Randy Hahn Says Jumbo Should Wear the ‘C’
August 25th, 2010, 11:35 am
I got a link to this Randy Hahn mailbag via Kukla, and while the Kukla story is about some jagoff that wants to trade Joe Thornton (89 pts last year) for the Blues’ David Backes (48 points), I think the most revelatory quote is this one:
As for the captaincy issue, it is my belief that Joe Thornton should be the next captain of the San Jose Sharks. Joe is the leader of the team on and off the ice. He is the straw that stirs the drink. It is time for Jumbo to wear the “C”.
Not sure how I feel about that, but it sure is interesting. Comments?
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Wrong Joe. I’m more of the opinion that Pavelski should be the next captain. He came up through the Sharks’ system, he’s young, and could be with the team a long time.
Jumbo has his qualities, but I don’t see him as a leader, other than when he’s out there leading the offensive play.
Wrong Joe is right, Matt. Thornton has lost his composure too many times during games to deserve a C and doesn’t seem to have the heart for hockey like some other guys do. It should be Boyle or Pavelski. Those are two very deserving choices in my book.
Boyle all the way! he is one of the hardest working players on that team. he deserves it the most
I am okay if Jumbo ends up with the C. I understand the Pavs and Boyle arguments, and I really would not be opposed to either. But the big unknown is how either handles themselves in practice and in the locker room. Can Pavs tell guys what to do that are both older than him and have served as his mentors? Boyle has the fire on the ice, and that makes him an excellent component to the Sharks’ leadership group, but I feel like good captains are relentlessly positive. Is he that? Not sure. Jumbo does seem to have this last quality, and he will have earned the C this time unlike in Boston or if he had jumped to that position upon his initial trade to San Jose. This last playoffs showed me a lot, and if this can light an additional fire under his ass, then go for it.
Agreed. File this one under fun to debate, but as fans we have no real idea.
Not sure about Thornton losing his composure too many times during games, either.
I like angry Jumbo, he has another gear when he’s angry.
Hate to disagree with the great Randy Hahn but there is no way that Jumbo wears the “C” this coming season. In all honesty, I think that taking the “A” from him would not be such a bad idea. We would see if he is mentally tough enough to ignore it and prove that he can handle playing a “smaller” role. I am very interested to see if he does jump up to a 100+ point player again seeing as he is in a contract year. I am placing my bet on Boyle having the “C” with Pavelski and Marleau or Clowe with the “A”s.
Aren’t there enough mental hurdles on the road to the Stanley Cup that the team doesn’t need to jerk its own players around to test whether they can “ignore” it?
Doesn’t seem like a great strategy if the Sharks want to sign him beyond this year, either.
All I gotta say to that is look what Patty did. Put up career numbers in goals, had his 2nd highest point total since joining the NHL, not to mention the extra games played in the olympics, and stayed with us at a reasonable price.
Though I would like to see how Jumbo performs without the “A” in a contract year, I HIGHLY doubt it would happen.
Not having the ‘C’ has a lot less to do with it than Marleau being in McLellan’s system (which saw his point totals rocket up the year before as ‘C’ as well) and him being in a contract year where all players traditionally do better.
Just to play devils advocate…
Is Jumbo more ready and able to be captain than when he was in Boston, yes… Would it be a horrible pick, no…
I wouldn’t mind it. But imagine if Jumbo finally stepping up, in a contract year mind you, and leading this team to a cup. It’s a nice narrative and I’d love for it to happen, even if very unlikely.
However at this point I still think Boyle is the guy who should, can, and does lead this team. Last playoffs vs. The Avs showed us this. Boyle knows what it takes to win and was able to lead this team through the adversity and bad luck they had in the first few games of that series.
If they pick Boyle I would be more than happy about it. the dude’s a regular little firecracker… with heart.
While I’ve been thinking Boyle (and Pavelski somewhere down the road) would be the best captain material, I think Randy has a point. In fact, the more I think about it, it makes perfect sense.
