So many of
my readers sounded off, wondering why I did not post the most important St.
Louis Blues update of the summer – captain David Backes signs with the Boston
Bruins not the St. Louis Blues. Frankly, on a scale of one to ten this
registered as a three in my book. I was never a huge fan of David Backes and I
did not feel that he was a competent team leader.
Backes was always
more concerned with the experience of being a professional hockey player and
the perks it gave him and his family rather than the nitty-gritty get into the
game and give everything kind of player that a team captain needs to be. Of
course Backes could talk the talk with the media and gain their sympathy,
therefore gaining the love and sympathy of the fans. But when crunch time came
you could see the cracks in his façade and you began to realize that he was
simply an average player without much leadership ability.
Did his
leaving create a void within the team? Some would argue that yes, the team will
not survive without the affable David Backes. I think the team has the ability
to flourish without his narcissistic personality clouding the locker-room.
Even I can
admit that Backes did do some good while in St. Louis. But does that make him
an immortal leader that no future captain can live up to and therefore the
Blues are doomed to mediocrity? I am laughing here because Backes contributed
more to the city of St. Louis that he did to the actual hockey team that was
paying him the big bucks.
The 21st
captain of the St. Louis Blues will step into Backes’ shoes and hopefully step
right back out of them and forge his own path as team captain. The next captain
of the St. Louis Blues is inheriting a legacy of emotional outbursts, media
schmoozing and city flirting rather than a level-headed, team first, digging
deep kind of player this team and city deserves.
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