John Tavares named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs

Mixed reaction to the news that John Tavares has been named the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs prior to the season opener against Ottawa.

By The Canadian Press

John Tavares said recently when he used to dream about playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs there wasn’t a ‘C’ on his jersey.

Just being on the ice in blue and white was enough.

Now the 29-year-old has surpassed even his own childhood expectations.

Tavares was named the 25th captain in franchise history Wednesday during the pre-game ceremony before the NHL season opener against the Ottawa Senators, filling a role that had been vacant for more than 3 1/2 years.

The product of nearby Oakville, Ont., was the last of his teammates to step onto the ice at a raucous Scotiabank Arena, saluting the crowd with his stick.

Leafs centre Auston Matthews, winger Mitch Marner and defenceman Morgan Rielly were named alternates.

Tavares, who was captain of the New York Islanders for five seasons before signing with Toronto in unrestricted free agency two summers ago, joins a list of Leafs captains that includes Hap Day, Syl Apps, Ted Kennedy, George Armstrong, Dave Keon, Darryl Sittler, Rick Vaive, Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin.

Tavares, who scored a career-high 47 goals and 88 points in 2018-19 with the Leafs, said last week it would be a “special honour” to be named captain.

“We know about the history, the tradition and what it would mean to the city and the fan base,” said the first pick in the 2009 NHL draft. “It’s not something you can ever take for granted, but at the same time I don’t think you want to change who you are.

“You just want to continue to just try to be better every day.”

In 751 career games with New York and Toronto, Tavares has 319 goals and 709 points to go along with 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 31 playoff games. He signed a seven-year, US$77-million contract with the Leafs some 15 months ago after nine seasons with the Islanders.

Matthews and Rielly were viewed as the other candidates for the Leafs’ captaincy, which Dion Phaneuf held from June 14, 2010, until he was traded to the Senators on Feb. 9, 2016.

There was debate in Toronto last week whether or not Matthews was still suitable for the role after news broke that he’s facing a charge of disorderly conduct and disruptive behaviour stemming from an alleged incident _ which he failed to disclose to the team _ in his hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., back in May.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Toronto head coach Mike Babcock said before Wednesday’s game that the team’s brain trust wanted to be 100 per cent certain of its choice.

“We didn’t name a captain for a long time because we didn’t think it was obvious,” he said. “We talked a ton about this. We talked to our players about it, we talked to our staff about it, we talked to our management team about it.

“In the end we made the right decision for the Leafs.”

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