Forsberg Named Captain

In the wake of Keith Primeau's retirement, Peter Forsberg has been named the 15th captain in Flyers history. "I am flattered and honored," Forsberg said. "It is definitely something I wanted to do and I played a long time in this league. It's going to be great. We have a great team here, and I look forward to being captain here. It's a classy organization." Simon Gagne and Derian Hatcher will serve as the team's alternate captains. While the move is not a shock, I have to admit a I'm a little surprised. Not about Peter the Great being offered the role, but about his acceptance of it. I would have figured he would have prefered to take the "A" like he had in Colorado, but not a "C." I honestly thought Gagne would wind up with it, given the new contract and the fact that he was offered the role last year when Primeau was hurt. He turned it down then out of respect to Primeau, but now I thought he'd be good to go. I really like the idea floated in the article by Tim Panaccio linked above: The Flyers plan to extend [Forsberg's] contract, which would allow a transition of his captaincy to a younger player, such as Mike Richards, in a few years. I really like Richards and then think he will be a two-way force a la Dallas' Mike Modano -- conincidentally, a player also coached by Ken Hitchcock.