The Captain... is not Ethan Moreau?

Pat Quinn on Captains, and Coaching

"The coach needs to have a captain that understands that his message needs to be carried to the players. The captain has to be responsible to that fact. We don't need just one leader - we need all sorts of leaders [...] he has to carry messages that are from among the players that need to get to the head coach."

Not that it's a big deal or anything, but he refers to the "Captain" as some sort of abstract person or idea. Ethan Moreau is the Oilers' current captain, but never in his interview does Pat Quinn mention Ethan Moreau's name once. Does this indicate that Quinn and Renney will be picking their own guy?

And if it is (as often indicated) that Quinn has no idea about anyone on this team... then why is he commenting? You can't really comment on something you know nothing about.

Moreau is set to win an NHL award this weekend.

The Next Jason Smith

Now, not that Ethan Moreau is a bad captain: but the last time it seemed that the Oilers had captains that had a commanding presence was when we had Doug Weight and Jason Smith. Though one led by contributing offensively the other led by snuffing out the opposition's offense. One would dance past the opposition on his way into the scoring areas and one would demolish his opponents when they entered the scoring areas.

The number one thing in common?

When they stopped to talk - everyone listened.

Whether it was a media misquote or Moreau mismanaging his own words, Moreau has been involved with a few mental gaffaws when it comes to interviews. Sure, nobody is perfect and people in the spotlight aren't either. But sometimes it is better to say nothing than the wrong thing. What I want to know is which is the actual problem: is it because Moreau is not shown enough respect as a captain when he talks... or whether he doesn't command enough respect to be called a team captain in the first place? What do you think?

And speaking of Jason Smith... who is in line to be his replacement on this team? Ladislav Smid ... or Theo Peckham? Could both develop accordingly? What if the Smid trade rumours are true?

Now that's a Captain

I take it back, Ethan:

“We didn’t have the urgency to score goals we needed and it was obvious,” said Moreau. “It’s really frustrating. I thought we’d respond better, but we didn’t. It’s not everybody. There were guys who worked really hard, but we didn’t have enough. It wasn’t enough. I’m not going to make excuses. That wasn’t good enough. We need more through our line-up.”

You heard him Tambellini, make it happen.