There’s no denying that Jumbo is “the straw that stirs the drink” in San Jose. Put the C back on his chest (for the first time since Beantwon anyway) and let him live up to his title as “one of the best centers in the world today”. Hold the guy to a higher level of responsibility, especially in the last year of his contract. Patty shined in the same situation, why not put the load on the big guy? He’s vocal, scrappy and the clear leader on this team. For those who say he shouldn’t be the captain yet refuse to entertain any ideas about trading him… what the hell? Just pay the guy 7+ mil a season to have his regular season point totals and a post season Invisible Man impersonation? We’ve seen it too many times already. I say put him front and center in the spotlight as the guy to carry this team. As the team’s “best player” I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
joe earned it. he wasn’t invisible in these last playoffs. he played his best, fiercest hockey imo. he played his heart out and showed that he wants it bad.
give him the C before the window closes.
Agreed. Joe was probably our most hated player from the other teams’ perspective and I would like to see that again this playoffs because it takes heat off of our other high profile guys who are more injury-prone. He’s not afraid to get into people’s head (which he shouldn’t be). Ask Andrew Ladd if it’s a good idea to piss Jumbo off. Give the big guy the C and let’s ride this out.
Totally unrelated note…
Just noticed that Yahoo Fantasy Hockey ’10 is open…
Will there be another Dudes Fantasy League…
If you need a moderator let me know i;d be willing if either you two dudes dont want to…
Agree with most of the sentiment here. I wouldn’t be against Jumbo getting the C, I wish Marleau would get it back, though Boyle is probably the best choice.
I dunno, I’m just not a fan yet of giving it to Pavs. I love the guy, but he is incredibly streaky in the playoffs and hasn’t shown anything that guys like Boyle, Marleau, and Thornton have and more. Thornton gets a lot of flak for poor playoff performances, but for every series Pavs has taken advantage of the weaker matchups bestowed upon him by having Joe Thornton on the team (Calgary ’08, Colorado ’10, the first half of Detroit ’10) he has been absolutely horrendous in another (only 2G-0A vs. Dallas in ’08 despite his G5 heroics, 0G-1A vs. ANA ’09, 0G-2A vs. CHI ’10). When teams start game-planing around him, maybe then he will be deserving.
Co-sign on wanting Marleau to get it back.
Really good discussion guys. We will be talking about this in depth on the next podcast. Tom, there will certainly be a DOH fantasy league again this year, and I’ll try to get some more information out there in the next week or so.
Boyle over Thornton. Reason? It’s a question of character, not point-production.
From Dave Pollak’s April 24, 2009 post:
“I wanted to talk with Dan Boyle and Rob Blake for the first reason, and they patiently fielded questions. Boyle’s disappointment and frustration was visible; Blake had the slightly more matter-of-fact manner of the older veteran.
I also asked for access to Evgeni Nabokov and Joe Thornton. Nabokov came out from the dressing area right away. And though I was surprised by some of his answers – when I asked if he was fighting the puck at all, he said, no, he actually felt good out there – he answered all questions.
Thornton, on the other hand, was not available. A media relations rep sheepishly and apologetically had to explain that while the press was meeting with McLellan, Thornton had dressed and gone – something we were told wouldn’t happen when the new system was implemented.
I won’t pretend to know why. Maybe there was something pressing he needed to deal with. But Thornton did not have a good game – and the minus-3 only tells part of the story – and it would have been nice to hear what he had to say. Many of you have come to realize that Thornton’s public persona when it comes to the Sharks is so optimistic that credibility is an issue. But still, this was one game where I thought there was value for fans/readers to hear what he had to say.
It probably would have been good to hear from Patrick Marleau, too. But I have to confess I didn’t ask for him – in part because he’s another player who doesn’t open up much and I just didn’t have the time to invest. One of my colleagues thinks that Marleau, as captain, should be waiting for the media after every game, win or lose, but that is not Marleau’s way.”