LAVAL-SUR-LE-LAC — It didn’t take the Montreal Canadiens very long to put the captain controversy to rest.
At the start of their annual charity golf tournament Monday morning, the Habs rolled out the “A-Team”.
They announced there will be no captain in the upcoming 2014-15 season, but rather four assistants.
Defenceman Andrei Markov and forward Tomas Plekanec will wear the “A” for all 82 games.
Defenceman P.K. Subban and foward Max Pacioretty will split their role as assistants – 41 games apiece.
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“It’s an honour to have that type of position within a storied franchise,” says defenceman P.K. Subban.
“It comes with responsibility.”
Subban was saying all the right things to reporters, and that appears to be the goal of management – to get the young stars to think like leaders.
“We want to give them an opportunity to show their leadership,” says Habs head coach Michel Therrien.
Habs general manager Marc Bergevin added “I don’t want this to be a distraction for our team, but it’s healthy.”
Some hockey analysts believe this is a type of audition – to see who merits the captaincy next season.
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“Who’s the man? I don’t know,” says 98.5 fm radio personality Ron Fournier.
“Pacioretty is young, PK is very young, Markov doesn’t talk, Plekanec does his own thing. I think there will be one or two guys who will stand out. And then you pick.”
Carey Price appears to have fully recovered from the major knee injury he suffered last playoffs against the New York Rangers.
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He’s expected to be ready for pre-season action which begins next week.
The Canadiens’ first exhibition game is Tuesday, September 23, at the Bell Centre against the Boston Bruins.
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