And The Captain Is……

By: Patrice L. Leonard

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you just have to say, “Enough is enough”. The time for that is now for the Philadelphia Flyers. They have waited long enough. They have made even the most practiced procrastinators look like amateurs. This team needs an ACTIVE captain. Now. Not tomorrow. Not after the Olympic Break. Now.

No one is giving any disrespect to Keith Primeau. We know that he is the leader of the Flyers and has more than earned that title. We all understand that you can not lose your job to an injury. Nobody wants Keith to lose his captaincy, but, for right now this team has no direction.

I was in attendance at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night. The night of what seemed to be a head-scratching melt down. This just doesn’t happen to this team. Right?

Well, you begin to hear things. You hear opinions. You hear theories. You even hear sermons. Then you begin to wonder. What really is the matter with this team lately? We’re not quite sure how to address such an issue because we haven’t had anything to really talk about with this team yet this season. Well, with the exception of the injury problems, the goalie situation, and what I feel is the most important issue, their lack of a captain.

What needs to happen here is simple. Ken Hitchcock needs to take some initiative and appoint someone on his hockey club as its captain. He has many choices. Some are better and make more sense than others, but he has choices none the less. Bottom of the short list of course would be Simon Gagne. He’s a guy who has put in his time with this team and knows the system well. He’s having a stand out season, the best in his career. You just can’t be sure exactly how much the other players would look to him for guidance and leadership. He is young and up until this year he has not played to his potential. He has worn the “A” for a couple of seasons now, and has certainly earned a shot at the “C”.

You also have the former Bruin, Mike Knuble. He has a little fire in him. We all have seen it. He has several NHL seasons under his belt. He is a smart veteran player. The younger players probably already seek him out for help and direction.

Then you can make a case for the world’s greatest player, Peter Forsberg. He has the experience. He has the championships. He has a lot of NHL hardware. The Flyers already have shown how they play without him on the ice. They don’t. You could say that they stop dead in their tracks. It is more than obvious that how Forsberg goes, the Flyers go. And it’s not pretty when he’s not in the lineup. His only fault, if you can call it a fault, is that he is prone to injury. When he’s healthy there is none better. He has paid his dues by being an Assistant Captain to Joe Sakic for years, maybe now would be a good time to give the honor he so rightly deserves.

But, in my opinion, the best man for the job is without a doubt Derian Hatcher. Hitch has already shown his confidence in Hatcher’s leadership ability by naming him captain in Dallas. He must have seen something in him that would have led him to decide on him over Mike Modano. Hatcher does have that certain something one would look for in a leader. He’s outspoken, but charming. He will drop the gloves if he thought it would light a fire under his team. He may even win the fight. He’s a very physical player, intimidating to most that play against him. He, too, has won the Stanley Cup and understands what it takes to achieve.

Right now this team looks like a bunch of sheep without a shepherd. One big concern is that this is the time of year when the Flyers go into their annual slump. Although, if you’re going to have a slump in the NHL it is better to have one in January than it is to have one in March or April. For this city and this team, this year, any slump would be unacceptable. Too many hopes and dreams rest on their shoulders. They are the saviors of this town’s honor. Our return to Championship glory.

Whatever Ken Hitchcock decides to do, he needs to do it quickly. The sooner this team has a recognizable captain on the ice every game the better. And when Keith comes back, if he comes back, he’ll return as captain. No one would argue that point. He did carry the Flyers on is back in the playoffs the last NHL season. We won’t have gone as far as we did without him. But with that said, someone, anyone needs to step up, take these guys by the collars and lead them through this rough patch.

Heck, if they’d let a woman suit up, I’d be willing to do it.