The Nashville Predators boasted some appealing options to take the torch from Mike Fisher as captain, but really there was only one obvious name: Roman Josi.
Josi officially became the team’s eighth captain on Tuesday. Ryan Ellis appears to be second-in-command as “associate” captain, while they seem interested in spreading the leadership wealth around otherwise:
As captain, Josi will see an increased role on the Predators leadership team, which will also see some new appointments. Defenseman Ryan Ellis has been named as the team’s associate captain, while Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm will all serve as alternate captains. In addition, Pekka Rinne, P.K. Subban and Nick Bonino have all taken positions within the leadership group.
If that’s not a sign that the team is taking this seriously - kind of amusingly so - consider that Ellis and Josi “interviewed” for the position and Peter Laviolette evoked military structures in discussing the decision, as sports teams love to do.
Coach Laviolette says he examined military rank models to name Josi captain, Ellis associate captain. #Preds
— Brooks Bratten 🍪 (@brooksbratten) September 19, 2017
Josi seemed flattered when GM David Poile described him as “our Roger Federer,” a fellow Swiss sports star.
#Preds GM David Poile: "Roman is our Roger Federer." #Preds
— Brooks Bratten 🍪 (@brooksbratten) September 19, 2017
At face value, that’s great, especially since it breaks through the near-corporate-speak that saddles announcements like these.
That said, it’s funny to compare the leader in a team sport to a tennis player, among the most individualistic athletes in all of sport. There aren’t many moments of teamwork beyond doubles and rare events like the Davis Cup.
Overall, it’s another strong decision by the Predators. It’s merely fun to tease them a bit about the cornier aspects.
Laviolette: I asked Ellis and Josi who should be the captain and they each said the other one. That's respect. #Preds
— Thomas Willis (@TomAWillis) September 19, 2017