If the Leafs Are Doing It, It Must Be Bad. Right?

It's possible Dion Phaneuf may be a terrible choice as Leaf captain.

Or, he may be an excellent choice.

Fact is, it's rarely known how players, particularly young ones, will handle the mantle of responsibility until they take it out for a spin.

Vinny Lecavalier had the captaincy in Tampa and lost it. Ditto for Patrick Marleau in San Jose. Some who applauded the decision to make Roberto Luongo the captain in Vancouver are now saying it was a terrible idea.

The best captain in the game, of course, is Jonathan Toews, and that's because his team won.

But the point is that the automatic reflex reaction that if the Leafs are doing it, well, it must be wrong, might not necessarily apply.

That, of course, is what you get when you miss the playoffs year after year and then, in a year in which its supposed to turn around, finish 29th.

People say nasty things, and many are deserved.

Trashing the notion of Phaneuf as captain, however, seems a bit premature, particularly when the lone reason to do so is to mindlessly repeat the "rumours" out of Calgary that he wasn't well-liked. Those who pass this gossip along don't have the foggiest notion of whether the gossip is true, but do so anyway.

Well, we'll see if Phaneuf is a good leader in Toronto. We'll see if wearing the "C" gets him back to the point where he was two years ago when people were talking about him as a future Norris Trophy winner, not Duncan Keith.

The facts are that in 26 games with Phaneuf the Leafs were a better team, and that head coach Ron Wilson repeatedly talked about the positive impact Phaneuf had on the Leaf room. Now, admittedly, that's not as saucy as the anonymous rumours out of a losing dressing room in Calgary, but perhaps Wilson's observations deserve some recognition.

More to the point, Phaneuf isn't going to be a bad captain just because its the Leafs who are giving him the job.

Comments

[John Richardson]

Since this so-called rumour was announced, every Doug & Gord from Scarborough haas been throwing around their two cents worth about whether Phaneur deserves to be Leafs captain. And last time I checked Doug & Gord didn't have a direct line to Burke's office.

[John]

The coach and GM have been raving about the noise Phaneuf has made in the dressing room, on the bench and on the ice. This announcement shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Hopefully we will see and new and improved player/leader that takes the Leafs far into the playoffs one day.

[Chris Derro]

Agreed. At least Phaneuf brings the "show up every shift or feel my wrath" attitude not seen since Gary Roberts (who should've been the captain during his days in blue).

[D-Man]

Sanity prevails at The Spin! Cox may pick fights with Leaf fans on Twitter but this post should be read by assorted Toronto media types.
PTS roundtable on Friday night epitomized the bubble of cynicism TO media members live in: Leafs prey on sheep-like supporters with attention-seeking sweater revamp, capped off by naming overpaid dressing room cancer (1 goal as a Leaf!!) captain. 43 years/Taylor Hall ad nauseum. Give the new captain a full season, or at least a training camp before piling on.

[A-Mar]

Well said, sir. Nothing is a more tired cliche, especially on the internet, than to criticize moves the Leafs make solely on the assumption that 43 years without a cup makes every move a bad one.

[flatarchtop]

Dion should chat with Messier, Yzerman, Belliveau, and Trottier about what captaincy means. They'd probably be glad to share their wisdom with a willing student, as part of their respect for the game.

[A. McCulloch]

The important point is that he has only been here for 26 games. Why the rush to appoint him as Captain? Let's watch him for another year - the team has been without a Captain for a long time, what's another year? By then we'll have a better idea of his effect on team performance, and as well a better idea on whether he is well liked or not. The only reason management wants to appoint him now is to give fans something else to think about, rather than pondering our lack of high draft choices.

[KD]

Will Phaneuf be a good captain? Time will tell. One thing I do know is that you don't need a "C" (or an "A") on your sweater to be a leader. The Leaf failures of the past two years weren't due to the lack of a captain, but to a lack of talent. Players will take the lead if it is a part of their personality to do so, regardless of who the "captain" is. As for the alternates, I never thought of Kaberle as a leader type, but then, I've never been in the locker room, so I don't know what goes on in there.

[dave mercer]

Hey Damien,

Toronto fans are stuck with a bad team and lousy sports writers. But if I had my choice for entertatinment it certanly would not be any (mostly you) of you lousy bloggers. Thank god, with the internet, we are able to read real writers with thoughtful insight not your ongiong "leafs suck" mantra. You psuedo intelect bloggers are to much.

[TincupCanuck]

i thought the future norris winner was Drew Doughty...man how the playoffs can change peoples minds. Not necisarily Damien's but other media outlets too. Bot are deserving.

[Mapleloaf]

Balanced and thoughtful article. You can NEVER be certain ahead of time how assigning the captaincy will work out. So making this decision now based upon performance and personality is a good move. If necessary, you can always undo later,

I have to add that any leaf fan or leaf hater with ANY degree of intelligence should know by now that Brian Burke is not going to make decisions that he doesn't believe in and hasn't carefully weighed. Will they all be perfect, of course not, but most of them will turn out just fine. To suggest that Phaneuf was installed as Captain for frivolous reasons or to take Leaf fans' minds off of their draft situation is just not paying attention.

[B. M.]

Well Mr. Cox, it took 35 years but more & more I find myself thinking you're one of the few balanced & objective writers within the Toronto media (except pieces where you simply try to create controversy - like Ban the Hawks logo).

After listening to Mr. Watters trash Dion all day long on the radio (by simply repeating gossip he has NO IDEA whether true or not), then kissing Dion's rear-end during an interview (not so tough face to face Mr. Watters), then ending the interview by saying - "Well Dion, one thing we know for sure....you'll be a much better person after having worn the Leafs C" ??????? Are you kidding me?

You could hear Dion's bewilderment, but he smartly just said thank you & moved on.

Thank you Damian for providing some balanced perspective.

[Kwijibo10]

Dion suffered from too much early success in the NHL and instead of continuing to work hard and get better he sat around reading his press clippings thinking he'd reached the summit and basically became uncoachable. That's why Keith, Weber and now Doughty have blown past him as the premier young D-Men in the league. Think a year of blows to his ego with getting traded, questions to his character in the media and getting left off the Olympic Team have humbled him, the Leafs giving him the C is a huge opportunity for him to turn around his career but no place to hide in T.O. so he better be ready or it'll be the biggest mistake since the leafs signed JFJr as GM

[James Jack]

I think Dion Phaneuf is an excellent choice as new Leaf Captain. He is a player who means business and has talent. He leads by example with effort. He is vocal and is not afraid to confront, something which sad to say was the one quality lacking in Mats Sundin. This will make Phaneuf a Leaf for life, a status more fine Canadian boys should embrace. I wish all NHL players who proclaim to be boyhood Leaf fans would remember the glory days and bring back respectability to the franchise. Come home to Toronto lads and be worshipped forever. ask Dougie, Wendel and Darryl. Imagine what we would feel for players who won us cups!

[other mark]

I just read your other article on this topic Damien. Funny how the blog seems to say "let's lay off and see what happens" while the article seems to imply that Dion has an attitude/mouth that is not media friendly and could rub folks the wrong way. Whether this trait makes for a good captain or not is debatable, but I find the article & blog totally at odds. One seems to be balanced (blog) the other is blather (article). Dr Damien and Mr Cox... who wrote what?

[Johnnyk]

Should a captain be chosen by the front office or by the players? Natural leaders assert there leadership in the room and on the ice and they are not always the loudest ones. Its sometimes surprising to find the real leaders are not guys with gaudy stats or media presence. Its the guy who gives it all for his mates and his team, the guy who wants to win the most and expects everyone in the room to leave it on the ice every game.