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New leader in St. Louis? Blues finally set to announce captain

St. Louis Blues v Florida Panthers

SUNRISE, FL - FEBRUARY 8: David Backes #42 of the St. Louis Blues skates up ice against the Florida Panthers on February 8, 2011 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The Blues defeated the Panthers 2-1. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

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After months of speculation amongst the St. Louis faithful, the Blues are finally set to announce their captain(s) for the 2011-12 season. As previously reported, the Blues organization has been contemplating either a traditional captain with two alternates or a “captain by committee” set-up that would rotate the “C” throughout the season. With the announcement only hours away, it seems like everyone is in agreement that David Backes is the man to lead the next era of Blues hockey.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been polling Blues fans for their choice for the “C.” Given the choice between newly acquried veterans, youngsters with potential, and familiar faces, fans chose to go with the names that have been in St. Louis for a while. Backes leads the way and it’s not even close:

“Backes was the overwhelming favorite to be the Blues’ next captain among the fans in a recent poll on STLtoday.com. There were 1,780 responses to the poll and Backes earned 76 percent of the support, followed by Jackman (8%), Pietrangelo (6%), Steen (5%), McDonald (4%) and other (2%).”

Andy Strickland shares the majority opinion that Backes would be the perfect fit:

“Having a Captain gives the Blues an identity and I can’t think of a better player to represent the franchise than Backes. He’s entering the prime years of his career as well as the first season of a brand new five-year extension. When you look around the division, Jonathan Toews, Rick Nash, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Shea Weber all do an outstanding job of representing their individual franchises. Backes would do the same in St. Louis.”

To Strickland’s point, Backes brings much more to the table than just goal scoring and ice vision. Some may remember in the weeks leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver when Backes took it upon himself to fight the entire Canadian National team one game at a time. That’s just a sampling of the type of leadership he brings to any team. If the team is sluggish he’ll take the ice and deliver a few body checks to get his team going. If a teammate is taken out, he’ll drop the gloves to defend anyone on his team. Of course, if the Blues desperately need a goal, he’s pretty good in that department as well.

There’s an old adage that a team will take on the identity of its captain. If that’s the case, then Backes would be the ideal man for the job.

Becoming a first time captain is never an easy transition. Time and time again, anointed captains have explained afterwards that they had no idea how difficult the job could be. There’s added pressure deal with in the locker room, on the ice, and even in front of the media. Those are the little things that people don’t always see when a first-year captain slumps while they adjust to the added responsibility. But with former captains Jaime Langenbrunner and Jason Arnott added to the team this offseason, the veterans should be able to aid in the transition.

The only question left: the Blues are going to make Backes the captain, right?