Ovechkin and the captaincy.

With the recent announcement about Jonathan Toews being named captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, the talks of when Ovechkin will get the "C" have started back up again. Naming young "star" players captain seems to be the trend around the league now-a-days. Crosby was named captain of Pittsburgh 2 years ago and now Toews with Chicago. I don't have a problem with teams naming young players captain, but that player must me the leader in the locker room. Guys must look up to that player in the locker room, and I think Crosby and Toews are the leaders of their teams so it's ok.

It's a different case with Ovechkin. Yes Ovechkin is a leader in the locker room, but he's not "the" leader, at least not yet. I think everybody knows the story of how Ovechkin was offered the captaincy after his rookie year and he turned it down beause he didn't think he was ready. I agreed with him, and I thought that it shows that he's a mature kid, and he knows what's best for the team. So these past couple of years, Chris Clark and Olaf Kolzig have been "the" main leaders on the team. That's why Clark got the "C" the past 2 years. Kolzig has moved on and is now in Tampa Bay. The Caps also resigned Sergei Fedorov and he'll be one of "the" leaders in the locker room. Ovechkin will get an "A" this year, just like he's had the past couple of years, and I think that's perfect for him. There's no need to rush him into the captaincy role. He's going to be in Washington for the rest of carrer. His time will come, let him improve his english, and get more playoff experience, and then he'll be ready.

I know a lot of the fans want Ovechkin to be the captain because he's the best player on the team, and he's making hockey a bigger sport in D.C. but doing that stuff doesn't make you a captain. You have to earn the captaincy in the locker room.

My predictions for the C's and A's this year.

Clark-"C"
Fedorov-"A"
Ovechkin-"A"

If Clark is still hurt, then you go with 3 A's.

Fedorov-"A"
Ovechkin-"A"
Poti/Brashear-"A"