Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
For all those claiming Iginla was a crap leader and Giordano is the best captain in franchise history, who do you think Gio learned his leadership skills from? He spent 6 years playing with Iginla, it's hard to think that had no effect on his development
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I think we'll have a better assessment of Gio's leadership qualities after this team hits some adversity. He came in at a time when expectations were low, so everyone is happy with the overachieving team. But this team will hit a rough patch, and how Gio is perceived to handle that will go a long way to cementing (or questioning) his leadership qualities.
I think that is where Iginla's leadership weakness came to the forefront. He clearly helped the team to a strong position in the league, but as adversity increased and the team missed the playoffs, it didn't seem as if he managed that as well as he managed the team's ascent.
Posters rightly point to Iginla being a hard worker in the off-season, symbolic of a captain leading by example. But sometimes these things become a form of habit (albeit good ones), and not necessarily a sign of overt leadership. When asked to modify his game to better help the team, he definitely was out of his comfort zone and reluctant to do the (mental) heavy work to adapt his game. I still remember that scrum before a Detroit game when B. Sutter was talking to the reporters and saying how some players need to adapt to a changing team, and Iginla was telling reporters how the coach wants him to play one way, but he felt he had strengths in another direction.
Hard work isn't always the physical exertion. Sometimes it can involve challenging your mental outlook and moving out of your comfort zone. I don't think Iggy did that well enough; time will tell if Gio is able to better handle such adversity.