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Jay Random · 08-30-2022, 06:32 PM

Textcritic is actually quite right that the role of captain on an NHL team is mostly a matter of tradition. I’m afraid I have to break out another boring old-timey story to explain why.

*BORING OLD-TIMEY STORY ALERT*

(Timelines are approximate. The steps in this process overlapped to some extent.)

In the earliest days of hockey, when it was strictly an amateur game, the captain was the boss of his team. He recruited other players, decided who got ice time at what position, ran the practices, talked to the officials, booked the skating rink, collected the team's share of gate receipts, paid the bills, and represented his team at league meetings – among other things. It's lucky that teams played only 8 to 10 games a year in those days, or that would have been far too much work for an athletic hobby.

When professional hockey started, the business part of the game was taken over by owners. Some owners were ex-players who had made enough money to bankroll a team, some were arena owners who wanted an anchor tenant, and some (just like now) were rich men who wanted a neat toy. The captain still assembled the team and ran it on the ice, but the off-ice business became someone else's job.

A bit later on, as the game grew more popular and teams became larger, competition for talent became a big deal. Team owners hired managers to take over the job of scouting and recruiting players. The captain was now responsible for making his team perform, but putting the team together was someone else's job.

Another few years on, the game got faster, rosters got bigger, and line changes were invented. The captain could no longer be on the ice for the whole 60 minutes. Running the bench (and the practices) became a specialized job in itself, sometimes done by the team manager, but most often by a hired coach. The captain was now responsible for leading his players and talking to officials, but coaching the team was someone else's job.

Rosters got still bigger, shifts grew shorter, and teams had to have alternate captains so there would always be someone on the ice with the authority to talk to the referee. For some years there was a rule that each team had to have a captain or alternate on the ice at all times, but that rule was eventually discarded. The job of communicating with the officials was largely taken over by the coach. (There's a reason why we have coach's challenges and not captain's challenges.)

At this point, there was very little left for a captain to do, except set an example for his teammates. The ‘C’ on the jersey became something like a medal – a way for the coach to give recognition to a player for playing the game the way he, the coach, wanted it played.

The captain's role is almost entirely ceremonial now, because all the other functions have been stripped away one by one.

08-30-2022, 06:32 PM	#237
Jay Random Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Exp:	Textcritic is actually quite right that the role of captain on an NHL team is mostly a matter of tradition. I’m afraid I have to break out another boring old-timey story to explain why. BORING OLD-TIMEY STORY ALERT (Timelines are approximate. The steps in this process overlapped to some extent.) In the earliest days of hockey, when it was strictly an amateur game, the captain was the boss of his team. He recruited other players, decided who got ice time at what position, ran the practices, talked to the officials, booked the skating rink, collected the team's share of gate receipts, paid the bills, and represented his team at league meetings – among other things. It's lucky that teams played only 8 to 10 games a year in those days, or that would have been far too much work for an athletic hobby. When professional hockey started, the business part of the game was taken over by owners. Some owners were ex-players who had made enough money to bankroll a team, some were arena owners who wanted an anchor tenant, and some (just like now) were rich men who wanted a neat toy. The captain still assembled the team and ran it on the ice, but the off-ice business became someone else's job. A bit later on, as the game grew more popular and teams became larger, competition for talent became a big deal. Team owners hired managers to take over the job of scouting and recruiting players. The captain was now responsible for making his team perform, but putting the team together was someone else's job. Another few years on, the game got faster, rosters got bigger, and line changes were invented. The captain could no longer be on the ice for the whole 60 minutes. Running the bench (and the practices) became a specialized job in itself, sometimes done by the team manager, but most often by a hired coach. The captain was now responsible for leading his players and talking to officials, but coaching the team was someone else's job. Rosters got still bigger, shifts grew shorter, and teams had to have alternate captains so there would always be someone on the ice with the authority to talk to the referee. For some years there was a rule that each team had to have a captain or alternate on the ice at all times, but that rule was eventually discarded. The job of communicating with the officials was largely taken over by the coach. (There's a reason why we have coach's challenges and not captain's challenges.) At this point, there was very little left for a captain to do, except set an example for his teammates. The ‘C’ on the jersey became something like a medal – a way for the coach to give recognition to a player for playing the game the way he, the coach, wanted it played. The captain's role is almost entirely ceremonial now, because all the other functions have been stripped away one by one. __________________ WARNING: The preceding message may not have been processed in a sarcasm-free facility. Last edited by Jay Random; 08-30-2022 at 06:52 PM.