I will make this post short and sweet. For weeks now we have heard speculation that Andrew Ference is going to be the captain on a intern basis until one of our young stars steps up and is ready to take the reigns. My question is, 'Is Ference the right Captain?'
Not trying to sound insensitive to all he has done or who he is, Andrew is one of the last people who I would put in as captain and here are my reasons why....
1) He may be a fitness warrior but so was Horcoff and was he the right captain? Some will say yes, I would argue that he was the most experienced for the job after Ethan was done and not much else was a option at the time.
2) Speaking of experience, what experience does he have with his teammates as a veteran? Sure he is a veteran to the league but not to Edmonton and it's not like he is respected already as a Edmonton Oiler. I understand picking a veteran of the league on a team that is real young and there is no leaders but is not leadership what our young stars have been developing?
3) What does a captain do? It's not just on ice and locker room stuff, it's the intangibles. Does he know our city, will he organize events on behalf of our team players? How could he? He doesn't know enough about our culture or team. (Not that our culture has been great but it is improving)
4) Sure he appears good right now as a on ice player but media likes have penciled him in as a top 2 d-man on the Oilers and question is..can he even perform at that level skill wise? Maybe, maybe not! We won't know until the season moves into full swing. Why take a chance on naming your captain when he may stink out the joint or be a d-man that fans make their new scape goat? (He may do all right in the end , we won't know until halfway through a season even.
5) Lastly, why name a captain who is only a stop gap? If your going to name your captain and he is here now, make that decision to crown him when the time is right. I think IMO it is not beneficial to name a good leader a captain just because of that personality. I highly doubt Ference plays better or this team plays better because a 'C' goes on his jersey.
My suggestion you ask? I think you alternate your captain and wait to name him by Dallas seeing who will step up to the plate by the new year. Let's see who really shines in that all around leadership role. I would not be surprised if Gagner were to be picked but it would be the wrong decision IMO. For my monies worth I would pick Eberle still, as Hall is not always a calm factor out there on the ice like a captain should be (In tradition anyway) but Hall sure appears like he wants the job and looks determined to take this team by the horns and run with it. Not sure why but I get this feeling that Eberle may one day be that key trading piece the Oilers trade out of town but let's hope my gut is wrong. I think the answer is in the writing and Dallas has it pencilled in as Hall!
Question though 'Is Andrew Ference the right Captain, right now?'
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