Paul Bissonnette, an NHL veteran of 202 games, is an engaging social media presence (with more than 700,000 Twitter followers) who has a thoughtful and unique perspective on the game. He plays for the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. Bissonnette will be contributing columns to USA TODAY Sports during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
When you analyze the remaining four teams in the NHL playoffs, it’s easy to understand how important leadership is to winning.
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, St. Louis Blues’ David Backes, San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos are captains with reputations as players who can inspire others to perform at their best.
No other league places as much emphasis on leadership as the NHL does. Where else in sports do captains have as much impact as they do in hockey?
The tradition of empowering strong leaders is alive at all levels of hockey. My American Hockey League team, the Ontario (Calif.) Reign, is in the third round of the playoffs, and many of our guys would say that captain Vincent LoVerde has played a significant role in that.
Nothing speaks to the idea that hockey is the ultimate team sport more than the tradition that we have one man in every dressing room whose job it is to make sure we are all on the same page. There is something reassuring about going into an important game knowing you have a leader who makes it his mission to show you the path to succeed.
The best captains are those who have an even keel even when a storm brewing. He must have an exemplary work ethic, and he has to have an air of confidence about him. He has to be able to communicate well with his teammates and the coach. It’s also preferable for a captain to have an edge to his game.
When I played with the Phoenix Coyotes, I always felt as if Shane Doan was the perfect model for captain.
The Coyotes endured bankruptcy, ownership change and threats of relocation. We were trying to win while surrounded by instability.
Doan told us we needed to take this personally. He told us we needed to embrace an us-against-the-world mentality. He told us we needed to do all that we could to help ourselves and the team.
When Doan spoke everyone listened because we believed in him. He also would go around the room and ask if anyone else had something to offer. Doan was inclusive, and that was another reason I admired him.
With Doan leading the way, we made the playoffs three consecutive seasons and even reached the conference finals in 2012.
Leadership has to come naturally. You can’t force it. Players will see right through you if you are disingenuous.
What makes a player a good leader aren’t his statistics. If a guy is being paid more than his numbers would say he deserves, he’s probably getting rewarded for what he means to the dressing room. Intangibles can be as important as goals and assists.
The captains left in the playoffs are players known for their sincerity. I know Backes from playing with him a few weeks in training camp when I was with the Blues.
He has everything you want in a captain, including the physical edge. If there is a collision on the ice, he’s the first guy skating over. Guys on the team respect that about him.
You have to respect Pavelski’s leadership impact because the Sharks have seemingly turned the corner on his watch.
He is a captain who leads by example because he has been one of the league’s most consistent scorers for the past eight seasons. He scores big goals. He’s always noticeable. He brings it every night.
When I was in Pittsburgh, Crosby was a very young captain. He was only 19 when he was awarded the "C" in 2007. He has grown into the role. People are going to follow him because he’s Crosby. They see his work ethic, production and history. When you see the way he plays, it makes you want to step up your game.
Even though Stamkos is not playing because of a blood clot, he is still contributing in that dressing room. Guys who play with him have nothing but praise for how he performs as a captain. Good captains can contribute by their presence.
It’s easy to play this game when you are winning. But when losses mount, or when a team has to deal with adversity, that’s when the captain earns the title.
Players will look to a captain to determine if they should be worried. If the captain looks confident and composed, they will be the same. That's what being a captain is about.
