The St. Louis Blues today announced their assistant captains for the 2010-11 season.
Defenseman Eric Brewer will return for his third season as captain of the club, and head coach Davis Payne selected defenseman Barret Jackman, forward David Backes, forward Alex Steen and defenseman Erik Johnson as assistant captains.
Jackman and Backes have been assistants in the past. Steen and Johnson will be new to the role this year.
"We spent a lot of time this summer (asking) how do we strengthen the (leadership) group, how do we encompass the group and gain an opportunity to grow from within, and we feel that this does that," Payne said. "We also feel that we have areas of the team covered . . . be it a young guy (Backes/Johnson), be it a guy who's got a European background (Steen), be it a guy who's got some experience (Jackman). We feel we've got everybody represented in that group. We feel that everybody within our room has representation.
"It also gives us great opportunity to cultivate some of that leadership going forward and have strong voices, so that our group has not only a great voice but a great example to follow on a day-to-day basis."
Only two players are permitted to wear the "A" on their jersery in a given game. Payne said that Jackman and Steen will wear the patch on the same night and Backes and Johnson will wear it together. The Blues are talking about using one pair for road games and the other pair for home games, but they haven't made that determination yet.
"We'll take a look at what makes sense, but a large part of it is going to be (having leadership) every single day," Payne said. "It doesn't matter what our location is, or whether it's practice or a game. These guys are going to be the guys that we look to for leadership and there's other guys who are going to have situational roles that we expect to continue to set the example."
Regarding Johnson's selection, this move shows the confidence the Blues have in the No. 1 overall pick from 2006. He is returning for his third NHL season, after posting 39 points last year coming back from the knee injury that cost him the 2008-09 season.
"It says a lot about where we think Erik is as a player," Payne said. "It says a lot about where we think he is as a person. He's a guy who's got a lot of pride in not only his performance, but the St. Louis Blues' performance and where we're going as an organization in this city. He's a guy that's got very strong beliefs in that direction. He's also a guy that relates and speaks well and takes that younger portion of our hockey team and gives them a voice."
Other Blues who might have been considered for the assistant captain role are Andy McDonald, who is the only player on the roster with a Stanley Cup on his resume, and Jay McClement.
Payne said that he discussed the team's decision with McDonald before making an announcement on the assistants.
Payne concluded the bottom line was that the Blues want to "make sure that guys like Andy, guys like Jay McClement, continue to put forth the example that we need from them. They have very consistent work ethic. They have very consistent attitude. They have very consistent drive to make themselves and their teammates better. We don't expect any of that to change now.
"You look for situational opportunities for Andy in a power play and production role , for Jay in a penalty-killing and a defensive role . . . they have responsibilities there to lead by example in that regard. We feel that they will continue to do so. Andy knows where he stands and he knows that he's going to have opportunity for input, and we're going to lean on him in those areas."
JR
