had been established from the get-go.
But the Canadiens refused to do that. They knew they had leaders in Gomez, Gionta, Gill, Spacek, Markov and Moen. They quickly discovered what they had in Mike Cammalleri, and were convinced throughout the season of Josh Gorges' influence. They wanted to allow leaders to emerge, which was exactly what happened in the playoffs.
Why is Gionta the best pick? Simple. This decision wasn't left to the players, but if it were they'd have likely voted Gionta in. The decision was left to management and it might has well have been made last May, because Pierre Gauthier and the coaching staff had a very clear picture of what was in their room. Gionta put up a career high--15 points in the playoffs last season.
Gionta will have that much more responsibility and pressure to perform over the next four seasons. But he can handle it; coming into his tenth NHL season (should be 11th--lockout 2004-05), having won the Stanley Cup and accomplished great personal feats like his record 48-goal season with the New Jersey Devils (no player has ever scored more for the Devils in a season, including Alex Mogilny and Patrik Elias).
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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