Don’t Expect a San Jose Sharks Captain This Season
Almost five weeks into the 2014-15 campaign and the San Jose Sharks are continuing to use four alternates rather than choosing a captain. The real question lays on whether there will be a captain at any point in this season.
My prediction is no.
The Sharks performance has been to shaky for the start of the season. Currently 8-6-2, the Sharks are holding the 14th spot in the league. Being at the middle mark isn’t exactly where management was expecting the team to fall. And it certainly doesn’t prove that a leader should be crowned of such a mediocre pack.
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Brodie Brazil recently answered a fans question in regards to this exact topic. He stated that “If somebody emerges over time as Captain, it should be a natural progression… and at this point, I believe we are too shallow in the season for that to organically happen.” I doubt anyone could have said it better. This is exactly true. Not only will this decision need to happen over time, but the season is lackluster and not where I had anticipated it to be. True, there is so much more hockey to be played, but things need to start turning the Sharks way soon, or they’ll be stuck at this mid ranking.
Is choosing a captain even necessary? Will it have that big of an effect on the play of the team? Marc Edouard-Vlasic doesn’t think so. “I think it was a distraction for the media more than it was for us. They made a bigger deal than we did,” he said. “We weren’t rushed to have a captain or an assistant. We took our time and made the right decision.”
Joe Pavelski also agrees that the team is doing better without a captain than most may think. “We’re a lot better off than what people think,” he said. “What we went through this last year is tough and everyone is going to say something, but the guys have a lot of trust in each other and a lot of belief in each other. Things happen for a reason and hopefully this will propel our group to push a little further.”
Concentrating on bettering the team as a whole is the right view of things for the franchise at this point in time. Perhaps the media really is blowing the captaincy out of proportion. If the Sharks can focus on bettering their stats and bringing home more wins, rushing to choose a captain is not going to be beneficial.
True, a captain is unlikely to be crowned this season, but I want to emphasize that it’s not going to impact the outcome of the team. Those with natural leadership will shine with or without having the official label. At this point, the Sharks season can go either way. Let’s just hope the curve swings upward.