The Colorado Avalanche are still relative newcomers on the NHL scene when compared to the historic Original Six franchises. Still, the only two players to have served as captain of the Avalanche are as good as any that have ever played.
In a way the fans of the Avalanche have been downright spoiled since the team moved to Denver when it comes to leadership. Joe Sakic and Adam Foote exemplified in their own unique ways everything that can be asked for out of a captain.
Their statistics and accolades, both team and individual, speak for themselves but more importantly they spoke for the franchise as a whole.
When Sakic retired, the next choice for captain was as plain to see as the Stanley Cup banners that hang in the Pepsi Center. In fact, that decision had been made when the Avalanche decided to make a trade that returned Adam Foote to Colorado in 2007.
However, the decision now facing the Avalanche is much harder.
Face it, the team was lucky to have a member of both Stanley Cup teams as captain for as long as they did and were able to avoid a very important decision for quite a long time.
Some might argue that Foote was nothing more then an honorary captain and was wearing the “C” for past performance as opposed to present dependability. To those I say: step in front of the net or chase a puck in the corner with the near 40-year-old and then decide why he still wore it.
Regardless of your own opinion it’s not like the heir apparent is clearly in our midst and has been held back to allow Foote a victory lap in the twilight of his career.
The future leadership of the Avalanche is certainly on the roster as we speak, but which player is it?
That seems to be the major problem facing this team as they look toward next season. The decision as to who will follow Sakic and Foote will go a long way to helping this team assume the identity that hopefully leads them back to the NHL elite.
Even though the tenure of Adam Foote as captain of the Avalanche might have been brief, the Avalanche must believe that they are giving someone this title for the next 10 years at least to carry on the tradition.
That automatically eliminates Milan Hejduk from the discussion, which is tough because the man is an Avalanche lifer. However, he would most likely be the first to say that it is not something that he needs to validate his career. Not to mention the Avalanche do not need to find themselves in this position again in a few short years.
At the beginning of the season the choice seemed obvious that Paul Stastny, who had played at the University of Denver and won a championship, would be next in line to assume the role. He has developed into a solid scoring threat and more importantly was the type of player who elevated the games of those around him.
Yet as the Avalanche head into the offseason, there is some doubt about Stastny's future with the Avalanche, and that is not the kind of talk and sentiment that usually follows a captain around.
John-Michael Liles is another who clearly would have the locker room behind him if he were chosen to be the next captain of the Avalanche. There are still many productive years of hockey left for JML, so his longevity would seem to fit the criteria for what the Avalanche should be looking for.
Unfortunately, Liles has been on the block more then a side of beef at a butcher shop and that kind of uncertainty makes it hard to lead a team and feel confident. I would suspect that a decision to make Liles the next captain would hopefully come with a nice contract extension as well—otherwise what’s the point?
The Quebec Nordiques found themselves in a similar situation with a young Joe Sakic on the roster. Hindsight is 20/20 and had the franchise known then what they know now, Sakic would have been given the “C” upon arriving at the rink for his first game as a pro. Instead they made him a co-captain and then took it back once before permanently naming Sakic as captain in 1992.
The point is that Matt Duchene is coming close to the same point in his career that Sakic was when the experimentation began with him as captain. Granted, Duchene has not been as impressive points-wise as Sakic yet, but the excitement and the promise seem to be the same.
It would be hard to go wrong with any of the three players as the next captain of the Colorado Avalanche.
Just promise us that they will be there for a long time.
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