NHL Captaincies: Blacks, Jews need not apply

Jerome Iginla is a lousy captain.  What's more, he proves that it's a bad idea to appoint a black player to the captaincy of an NHL team. 

If iginla were a great captain the Flames would have defeated Tampa Bay in 2004 and we'd know that blacks could be great team captains.  But he didn't, so he must suck and this surely proves that blacks just don't have the leadership skills needed to win big in the NHL.  Right? 

The same can be said of Jeff Halpern, the Jewish captain of the Washington Capitals.  He failed to lead the Caps to the Cup this year, proving that Jewish captains are a bad idea. Right?

This kind of absurd logic is tossed around regularly when the issues of leadership, NHL team captaincies and the Stanley Cup playoffs are being discussed, especially on sports radio.  You may not have heard anybody denigrating the leadership abilities of black or Jewish hockey players, but substitute "European" for "black" or "Jewish" and the argument gets pretty familiar. 

Listen to sports radio in Ottawa, especially when the Senators are struggling, and it is inevitable that some self-appointed experts will suggest that the root of the problem is the Senator's European captain, Daniel Alfredsson.  The same tripe gets spewed from time to time in Toronto where Mats Sundin wears the C, and I expect some attribute the Canuck's struggles to Markus Naslund's citizenship.

The proof, trotted out like yesterday's garbage every time the issue of leadership comes up, is the fact that no team captained by a European has ever won the Stanley Cup.  What more proof do you need? What those who point to this fact fail to know, or mention, is that no team captained by a European has ever lost in the Stanley Cup finals. 

The truth, of course, is that while there are quite a few European captains around the league today, this is a relatively recent phenomenon.  The first European to captain an NHL team was Alexander Mogilny.  Mogilny was honoured by the Buffalo Sabres with the "C" on an interim basis during the 1993-94 season when injuries knocked team captain Pat Lafontaine out of the lineup for an extended period. 

Until Darian Hatcher came along there were those who said it took a Canadian to captain a team to a Cup victory.  Now the requirement has been extended to all of North America - only teams led by guys born in the New World have the right stuff, or so it is said.  The reality is that great leadership knows no national boundaries.  What team wouldn't want to be led by Saku Koivu?  After almost single-handedly getting the Leafs into this year's postseason, surely Mats Sundin is past having to prove his leadership.  Steve Yzerman is no more a great captain because he was born in Cranbrook than Alexei Yashin is a lousy leader because he hails from Sverdlovsk.

The next time you hear somebody dismissing a team because of a non-North American captain, ask them if they think Jerome Iginla has what it takes to lead a team.  Remind them that no European  captain has ever lost a Cup final.  Ask them if their biased and ill-informed views extend to their opinions of black, aboriginal, or Jewish captains, or if they limit their bigotry to Swedes, Finns & Russians. 

Comments

[Alanah]

Just wanted to say that I think you're bang-on with these comments.

The attitude that one can generalize about Europeans in hockey (or any race or nationality for that matter) is tiresome and offensive. And it certainly doesn't contribute to any useful dialogue about the strengths/weaknesses of the players.

Great work.

[Eugene Plawiuk]

Whew you had me going there so I had come by and read the whole article, well said.

[Tracy]

Great post.
It has to do more with the person than nationality. I think Koivu and Sundin are great captains and leaders and Alfredsson and Naslund are weak. Naslund is the WORST captain, he's very selfish and chokes under pressure.

Iggy is a leader but sometimes that distracts him from his main job which is scoring goals. Flames dont have enough punch up front so Iggy has to do everything and that will take its toll on everybody.

[Ninja]

Very well constructed and extremely effective. My social-sense was tingling after the first sentence.

[Drew Dunn]

Dude, you are one racist bastard. This better be a joke!

[nick]

I think that mentioning that a European captain has never lost a Stanley Cup final only further proves the point you are trying to discredit. European captains have not even gotten a team into the finals. Naslund and Alfredsson are poor captains, and i cant see either of them ever hoisting the cup. Koivu and Sundin seem to have a little more of what it takes, but are in need of a supporting cast. There is some truth to the leadership skills of canadian captains, and their ability to get their team to commit to the cause of themselves. Even having a player like Yashin on your team is ludacris. Matchup his stats with a player like Langenbrunner to find out who a real playoff performer is. Give me Yzerman or give me a playoff loss.

[Eric]

Hey Fuck You Iginla is great your a racist fuck who dont know shit about hockey!! You Could't even tell your thumb from you dick dipshit

[Goulet]

Sorry to say... but Mogilny wasn't the first european captain. Do some research and you'll find the first one in 1979-80 when the Jets joined the NHL.

Your story is as bad as your research!

[T.L.]

As an ethnic player born and raised in Canada, I had witnessed and experiencd racism in hockey as a youngster...fortunately,we seemed to have turned a corner in the attitudes of players,coaches and fans in today's contemporary game.- T.L. Price.

