If the Captain Fits - hockey player Mark Messier

Hockey Digest, Feb, 2001 by John Kreiser

With hockey's ultimate leader, Mark Messier, back in the Big Apple, we take a bite out of the most prestigious, player leadership honor in pro sports: the NHL captain

MARK MESSIER'S FIRST NAME isn't "Captain." It only seems that way.

As brilliant as Messier has been on the ice--he'll likely finish his career in the top five in career goals and points--he'll be remembered more for the leadership skills that have made him the prototype NHL captain.

Not everyone can wear the "C"--there have been only about 400 full-time NHL captains since the NHL's inception in 1916-17. Bobby Orr never wore tree. Neither did Guy Lafleur or Bobby Hull, Mike Bossy or Marcel Dionne. But the "C" has followed Messier and a scant few others around like a puppy dog. Messier has been a captain in every sea son since 1988-89--despite changing teams three times. But superstardom isn't a requirement for wearing the "C". Terry Ruskowski, a journeyman forward, was also a captain for three different NHL teams--as well as the WHA's Winnipeg Jets--not bad for a player who had only 113 goals in 10 NHL seasons.

The captaincy can be can be a family affair. It's been worn by two Richard brothers in Montreal and four Sutter brothers in various outposts around the league. It's even been a father-son thing: Both Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings) and son Mark (Hartford Whalers) were captains during their careers.

There are captains in the other major team sports, but in no other is the Captaincy as important as it is in hockey. An NHL captain is a team leader and a team spokesman, on and off the ice. He has to have heart--and the ability to be heartless. The job description can range from having to light a fire under a player whose work habits may not be up to snuff to helping a new teammate get settled. He's a social director, a bridge between players and management, and, almost certainly, its most dedicated, if not best, player. A captain is a team's communicator, a critic, a counselor, and a conscience all rolled into one. The "C" is a symbol of their teammates' respect and their coaches' trust.

Some things have changed over the years. A growing number of teams are naming young captains--Tampa Bay picked 20-year-old Vincent Lecavalier to succeed Chris Gratton late last season after the Lightning traded their former captain. Nor is there no longer a taboo against naming a newly acquired player as captain--Messier shattered that in October 1991 when he got the "C" almost as soon as he stepped off the plane in New York.

Captains wield their influence in a variety of ways. Messier is renowned for a glare that could melt a rink, and once had the Rangers' locker room rearranged so that no one could hide from his glance. Other captains, such as Detroit's Steve Yzerman and the Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic, do their work more quietly. Whatever the approach, the requirements are largely the same.

"The one thing that jumps out about a captain is that you want guys who really care about your team, care about the players, and care about the organization," says Columbus Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean.

For MacLean, that guy was veteran defenseman Lyle Odetein, who was named the team's captain prior to the Blue Jackets' first-ever game. "I know it's a big responsibility, but it's something I wanted," says Odelein.

No player of his era has been more associated with the "C" than Messier, who became a captain for the first time in Edmonton when the Oilers dealt Wayne Gretzky after the 1987-88 season. Messier was named captain before his first home game after being dealt to the Rangers in October 1991, got the "C" in Vancouver when he joined the Canucks in 1997, and got his old job back in New York when he signed with the Rangers last summer. Messier was still an elite player when he made his first trip to Broadway, but this time the Rangers knew they weren't signing the 100-point scorer they got nine years earlier. What they wanted was the player whose presence would help repair the fabric of a team that was torn apart by his departure three years earlier and never completely stitched back together.

"Mark's role in life is to help others become better," says Brian Leetch, who at Messier's signing handed him the Rangers jersey with the No. 11 on the back and the "C" on the front, then joked that he "was concerned that Mark might become a problem in the dressing room if we didn't make the move."

One player who knows exactly what Leetch is talking about when he discusses Messier's impact is Tony Amonte, who was named captain of the Chicago Blackhawks just before the start of the season. Amonte spent nearly three seasons with the Rangers during Messier's first captaincy in the early 1990s and practically gushes about his abilities as a leader.

"Mark is the best captain ever to play the game," says Amonte, who was dealt to the Blackhawks at the trading deadline in March 1994. "He has a great way of making everyone on the team feel important; to make them seem like a key part of the team puzzle. He has a presence. He walks, into the room and guys are ready to go to work. He had a great effect on me. He taught me how to play in the NHL."