The captain of a hockey team, adorned with the iconic ‘C’ on their jersey, embodies leadership, authority, and often becomes the face of the franchise. But there’s a silent leader on the ice who rarely receives such recognition: the goalie.
This comprehensive exploration delves into the complex world of goalie leadership in ice hockey, examining the rules, historical precedents, and the unique challenges and opportunities these masked guardians face. While every member of a team has an important role to play, the team captain is an especially important part of any team.
The Role of Captains in Hockey
Everyone is familiar with captains and the status they have in their positions. Of course, like most team sports, hockey teams select a captain to take on extra responsibilities and help guide the team to success. In the AHL, captains are much more than a figurehead that helps bring the team together, they have important responsibilities.
Captains can have a range of responsibilities and expectations within a team, including ceremonial and social responsibilities. While team captains are typically seen as representatives of the team, they have one official distinction from the rest of their teammates. Team captains are the only team members with the ability to discuss questions relating to the interpretation of the rules during the game with the referee.
AHL teams are permitted to select one player to serve as team captain. Co-captains are not allowed. In addition to one team captain, teams are also permitted to select two alternate captains. When the captain is not on the ice, an alternate captain can assume their duties. Team captains wear a “C” on their jerseys, while alternate captains wear an “A”.
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The most recent captain of the WBS Penguins was defenseman Taylor Fedun, who was the team’s 20th captain. Fedun’s first season with the WBS Penguins was the 2021-22 season and he was named team captain in 2021. Prior to joining the WBS Penguins, Fedun played for various AHL and NHL teams.
There’s a lot to look forward to this season, and you can be there for all of it.
The Rulebook: Why Goalies Can’t Be Captains in the NHL
The NHL rulebook explicitly prohibits goalies from serving as captains or alternate captains. NHL Rule 14D states that “[n]o playing Coach or playing Manager or goalkeeper shall be permitted to act as Captain or Alternate Captain.”
The Untold Secrets Of The Greatest Captains in NHL History
Those little chats are exactly why Rule 14D was created. Before Luongo, there were only five other goalies to captain a team. More on that in a moment. Back in the 1920s, the NHL wanted to make games more time efficient. Therefore, the NHL decreed that each team must designate a single player to talk to referees.
The only problem was that if the captain wasn't on the ice, his team couldn't talk to the referee. Obviously, that didn't make a lot of coaches happy. Thus, the first goalie captain was born. In 1923, John Ross Roach, aka “Little Napoleon,” was appointed captain of the Toronto St. Patricks by coach Eddie Powers.
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Four more goalies soon followed suit-Roy “Shrimp” Worters, George Hainsworth, Alec “Fireman” Connell, and Charlie Gardiner. Gardiner was Chicago's captain when they won the Stanley Cup in 1934, and was the only goalie-captain to do so.
The last goalie to become captain was Montreal goalie Bill Durnan. He became captain in 1947-48 and he's the reason for Rule 14D. He spent so much time talking to refs that games actually got longer! Also, that was the only season in Durnan's career that he didn't lead the league in goals-against average, and the only time he wasn't chosen for the All-Star game.
Prior to the 1948-49 season, the NHL made a change to the rules, prohibiting goaltenders from being captains or alternate captains. This was in response to complaints from opponents of the Montreal Canadiens, who complained that Durnan left his crease to argue with the referee at strategic points during games, resulting in unscheduled timeouts.
Additional Information about Captains and Alternate Captains
In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captain and a number of alternate captains (usually two or three) who speak to the officials when the captain is on the bench.
Officially captains have no other responsibility or authority, although they may, depending on the league or individual team, have various informal duties, such as participation in pre-game ceremonies or other events outside the game. NHL teams do not need to designate the same player as captain from game to game, but most teams do.
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When Boston Bruins captain Terry O'Reilly retired, Ray Bourque and Rick Middleton were named as co-captains of the team for the 1985-86 season. Middleton wore the "C" during home games and Bourque for road games during the season's first half, and the two switched for the second half. This arrangement continued until Middleton retired in 1988 and Bourque became the sole captain.
Some teams name two (such as the Buffalo Sabres during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 NHL seasons) or three (such as the Vancouver Canucks during the 1990-91 season) captains for a season. Some teams rotate captains rather than keep one for an extended period of time (the Minnesota Wild rotated captaincy every one or two months until the 2009-10 season, when Mikko Koivu was named the first permanent captain since the franchise's inception).
Captains are usually veteran players, though on occasion younger players are chosen. The selection is often seen as an important moment for a team, and one that can affect the team's (and newly appointed captain's) performance. Captains are selected by different means: in some instances, teams have held votes among their players to choose a team captain, while on other occasions, the choice was made by team management.
Captains are often chosen due to their seniority in the game and years of service with their current club. However, franchise players-current or emerging stars-have also been named captains. Though not required, many captains have previously served as alternate captains of their team.