[Derek Young]

I think when people say a european is not a good captain it is based on where they are from, not their nationality. Canadians and the Americans to a lesser extent grow up yearning the cup where as Euros yearn for Olympic and National glory. That's my BRIEF synopsis.

[?]

Shut up!

[offsider]

112 Stanley Cups, 111 Canadian Captains. Enough said right? Oh but wait, now this guy tells us that a European has never even gotten his team near the Prize! Ha! What an idiot.

[Lee]

Like someone else mentioned: Being a European captain means the player grew up playing in Euro leagues where the game is vastly different and there is less contact and injury. The NHL game is not what they grew up with and the brutality of the playoffs is not always second nature to a lot Euros. I'm sorry, but a players Nationality DOES have some affect on his ability to be a Captain because of this. I'm not saying it's the be all end all of a good captain but the Euros are definately at a bit of a disadvantage. That said if I was building a Stanley Cup team it wouldn't just be made up with Canadians and it wouldn't mean I wouldn't shy away from a Euro Captain. I think the question is can the Captain score a big goal, block a shot when needed and fight when challenged? There's a few Euro players that could do that but not many.

[fuck you]

FUCK YOU

[Mc_SeS]

Some people clearly dont know what they are talking about. I am not even going to comment about the article. The sheer writing skills of the individual proves his stupidity, let alone his ignorance in the article. As for some of these comments about Iginla getting distracted from his #1 main job (scoring). Iginla is more than a goal scorer. That IS what makes him a great captain. He scores goals, but also forechecks hard, fights and gets his team pumped up. He makes all of the players around him better, even if he isnt on the ice with them. Watch the flames play before you make comments

[kevin]

is this guy for fucking real

[SMB]

A little late to comment but I am sure picking a captain from the players on your team has something to do with the way the other players look up to that person, how well they can wheel and deal (i.e. with refs and press conf) and of course there skill. None of these things have anything to do with race or nationality. P.S. Why is Iginla a bad captain your whole opening sentance is just wierd I think you have a problem. (And I don't even like Calgary)

Matt Sundin is a Meaty Swede there i said it.

[Bernie]

Nationality DOES have something to do with it. Dom Hassek proved it. When he was asked about winning the cup, he said it was a nice "icing on the cake". For him, the olympics was the pinnacle. Eurpoean players want to go home after the season is over (and the sooner, the better). Canadian guys would sell their grandmother's wheelchair to play hockey in May. IT... IS... FACT.

Johnny Gotsellig was the first European Captain for the Blackhawks from 1935-40

your parents raised a moron, they must be proud...

Of course it can always be proclaimed as insensitive
or even racist to announce that teams with European
captains cannot win the cup (or at least haven't,
although this is a fact) and no, it is impossible to
form a causal connection btwn European leaders and
their team's success but comparing to blacks and Jews
makes no sense.

Blacks represent approx. 1.6% of the NHL players (or
about 5/300 and Jews represent approx. 1%. The fact
that there is even a Jewish and black captain is, in
itself, highly unlikely. 2/30 allows for a 6.6% annual
chance of one of those teams winning the Stanley cup,
on average. The fact that neither has is unsurprising.

There are fully 33% or 1/3 of teams captained by
Europeans, with many having been captains for many
years (Koivu, Naslund, Sundin, Jokinen, etc...). The
fact that none of these players has won or even made
the finals is much more surprising and allows for much
more speculation.

Before the writer starts scratching for weak
comparisons in a sensationlistic attempt for a
reaction, he might want to be fair with his readers
and compare apples with apples. I'm not saying these
teams have not won because their captains are
European, but it is at least worth considering.

My argument is rooted in the fact that these players
do not grow up in N/A, therefore the Stanley cup is
not necessarily their coveted prize. As a Canadian
soccer player I might aspire much more strongly to the
World Cup, rather than the Euro Cup. There's nothing
wrong with that. It is also interesting to note the
amount of success European teams have had at the
Olympics when they are playing for their countries.

[MT]

Ok, so it is statistically unusual or unexpected that NHL teams would have a black or Jewish captain - fair enough. But if we're seeking fairness you must surely acknowledge that the fact that not a single team led by a European has lost, because European's have only emerged as captains in recent years, is relevant. At one time people argued that Cup success was linked to having a Canadian captain - but that myth was put to rest when Hatcher led the Stars to victory - so now people say a "North American" is critical.

Based on the argument that Canadians & Americans "care" more about the cup - it would follow that European-heavy teams should never have playoff/Cup success, but this argument is surely exploded by the Cup success of teams like Tampa and the Red Wings - both with loads of non NA players.

Fundamentally, I believe that the vast majority of NHL players are desperate to win the Cup - they are all highly competitive individuals who have risen close to the top of their profession. Their personalities pushed them to excel at every level they have played and I am sure this drive also applies to the Cup.

[Rob]

Yo dude you are one racist person with sacriligous coments... you should be killed bro... Mogilny wasnt the first europian captain... do some research and find out who was... Think about what your going to say next time you write this stuff... dont say stupid stuff like discriminating blacks... iight?

[Alex]

Mogilny first european captain? are you retarded?