Still no “C”, but “A”s will be stitched – or more likely pressed – onto the sweaters of four Florida Panthers before Saturday’s season debut against the New York Islanders, three of which weren’t with club even six months ago. Given the turnover, that shouldn’t come as any surprise.
Brian Campbell, Ed Jovanovski, Tomas Kopecky, and Sunrise fixture Stephen Weiss have been awarded alternate captain duties, at least to begin the season.
Could be a ruse, employed to keep the pressure, so to speak, off until just before game time, but coach Kevin Dineen doesn’t appear the dramatic type willing to play head games so early in his NHL career. Nor is this a case of indecisiveness; these guys have yet to spend one solid minute together on regular season ice, so letting the pieces fall where they may – and allowing a leader to rise – could be a very wise course of action.
No captain to start the year; goodness or badness?
| Goodness: let someone’s actions earn it | 67 |
| Badness: with all the new faces, a leader from the start is critical | 36 |