Patrik Elias has gone from “A” to “C” to a more simply lettered sweater, with Jamie Langenbrunner named the new Devils captain. There have been dozens of online column inches written about the nationalities of various NHL captains, and how that has or has not translated into success in the post-season (if there is any correlation at all). With Paul Martin wearing an “A”, two of the three Devils captains are Minnesota natives. Good luck and congratulations to Jamie. I’ve only had two interactions with him — I played in a golf tournament in which he was in the foursome ahead of me (and he signed a handful of autographs before and after playing), and he signed some swag that was forwarded through a chain of custody involving more friends of friends than a Facebook group.
Elias never really seemed comfortable with the “C”, offering the usual post-game comments and serving as public recipient of coaching delivered through the New Jersey sports writers, but not stepping up vocally in public. I’m sorry to see Patty unlettered, because I think he’s been a leader on this team since the 99-00 season when he was so integral to the disposal of the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Championship series. On the other hand, if removing the mantle of leadership means he can go back to playing with comfort, comedy and courage, then it’s a good move.
And for all six readers who may have wondered where I went, I completely stopped blogging for about a month, both about hockey and work. It wasn’t intentional; I have about ten half-written blogs and thoughts on various pieces of scrap paper, napkins and Mac stickies. But work, travel, a week of vacation, some youth hockey, and insane travel schedules all conspired to create something of a writer’s block. Writing is like exercising, as it gets progressively harder to start again once you start using the elliptical machine to display holiday cards.