The Big A question

I am going to borrow liberally from SensChirp (http://senschirp.blogspot.com/) and their poll they have. Since Wade Redden was one of our alternate captains and he is no longer with the club, who should take over his big A? Well, I am going to break down my opinion based off of the four candidates SensChirp presented.

Dany Heatley:

The second I traded Wade Redden away on my copy of NHL08 for the Xbox 360, Heater was awarded the alternate captaincy by the computer. I didn't bother to fix it because I honestly don't care and the game certainly doesn't either. Unfortunately this isn't a video game and there are some big time things to consider. Heatley is already our premiere player who typically will be on the ice with Alfredsson most of the time. Backing up on the blueline there stands a good chance that Big Rig, Chris Phillips, will also see a lot of time with Heater on the ice. That is reason enough to waive Heater from contention -- who wants to see all "leaders" on the ice at once? Spread the love around. Is he qualified? Sure. Would he respond to the pressure? More than likely, but there's no reason to bunch our eggs in the same basket.

Mike Fisher:

Last year he was wearing the A when Alfie was injured and the media asked him how it felt. He jokingly responded "right where it belongs". Nevertheless, he could very well be right. Mike is a tireless force who is always there for the team. He doesn't have the same scoring touch as say Heater, but he is a solid player with a presence of mind both up and down the ice that a leader requires. Atop of that he is a fan favourite in Ottawa and is signed for a number of years to come.

Jason Smith:

I am not a huge fan of honouring a previous captain of another team with a A or C for their current club. Respect is something earned and not given immediately regardless of tenure in the league. The guys may know of Smith, but may not know him very well. As it stands he would be a short term alternate captain and though he could probably do the job justice we would return in a year or two and ask this very question again.

Chris Kelly:

Former captain of the Binghamton Senators and one of the Sens smartest young players, Kelly has a total package of a born leader. He is, however, young though the club seems to respond well when he is on the ice. For him to get the Big A would require more ice time than he current is afforded and his presence with that time would need to increase quite a bit.

So what do I think? If you know me then you know my obvious answer is Mike Fisher. I am a big fan of Fish -- to me the quintessential Canadian hockey player -- and I think it's high time we recognize his accomplishments.