A Small Portion of My Feelings About Captain Claude
I'm currently fascinated both by Danny as Claude's mentor/supporter and by the possible dynamics of Claude being the captain with Kimmo, Hartsy, and Danny as his As. I would read alllllll the fic about either of those things, even if it were all gen. I would also read all the nonfiction about either of them. So let's talk about Danny, Claude, and the C for a minute. (Or, you know, several hundred words. Whichever.)
Just before the season started and Claude was named captain, Danny said of him in a radio interview (text article, source for a download link), "I think it's no secret everybody knows that it's now his team, and the management will decide if it's the right time to give him the 'C' or not after the past experiences with the last captains that we've had, but there's no doubt that, like I said, it's his team. He's our leader offensively on the ice, and off the ice he's not afraid to speak his mind as well."
Danny has actually been talking about Claude being their leader (at least on the ice) since April (note: he also looks blissed out and pleased in this interview):
In an interview earlier this season, a reporter asked Claude about players he'd learned from in terms of wearing the C. Claude said, "Jags last year was a big player for me, and obviously Richie, Prongs, and Danny B. They've been great for me, and hopefully I can try to be captains like them." Let's note that the interviewer mentioned that Jagr had previously been a captain, and that Mike Richards and Chris Pronger were captains Claude played with, but that Claude came up with Danny on his own.
I have Google Alerts for Danny and Claude, and over the summer, I kept laughing at what I liked to refer to as "Danny Briere answers the phone and talks to the media." He commented on things like Jeff Carter and Mike Richards being in the playoffs and Peter Laviolette's contract extension. Now, obviously Danny's overrepresented because that's who I had an alert for, but it still seemed like a lot. I could never figure out if that was just because he's around in the summer and answered his phone, or if there was some kind of agreement that he would be the player spokesperson for the team. I also kept being irked that none of the "Who will be the captain?" speculation took Danny's amazing abilities with the media into account as an argument for him being the captain. Which brings me back to Claude saying "obviously . . . Danny B." Did Danny make that list because he's Claude's mentor and he's been an A for the Flyers for years, or did he make that list because he was the de facto captain sometime in that period between when Chris Pronger was injured and when Claude became the leader of their team?
The one thing that isn't in this post is something I haven't been able to find on the internet. The CSN Philly broadcast of the February 5 game against the Lightning had a pre-taped bit where they asked Danny about playing with Tye McGinn. His entire answer was framed in sentences that began with, "I told Claude." Given that Danny and Claude tend to talk about each other all the time anyway, it's entirely possible that this is just how he talks, but I wonder if he's also been consciously thinking about publicly supporting Claude as his captain.
Just before the season started and Claude was named captain, Danny said of him in a radio interview (text article, source for a download link), "I think it's no secret everybody knows that it's now his team, and the management will decide if it's the right time to give him the 'C' or not after the past experiences with the last captains that we've had, but there's no doubt that, like I said, it's his team. He's our leader offensively on the ice, and off the ice he's not afraid to speak his mind as well."
Danny has actually been talking about Claude being their leader (at least on the ice) since April (note: he also looks blissed out and pleased in this interview):
Click to view
In an interview earlier this season, a reporter asked Claude about players he'd learned from in terms of wearing the C. Claude said, "Jags last year was a big player for me, and obviously Richie, Prongs, and Danny B. They've been great for me, and hopefully I can try to be captains like them." Let's note that the interviewer mentioned that Jagr had previously been a captain, and that Mike Richards and Chris Pronger were captains Claude played with, but that Claude came up with Danny on his own.
I have Google Alerts for Danny and Claude, and over the summer, I kept laughing at what I liked to refer to as "Danny Briere answers the phone and talks to the media." He commented on things like Jeff Carter and Mike Richards being in the playoffs and Peter Laviolette's contract extension. Now, obviously Danny's overrepresented because that's who I had an alert for, but it still seemed like a lot. I could never figure out if that was just because he's around in the summer and answered his phone, or if there was some kind of agreement that he would be the player spokesperson for the team. I also kept being irked that none of the "Who will be the captain?" speculation took Danny's amazing abilities with the media into account as an argument for him being the captain. Which brings me back to Claude saying "obviously . . . Danny B." Did Danny make that list because he's Claude's mentor and he's been an A for the Flyers for years, or did he make that list because he was the de facto captain sometime in that period between when Chris Pronger was injured and when Claude became the leader of their team?
The one thing that isn't in this post is something I haven't been able to find on the internet. The CSN Philly broadcast of the February 5 game against the Lightning had a pre-taped bit where they asked Danny about playing with Tye McGinn. His entire answer was framed in sentences that began with, "I told Claude." Given that Danny and Claude tend to talk about each other all the time anyway, it's entirely possible that this is just how he talks, but I wonder if he's also been consciously thinking about publicly supporting Claude as his captain.