Toews on Sochi

[Big Ev]

Regardless of your opinion on Toews, it is really irrelevant who the captain is in a short tournament.

[ross10019]

Yep, captain Serious whinypoutyface got to lift the cup anyway, but not thanks to his play against Detroit. His team pulled him out of that affair because he was just about pure shit in that series.

Come now Dakkster, Toews showed his mettle and leadership qualities in the rest of the playoffs and especially in the Stanley Cup Final, playing Game 7 the way he did despite having suffered a concussion (in all likelihood) and leading the team to a 2nd Cup in 4 years. That one episode against the Wings was clearly an anomaly, I'd be surprised if you ever see something like that happen again with him. And I know you're a Wings fan, but he took lots of abuse in that series that probably should have been penalized, which I imagine is why he exploded.

I'd easily take him over Crosby as Team Canada Captain. Ironically the only guy that I think could be an even better choice than him for Captain is a guy who isn't even captain of his NHL team, Patrice Bergeron. There is absolutely no ego in Bergeron, and on a team chock full of giant egos, he'd be a great choice.

BTW, I like both the Wings and the Hawks, so don't accuse me of bias! They are among that 2nd tier of teams I like to see win, after the beloved Habs.

[hawkdog]

Regardless of your opinion on Toews, it is really irrelevant who the captain is in a short tournament.

good point about a short tourney

crosby will get the C, he is face of canadian hockey

besides they are both guilty of guilty of meltdowns

[Mr. Guru]

Canada will have about 5 unofficial captains.

One on each line, and a couple of defenders....pretty much.

[The Comish]

crosby will get the C, he is face of canadian hockey

This.

It really is irrelevant who is named team captain of this team, there will be so many leaders in that dressing room.

For the record, I was shocked at Toews meltdown in the playoffs. Not what I expected from "Captain Serious" and his stellar reputation as a leader.

Not a big fan of Crosby's early (premature?) captaincy either. These guys get the C way too early to be called "leaders". Yes they are almost always the best player on the team, but most leaders need to see true leadership and often be mentored.

Wayne Gretzky wasn't named team captain until his fifth year in the NHL, seventh as a pro. Mark Messier had to wait until his ninth NHL season and they've named a leadership trophy after him.

Naming your young superstars as team captains serves simply to appease their super-sized egos. How about naming your goaltender team captain? How'd that turn out Vancouver?

[Dakkster]

More classiness from Toews. Forgot that I actually saved this as a gif.

[ross10019]

More classiness from Toews. Forgot that I actually saved this as a gif.

Oooooh, Toews slashed Zetterberg on the shinpad in a post whistle interaction, wow, stop the presses....

Come on Dakkster, I know you're a huge Wings fan, but this kind of thing happens tens of thousands of times in an NHL season, it means nothing. You think Zetterberg has never slashed an adversary?

[doulos]

Shocking. I've never seen a hockey player use a stick like that before.

Team Canada would be better off not even inviting him.

[Loch]

Yeah Toews lost the handle but he came back and smartened up. It will probably be a good learning experience (assuming that he, unlike say *cough*Kesler*cough*, actually learns something).


Incidentally, that is not even close to the best slash gif involving the Redwings...

[Daydream Nation]

More classiness from Toews. Forgot that I actually saved this as a gif.

The sore loser in you is really coming out. Grab some class.

[BlackGold]

Well Zetterberg better not be captain of Team Sweden because all he did was sit there and whine to the ref. Should have stick tapped Toews back!

[Dakkster]

Oooooh, Toews slashed Zetterberg on the shinpad in a post whistle interaction, wow, stop the presses....

Come on Dakkster, I know you're a huge Wings fan, but this kind of thing happens tens of thousands of times in an NHL season, it means nothing. You think Zetterberg has never slashed an adversary?

As someone who's grown up watching Steve Yzerman and then Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, I'm not used to seeing my captain slashing the opponent's captain. That's because Detroit captains have class.

[mister_mcgoo]

As someone who's grown up watching Steve Yzerman and then Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, I'm not used to seeing my captain slashing the opponent's captain. That's because Detroit captains have class.

While I think you're WAYYY overblowing this supposed 'slash' I agree with the basic premise that the guy wearing the C has to hold himself to a higher standard than the rest of the team. Your captain is supposed to lead the team and basically be the on-ice coach for his teammates, you don't want him taking stupid penalties and risk getting ejected from the game

[doulos]

As someone who's grown up watching Steve Yzerman and then Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, I'm not used to seeing my captain slashing the opponent's captain. That's because Detroit captains have class.

Yzerman saved his dirty plays for the highest level of play I suppose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjDgUYNvlsI

[Dakkster]

Yzerman saved his dirty plays for the highest level of play I suppose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjDgUYNvlsI

I knew I could count on you to go digging for anything dirty you could find.