Marleau No Longer Captain?

Patrick Marleau’s jersey no longer has a C on it.
“As of now,” Coach Todd McLellan said Monday, “nobody’s our captain.”
I had a little work to do on a Hockey News assignment so I headed
out to Sharks Ice today for a quick interview or two. I knew some
players would be around for the informal practices traditionally known
as captain’s skates and figured it was a good time to get caught up on
a few things. The captaincy was on my checklist.
I asked McLellan about it and he prefaced his answer by saying that
questions about leadership and team mental toughness are being asked
and addressed.
“Does that fall onto one guy’s shoulder, the guy wearing the C? No. It’s a collective thing and it starts with me at a coach.”
With that said, McLellan went on to note that changes were in store.
“Who will be our captain? Who will be our assistants? At this point I can’t give you that answer?
You can’t or you won’t?
“I won’t and I can’t,” McLellan said. “I want to see who’s stepping
up to the front. When training camp starts on Sept. 12, you may walk
into my office and say who’s your captain and I’ll probably tell you
I’ll let you know when we know.
“At this point, nobody’s our captain,” he said. “We don’t have
assistant captains. The discussion is ongoing and when we determine
that, then we’ll make those announcements.”
McLellan would not totally rule out the possibility of the C ending
up back with Marleau, who has worn it since January 2004. But it has
been made pretty clear for weeks now that the front office and/or
coaching staff wanted a change after the first-round playoff exit in
Anaheim. It’s hard to see how giving the C back to Marleau would make
any sense.
“Again, I have to stress that by no means is (leadership) one man’s
responsibility,” McLellan said. “The accountability and the drive has
to come from multiple sources, not just one guy wearing the ‘C.’
“We’ll see as it evolves,” the coach added. “I can walk around town
and everybody’s giving me a suggestion. We can talk about it internally
– everybody has an opinion. I believe it’ll sort itself out and they’ll
tell us who the captains are when they start showing up and start
working. I have a good idea of who I think the potential guys will be,
but we still have to see it.”
And, no, he wouldn’t pass along those names.
Defenseman Dan Boyle — a pretty obvious candidate to replace Marleau
as captain — was there Monday and I had asked him earlier if he knew
anything about a change in the captaincy. “Only what my mother tells
me,” he said, adding that she keeps up on all the off-season rumors.
I tried reaching Marleau today but failed. However, a month ago he
indicated that he was willing to give up the captaincy if the
higher-ups thought that would benefit the team. Sharks GM Doug Wilson
also said he would be involved in any decision on the captaincy —
something that hasn’t always been true in the past.
“We’ve discussed some things and I’m waiting to see how that
unfolds,” he said. “But I’ve told Doug that I’m willing to do whatever
it takes to get this team to the next level.”

Sens19 wrote:I think Boyle has deserved it with his performance but DW has stated a few times that this is Thornton's team and also he's a fan favourite has been longer on the team. But either choice would be good imo. I still think its harsh stripping the C of Patrick Marleau unless they now for sure he wont be on the team next year

Flo The Action wrote:if they can help it he won't be on the team this year. the minute he says he'll waive his NTC he's out of there.

SpezDispenser wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:if they can help it he won't be on the team this year. the minute he says he'll waive his NTC he's out of there.

Pretty much, yeah. Which is odd seeing as how he's probably one of their best 2-way players, but they need a change so badly it's not even funny. If they go into December or January with that lineup they're in deep Dung.

beedub wrote:I'll believe it when I see it. Wilson has been all talk, no action.

wprager wrote:It doesn't happen often that a Captain is demoted and remains on the team. Modano is the only high-profile case I can think of. But it does happen.