Captaincy is revered in the NHL, to a greater extent, I would argue, than in other professional leagues. The Carolina Hurricanes have had some excellent leaders don the ‘C’ over the years, and today we take a look back.
Effective leadership is crucial to any endeavor. You can have the greatest group of people assembled but, without proper guidance, achieving anything can be more about blind luck than skillful execution. The right leader knows their group and knows how best to reach them. An ineffective one can become little more than a petulant tyrant.
Through their two-plus decades in The Old North State, the Carolina Hurricanes have been fortunate in having some very effective captains, players who were able to inspire through their words, actions, or a combination of both.
Today, we’ll take a look at the eight men who have led the Hurricanes over the years. We’ll focus primarily on the player’s time as captain and the success (or lack thereof) that the team experienced during their reign.
Note: I’m going to skip over the 2016-17 season in which the Hurricanes utilized four alternates in lieu of naming a captain.