Some selections or removals of NHL captaincies have been controversial, more so than the other North American professional sports leagues. For instance, in Canada men's national ice hockey team, then-General Manager Bobby Clarke selected Eric Lindros for the 1998 Winter Olympics, considered somewhat controversial as Lindros was chosen over longer-tenured NHL captains such as Steve Yzerman, Ray Bourque and Wayne Gretzky, Clarke was also general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers whom Lindros played for professionally.
The rules of the IIHF, NHL and Hockey Canada do not permit goaltenders to be designated as on-ice captains, due to the logistical challenge of having the goaltender relay rules discussions between referees and coaches and then return to the crease. Teams may designate alternate captains (often erroneously called "assistant captains").
In the NHL, teams may appoint a captain and up to two alternate captains, or they may appoint three alternate captains and thus no captain. A team with a player-coach may also have no captain or alternate captains. A team commonly has three alternate captains when the team has not selected a captain, or when the serving captain is injured and misses a game.
In the National Hockey League, it is common for a team to have three alternate captains if no one is assigned captain, the current captain is absent, or a goaltender is named as the captain. If the team chooses to not appoint a captain, they are not permitted to appoint a fourth alternate captain. NHL teams may choose alternate captains from game to game or appoint regular alternate captains for the season.
In North America, alternate captains perform many of the same leadership and team building roles as the captain. In the 1969-70 season, the Boston Bruins had three alternate captains (Johnny Bucyk, Phil Esposito and Ed Westfall) instead of a captain sporting the "C".
The letter "C" or "A" is attached to the jersey of the team's captain and alternate captains (commonly sewn at higher levels of play, though removable insignia exist so the "C" or "A" designation can be easily changed). The designation is traditionally placed on the left side of the sweater, though the IIHF, NHL and NCAA rules specify only that it must be in a "conspicuous location on the front" of the player's sweater.
Four teams in the history of the NHL have worn sweaters where the positioning of the crest on the front leaves insufficient space on the left for the letter: the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, and the inactive Arizona Coyotes each have had alternate jerseys with the letters placed on the right, while the Detroit Red Wings' primary jerseys used that placement for much of their history.
Steve Yzerman served as the captain of the Detroit Red Wings for 20 years/19 seasons (1986-87 to 2005-06) and 1,303 games during that time, the longest term in the history of the NHL by both years and games. The Boston Bruins' Ray Bourque was previously the longest-tenured captain in NHL history from 1985-86 to 1999-00, being co-captain for the first three seasons. Daniel Alfredsson holds the record as the longest-serving European captain serving for 14 years/13 seasons (1999-00 to 2012-13) as captain of the Ottawa Senators.
Alfredsson's record was tied by Zdeno Chara, who served as the captain of the Boston Bruins also for 14 seasons between 2006-07 and 2019-20. Brian Bellows was the youngest captain in NHL history, serving as the interim captain of the Minnesota North Stars from January to May 1984, during Craig Hartsburg's absence from the lineup, due to injury.
Jean Beliveau is the only one to have captained his team to win five Stanley Cup championships, doing so with the Montreal Canadiens between 1961 and 1971. The following captains all won four, three of them in consecutive years: Maurice Richard (1957-1960) with the Canadiens, George Armstrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Yvan Cournoyer (1976-1979) with the Canadiens, Denis Potvin (1980-1983) with the New York Islanders and Wayne Gretzky with the Edmonton Oilers.
Dunc Munro was the first NHL captain born in Europe to lead his team to a Stanley Cup title (1926), and Charlie Gardiner was the first to accomplish the same feat in the post-WHL era (1934). Both Munro and Gardiner were born in Scotland. Derian Hatcher became the first American-born captain to win the Stanley Cup in 1999. Daniel Alfredsson was the first European-born and trained captain to lead an NHL team to the Stanley Cup Finals (2007), while Nicklas Lidstrom was the first captain born and trained in Europe to lead an NHL team to a Stanley Cup title (2008).
Mark Messier was the first NHL player to win the Stanley Cup as captain of two different teams: the Edmonton Oilers in 1990 and the New York Rangers in 1994. Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup in 2009 at 21 years 10 months.
List of NHL Captains Who Won Stanley Cup
| Captain | Team | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie Gardiner | Chicago | 1934 |
| Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 1957-1960 |
| Jean Beliveau | Montreal Canadiens | 1961-1971 |
| George Armstrong | Toronto Maple Leafs | Multiple |
| Yvan Cournoyer | Montreal Canadiens | 1976-1979 |
| Denis Potvin | New York Islanders | 1980-1983 |
| Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | Multiple |
| Mark Messier | Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers | 1990, 1994 |
| Derian Hatcher | 1999 | |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | 2008 | |
| Sidney Crosby | 2009 |