Don't just appoint captains. Appoint a proper captain.
Marc Messier, who knows more about the subject than anyone who has ever worn a blueshirt, believes the Rangers made the right choice when he named Jacob Torba as the 28th captain in franchise history. I'm here.
"Leadership is most often earned, not appointed," he said. He later told the Post in a text. ``As Abe Lincoln said, you must earn the right to lead someone.''
This was Emile, who thought it was Francis, but the point is well understood. increase. And there is consensus across the organization that from president and general manager Chris Drury to head coach Gerald Gallant, his teammate in the room, the 28-year-old defenseman actually earned this calling.
The Blueshirts famously hired six substitutes last season, but they went four straight games without a captain after moving to Tampa Bay in a Ryan McDonagh loan deal in 2018. between equals.
Practice rink press He said in his briefing that both Drury and Gallant said Truba was functioning as de facto captain. Chris Crider sent a message on social media.
Trouba is a nine-year veteran, his fourth year on Broadway. Enter, after spending six years in Winnipeg after being selected 9th overall by the Jets in 2012. He's keenly promoting the way Gallant expects his team to be. He may not be in the game all the time, but he always keeps everything on ice.
He always has his teammates' backs.
And he always seems to be himself. His skin always seems real and comfortable. These are probably his two most important qualities a leader can have combined. He cannot have a fake in that position. A post cannot be given to a player who may be exhausted with the weight of a "C" sewn just above the heart.
Same as wanting the captain to change players I don't want a player who changes as a captain. McDonagh has denied that the captaincy, nearly four years after he succeeded Ryan Callahan, weighed on him, but that's a solitary opinion.
And McDonagh is just the latest example. Brian Leach did not seem particularly comfortable when he was captain for his three seasons between his two terms at Messier. Jaromir Jagger never aspired to be captain.
Rangers don't want to be in that position again. In addition, the club's transformation through rebuilding that coincided with McDonagh's departure contributed to management's decision to adopt an alternative approach in which leadership is a communal exercise.
"That's actually something I thought about quite a bit." When asked if this added responsibility could change him, he said.
"Then after coming here [in 2019] and signing a [$56 million] deal, I got a deal with someone who wasn't me." I think I was trying to be, but I struggled that year, so when I'm at my best, I'm who I am.
``I'm not going to change myself. The reason it all happened is because I was myself and I was true to myself," said No. 8. "I'm going to be the same person."
Defense counsel said he first dreamed of becoming an NHL captain as a boy growing up in Michigan, and wrote down his ambitions in his diary. It's clear that this is not an ego thing for Truba, whose physical and open-ice threat has become one of the hallmarks of the Eastern Conference finalists. This is the perfect opportunity for the Rangers to contribute to a rematch in his Cup against Stanley, who has been out of action for 29 years.
From Messier's observations, Trouba is ready.
"I think he's old enough and experienced enough not to allow [the captain to change him]," Messier texted. It can be seen from players who are not ready for positions and do not yet know themselves, not to mention the people they are supposed to lead.
"Looking from the outside, he It seems he's earned this honor both on and off the ice: he needs to be himself, be authentic, and be consistent.
"Good choice."
