Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Colorado Avalanche Name Gabriel Landeskog Captain

Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche hockey club announced that they have named 19 year-old Gabriel Landeskog as permanent team captain, making him the youngest player to attain such an honor in history.  The Swedish forward broke Sidney Crosby's previous record by 11 days.
Landeskog fits the bill perfectly.  He's young, very talented, hard working, and has been a captain before - he was the first ever European captain of his junior club, the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers. He is an excellent figurehead for the media as well because of his wit and humor.
Some may say that he's too young.  But the last two teams to name a player that was then the youngest in NHL history - Vincent Lecavalier in Tampa Bay and then Crosby in Pittsburgh, have won the Stanley Cup in the last decade.  A third, the Chicago Blackhawks, named 20 year-old Jonathan Toews their captain in 2008 before winning the Stanley Cup the next season.  Landeskog was the second overall pick in the draft, so it's not like he couldn't be as good as those players.  It's worked for them.

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