Captain Kelowna

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“When we had Ryan Cuthbert, Josh Gorges, and Brett Palin, they made everyone else play”, Hamilton told RocketFAN. “It is very difficult to find someone like that now who rings the bell and everybody jumps on the train.”

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Gone are the days when the captain would yell and scream at a teammate if they weren’t pulling their weight.

“The personalities of these players today is they just want to fit in”, Hamilton added. “It is very hard to find a person who takes charge, and when you do, it is special.”

Ryan Cuthbert was the captain when the Rockets won their first WHL title in 2003. Josh Gorges wore the ‘C’ when the team captured the Memorial Cup. Brett Palin guided the team – from a leadership perspective – when the hockey club won the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2005.

All three have one thing in common. The trio were captains of teams that won.

“We are waiting for someone to step up here and show us what they can do. There are a couple of guys that I think Kris (head coach Kris Mallette) thinks are candidates for it”, Hamilton added.

The leadership style of a captain can vary. Cuthbert and Gorges were very vocal. Palin, a defensive defenceman, won over his teammates by leading by example with a tremendous work ethic.

“To find the kind of guys that we’ve had in the past, they held everybody accountable in the room and we were ready to play every night, and if they weren’t, they heard it from those guys. It is hard to find those guys now,” Hamilton said.

What makes a good captain? You must have the respect of your teammates. It is typically a player who sticks around and helps younger players with drills. They eat and socialize with teammates, no matter if they are raw rookies or seasoned veterans. Essentially they are willing to give of their time to the team in order to help others.

“I am not opposed to giving it (captaincy) to a younger player”, head coach Kris Mallette told RocketFAN last week. “We have some good, younger players that do things very well on the ice that have an infectious personality.”

Is it too much to ask for a second year player like Andrew Cristall to be given the coveted ‘C’ on his jersey, or is 19 year-old Colton Dach better suited to carry the load offensively, yet making sure others are following his lead?

“It’s on ice. It is off ice”, Mallette continued when speaking about the qualities of a good captain.

“Who holds a voice in the room. Sometimes it is a guy who is quiet, sometimes it’s someone who is loud.”

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