There has been a lot of talk about captains for the Wild, so I thought I'd post about other captains in the league and my thoughts on them.
Anaheim-Special Nieds (Scott Niedermayer) he's a very good player, even with his half season vacation. He lost a step, but that just put him only 1-2 steps ahead of everyone else instead of miles. I think he's been a pretty good leader for them, especially since they had kind of a circus for a while. I try to hate him, but in the end I fail.
Atlanta-Ilya Kovalchuk...all I know about him is that he has a horrible sweet tooth and had to have most of his teeth pulled when he came to the US from Russia.
Boston-Zdeno Chara is probably a great captain, because everyone is too scared to cross him. They just do whatever he says so he doesn't eat their children.
Buffalo-Craig Rivet, again, don't know enough about him to pass judgement. Sorry slug fans.
Calgary-Jarome Iginla- as much as I love to hate him, I have respect for him. Mostly because people have been comparing him to Joe Sakic.
Carolina-Rod Brind'Amour-kill me now. Better yet, kill him.
Chicago-Jonathan Toews-I don't think I really have to say what my thoughts are on him, even though he played for the Sioux. (barf)
Colorado-Adam Foote-I was unaware they had named another captain, but Foote will get the job done...just not as well as Joe Sakic.
Columbus-Rick Nash-well he must be doing something right...they sort of made the playoffs.
Dallas-Brendan Morrow-meh, as long as it's not Alvin the chipmunk, I don't actually care.
Detroit-Nicklas Lidstrom-he's not what he used to be, but he's still pretty good. He's now slightly less robotic than he used to be, and he's done a pretty good job filling Steve Yzerman's shoes.
Edmonton-Ethan Moreau-I have to admit, I don't know if this is the best choice, but I don't know who I'd name in his place. He's even more fragile than I am, and that's saying something. Hopefully something goes right this season for the Oilers, and maybe he'll show off his leadership under a new coach.
Florida-no captain...Bouwmeester maybe? McCabe would not be a good choice I feel. As Buddha pointed out to me, Bouwmeester went to Calgary. Clearly he will not be captain of the Panthers. In that case, I have no idea.
LA-Dustin Brown-from what I gather he's pretty young, but so is the whole team, so whatever, right? I like the Kings, so I hope he does a good job.
Minnesota-I think we all know what's going on here. If you want to read about it, my fellow Wild bloggers have pretty much all written something. We all know that Mikko Koivu is the captain of our hearts, so wearing the C is just a minor detail.
Montreal-I'm not sure what's going on here, but I imagine it's not very fun to be the captain of the Habs. So much pressure it's insane. I'm sure something will be worked out before the season starts.
Nashville-Jason Arnott-personally I think he looks like kind of a douche, but I think the Preds should not exist, so that's fine.
New Jersey-Brendan Shanahan-I'm surprised that JL would replace Langenbrunner, but I've been hearing here there and yonder that Shanny is the new captain. That's cool by me, he's a good leader, and it may be his last season. Nice way to end his time?
New York Islanders-No captain at the moment, they better hope the team doesn't take a page out of Vancouver's book, otherwise the team will not have a captain on the ice 99% of the time.
New York Rangers-Chris Drury-he's kind of a wuss, but then when you look at the rest of the team, he suddenly seems a bit tougher. Hasn't been the same since he left 20 Cent's hometown.
Ottawa-Daniel Alfredsson-he makes a really ugly woman, but other than that, he's alright. Not my favorite, but I largely ignore the fact that the Sens exist.
Philly-Mike Richards-from what I hear, many people approve of his being captain. Seems like he has a couple of good alternates, too.
Phoenix-Shane Doan-I don't like him at all, but apparently he's a great leader. I wouldn't follow him if my life depended on it.
Pittsburgh-
Cindy Sidney Crosby-ok, I lied. I dislike Crosby more than I dislike Doan. The only place I'd follow him is to a cliff...then I'd shove him off.
San Jose-what a mess. I'm guessing Thornton won't get it....
St. Louis-Eric Brewer-I think he's a fine leader for the young team. I have a lot of respect for him, and I hope they do well.
Tampa Bay-Vincent Lecavalier- I think Vinny's a great player, but I'm not sure what kind of a leader he is. He could be Wayne Gretzky and that team would still have struggles, so I'll reserve judgement on his leadership abilities round two. (He had the C when he was first in the league)
Toronto-another storied franchise without a captain. Sad.
Vancouver-Luongo. I don't think this is a good idea. I mean there's a reason they made the rule that goalies can't be the captain, and I think it's a good rule.
Washington-Chris Clark-who now? I'm sure he's lovely, but I have no idea who he is.