Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
I offered up my opinions on why I think Giordano has done more to change a franchise than any other captain in NHL history.
My opinion.
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That's a big statement. Aside from the leadership Hartley showed (the galvanizing point was all Hartley in the Canucks brawl) I think the entire franchise changed post-Iginla, Feaster, Etc. I think Giordano gets more than his share of the credit and factors such as Treliving, Burke, the coaching staff (outside of Hartley), the vets (Hudler/Wideman), scouts, etc get less than their share of the credit.
What a big change to the Flames when Conroy handed the captaincy to Iginla. The team makes the playoffs for the first time in several years for some of the same reasons the Gio lead Flames did - hard work, never quit, full team buy in. To give Gio credit for 2014-15 one should give similar credit to Iginla.
Gio has 2 years as captain. Even if you want to discount the last few years of Iginla's leadership, I still think it's way too premature to have Gio this high or to say he did more to change a franchise than any other captain in history. In 2020 it might be Gio, but not now.