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In ice hockey, each team can designate an official captain for each game. The player serving as captain during the game wears a "C" on his or her jersey.

Contents 1 Responsibilities and importance 2 Alternate captains 3 Records 4 Designation on uniform 5 Goaltender captains 6 Footnotes 7 See also

Responsibilities and importance

According to International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and National Hockey League (NHL) rules, the only player allowed to speak with referees about rule interpretations is the captain, or, if the captain is not on the ice, an alternate captain.¹²

Although the rules do not specify any other distinction between the captain and his teammates, in North American professional hockey the captain has numerous responsibilities to the team. The captain is expected to be a locker room leader and is often considered the primary representative of the team to the public. The captain also represents the players' concerns to management and sometimes is responsible for organizing the team's social functions.^{citation needed}

Captains are selected by team management; some teams hold a vote among the players to choose the team's captain. Captains are usually veteran players, though on occasion younger players are chosen. The selection is often seen as an important moment for a team, and one that can affect the team's (and newly appointed captain's) performance.

IIHF and NHL rules do not permit goaltenders to be designated as captains,¹² because of the logistical challenge of having the goaltender relay rules discussions between referees and coaches and then return to the crease. The Vancouver Canucks named goaltender Roberto Luongo as its captain starting on September 30, 2008; due to the rule restriction, he cannot serve as the official team captain during games.

NHL teams need not designate the same player as captain from game to game, though most teams do. Some teams name two (such as the Buffalo Sabres during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 NHL seasons) or three (such as the Vancouver Canucks during the 1990–91 NHL season) captains for a season. Some teams rotate captains rather than keep one for an extended period of time (the Minnesota Wild have never had a permanent captain, instead choosing to rotate captains every one or two months). During each NHL game, however, only one player can officially be designated as captain.²

Traditionally, at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL commissioner presents the Stanley Cup to the winning team's captain.

Alternate captains

Teams may designate alternate captains, who are sometimes referred to erroneously as "assistant captains". Alternate captains wear the letter A on their jerseys in the same manner that team captains wear the C. In the NHL, teams may appoint two alternate captains if they have a captain, or they may appoint three alternate captains and no captain.³ In the CHL, teams are allowed to have a captain with up to three alternate captains. International rules stipulate that "each team shall appoint a Captain and no more than two Alternate Captains."¹ When the captain is off the ice, any alternate captain on the ice is responsible for fulfilling the captain's official role as liaison to the referees.

Teams need not appoint the same players as alternate captains from game to game, though they generally do. NHL alternate captains perform many of the same leadership and team building roles as the captain. The alternate captains are appointed before each game, that is why teams such as the Detroit Red Wings have three official alternate captains, Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg.

Records

Steve Yzerman served as the captain of the Detroit Red Wings for twenty seasons (1986–87 season to 2005–06 season), the longest term in the history of the NHL.⁴ Charlie Gardiner was the first captain born in Europe to lead his team to a Stanley Cup title (1934), Lars-Erik Sjoberg was the first NHL captain born and trained in Europe, while Nicklas Lidstrom was the first captain born and trained in Europe to lead his team to a Stanley Cup title (2008).

Brian Bellows was the youngest captain in NHL history, serving as the interim captain of the Minnesota North Stars from January 1984 until May 1984. The youngest permanent NHL captain is Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who became captain on May 31, 2007.⁵

Youngest NHL captains

Name	Team	Birth date	Captaincy announced	Age at announcement	First game as captain	Age at first game	Type
Bellows, BrianBrian Bellows	Minnesota North Stars	01964-09-01 September 1, 1964	01984-01-10 January 10, 1984â€	&0000000000000019.00000019 years, &0000000000000131.000000131 days			Interim
Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins	01987-08-07 August 7, 1987	02007-05-31 May 31, 20076	&0000000000000019.00000019 years, &0000000000000297.000000297 days	02007-10-05 October 5, 20077	&0000000000000020.00000020 years, &0000000000000059.00000059 days	Permanent
Lecavalier, VincentVincent Lecavalier	Tampa Bay Lightning	01980-04-21 April 21, 1980	02000-03-01 March 1, 20008	&0000000000000019.00000019 years, &0000000000000315.000000315 days	02000-03-01 March 1, 2000citation needed	&0000000000000019.00000019 years, &0000000000000315.000000315 days	Permanent
Toews, JonathanJonathan Toews	Chicago Blackhawks	01988-04-29 April 29, 1988	02008-07-18 July 18, 20089	&0000000000000020.00000020 years, &0000000000000080.00000080 days	02008-10-10 October 10, 2008101112	&0000000000000020.00000020 years, &0000000000000164.000000164 days	Permanent
Yzerman, SteveSteve Yzerman	Detroit Red Wings	01965-05-09 May 9, 1965	01986-10-07 October 7, 198613	&0000000000000021.00000021 years, &0000000000000151.000000151 days	01986-10-09 October 9, 198614	&0000000000000021.00000021 years, &0000000000000153.000000153 days	Permanent

Table Notes:

† An exact date for Brian Bellows' captaincy has not yet been determined. The previous captain, Craig Hartsburg, was injured on January 10, 1984, and Bellows became interim captain shortly thereafter in January 1984.¹⁵

Designation on uniform

The letter "C" or "A" is sewn on the jersey of the team captain and alternate captains. The designation is traditionally placed on the left side of the jersey. Two teams in the NHL have jerseys with the designation on the right side, as the positioning of the crest on the front leaves insufficient space on the left for the letter: the Detroit Red Wings (regular jersey), and the Phoenix Coyotes (third jersey).¹⁶

Goaltender captains

In NHL history, there have been seven goaltenders who served as team captains:

• John Ross Roach (Toronto St. Patricks): 1924-25 season
• George Hainsworth (Montreal Canadiens): 1932-33 season
• Roy Worters (New York Americans): 1932-33 season
• Alex Connell (Ottawa Senators): 1932-33 season
• Charlie Gardiner (Chicago Black Hawks): 1933-34 season
• Bill Durnan (Montreal Canadiens): latter half of 1947–48 season
• Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks): 2008-09 season¹⁷

There is a picture of Turk Broda wearing the Captain's "C" but is actually wearing Toronto Team Captain Syl Apps's sweater.^{citation needed}

Prior to the 1948-49 season, the NHL made a change to the rules prohibiting goalies from being captains. This was due to Bill Durnan leaving his crease to argue calls with the referees far too frequently. Opposing teams said this gave the Canadiens unscheduled timeouts during strategic points during games. This became known as the "Durnan Rule".^{citation needed}

While the Canucks have named Luongo its captain for the 2008-09 season, he cannot serve as the official captain during games so on-ice captain duties have been delegated to other players. Willie Mitchell is the in-game liaison with the officials and Mattias Ohlund performs any ceremonial aspects of the position such as pre-game faceoffs.

Footnotes

See also

• Captain (sports)
• List of current NHL captains and alternate captains
• List of current AHL captains
• List of current Elitserien captains and alternate captains
• List of Team Canada captains

Positions on the Hockey Rink
Forwards:		Left winger | Centre | Right winger
Defencemen:		Left defenceman | Right defenceman
Goaltender:		Goaltender
Power forward | Enforcer | Captain | Head coach | Referee & linesman