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 It had to happen sooner or later. It happened on January 20th.
While struggling to stay out of the overall last place in the league standings, the Carolina Hurricanes named 25 year old Eric Staal as the new Captain for its hockey club. Rod Brind’Amour has worn the “C” on his sweater since 2005, succeeding the retirement of Hall of Famer Ron Francis and leading the organization to a Stanley Cup win in 2006.
 Durability and leadership have not been the top headline for Brind’Amour’s 21st season in the NHL(with St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Carolina) with the Canes looking up in the standings most of the season. Currently with 13 points and a ugly +/- -25, the wore-torn veteran has been pushed down from the forward lines and was even a healthy scratch for a few games. The guy is a proven leader--the kinda guy you want for your hockey team. He’s the player you could just look at an know his locker room speeches could be something of sports inspiration legend. Like most fans I have a lot of respect for “Roddy” and had mixed feelings of hearing the news even in the middle of this stressful season. With a total show of class the former captain supported GM Jim Rutherford’s decision and stepped aside for Staal.
As the team’s highest paid/profile player Staal has long been touted as the “future” of the franchise and was recently picked for Team Canada’s 2010 Winter Olympics team. While fans of the franchise knew Staal would eventually take the reigns many hockey fans felt the move was disrespectful this near the end of an outstanding career for Brind’Amour and this close of calling the Canes season a bust. Until Brind’Amour’s comments of supporting the change I must admit I too questioned the rational.
You don’t need to wear a letter on your team colors to prove you are a leader, but making a change in who is wearing the “C” is a significant move of respect and leadership for any hockey club on or off the ice. How has Staal responded? In his first game as captain versus Atlanta on January 21st Staal scored a hat-trick. He has since posted 11 points in 7 games and has a 9 game point streak going into tonight’s game against Calgary. In short, he has led by example.
In an recent interview for Raleigh’s News & Observer, winger Ray Whitney said “It’s not a huge change. We’re just switching letters. You don’t even need a letter on. Leadership isn’t defined by a letter on your jersey.” True enough.
 If this indeed becomes Rod Brind’Amour’s last season in the NHL I truly feel his #17 will eventually hang in the rafters of the RBC Center along side the #2 of Glen Wesley and #8 of Ron Francis. I also feel there could be a #12 hanging along side them one day after a hopefully long and outstanding career.
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