From David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News:
“Patrick Marleau is the captain of this hockey club,” McLellan said at the time. “He has done nothing in my opinion to change that to this point. But in fairness to everybody involved, I would like to have the opprotunity to sit down with him and talk about leadership and the responsibilities that go with it. My experience with Patty, my knowledge of him, would indicate he would be a very good captain, But I’d like to know what his thoughts are on it. We’ll see what happens when camp comes around.”
Since that time, McLellan and Marleau have had multiple conversations, including at least one lunch together. And when I asked the coach this week if he had given the matter further thought, he left the impression the conversations with Marleau went well.
“I don’t think you’re going to see many changes,” McLellan said, “but it’s hard not to see Blake or Boyle in the mix when it comes to wearing the ‘A.’ ”
Read the entire entry from Working the Corners here.
I think this is a good decision. Marleau has certainly matured as a leader over the past couple seasons and it will be interesting to see his personality under a new head coach (as him and Ron Wilson didn’t particularly get along). With Rob Blake almost certainly sporting an “A” next season, and Dan Boyle joining the mix, Marleau will have more than enough leadership support around the dressing room.
