KNIGHTS ARE IN NO RUSH TO NAME CAPTAIN
There are several qualified candidates and the coaches want to make sure they make the right choice
By RYAN PYETTE, The London Free Press
Ryan Ellis was named the new captain of the Windsor Spitfires practically the minute he returned from Nashville.
The London Knights’ leader?
Auditions are still on-going.
Though everyone’s back from NHL camps, the Knights might not name their wearer of the “C” until the end of October.
“We’re still waiting to see who it’ll be,” said assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu. “We’re not going to rush into it. We’re going to take the next three weeks here and make sure we get it right.
“It’s one of the most important decisions you make. It sets you up on the road and in the room. You don’t want to make the wrong choice.”
Problem is, no one has taken charge of the room yet. Turns out these Knights leadership skills mirror the club’s goal-scoring talents — spread out and by committee.
“We have a lot of guys who have the same leadership qualities,” Beaulieu said. “We’re waiting to see who steps up. They say the cream always rises to the top and we’re hoping that’s the case.
“You ask a lot from your captain. They have to put themselves second a lot of the time and be there for the young guys when they need help. They have to be in front of the media and speak for the team.”
Beaulieu said it’s not like it was in 2005 when Danny Syvret was captain and the Knights were in the limelight every day, “but it’s still there.”
The coaches, as always, will make the final call. The players may be asked to provide input.
“We can only go by what we see every day at the rink,” Beaulieu said. “We don’t hang out with the kids off the ice so we don’t know that part of it.”
There are several candidates.
Boston Bruins second-rounder Jared Knight provided the game-winner in London’s first two games. That’s a pretty good job of leading the way.
The over-age players will be part of the picture, as will a veteran like Daniel Erlich, who’s now the longest-serving Knight (164 games) and just dropped the mitts Saturday against Sarnia’s Jesse Stoughton.
“We were on the bench together and he told me I’m going to get in a fight and I didn’t really know if he was serious or not,” said new Knight tough guy Victor Terreri, “but he went out there and did a great job.”
Jarred Tinordi, the Montreal Canadiens’ first rounder, is also in the captaincy conversation. He will play his first OHL game Friday against the Owen Sound Attack at the John Labatt Centre.
“He was the captain of the U.S. (under-18) national development team last year,” Beaulieu said, “and his coach said he was the best captain the program ever had, so that’s a big feather in his cap.”
Tinordi will make his debut as half of one of junior hockey’s biggest defence pairing. The six-foot-seven, 212-pounder will start off playing with Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick Reid McNeill, who’s six-foot-four and 201 pounds.
“We’ll put them together because Raz (Michael D’Orazio) really plays well with Scott Harrington and we want to keep that going,” Beaulieu said. “(Rookie) Mike Moffat has done well enough to be in the top four, but since this is his first season and he’s new, we want to bring him along slowly.”
Six-foot-seven rookie Troy Donnay is expected to play his first game as a Knight after recovering from a cut on his ankle that required stitches. The 16-year-old injured himself with his own skate on a crossover.
“He has a real knack for the offensive part of the game,” Beaulieu said, “but we’re going to be careful with him. We want him to get some experience first.”
The Knights plan to stick with dressing six D-men for now.
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