Ranking the Detroit Red Wings captains of the last 40 years

In terms of leadership, communication, and humble attitudes, The Detroit Red Wings have never been starved of the qualities you look for in a captain, at least not recently. From Sid Abel to Dylan Larkin and everyone in between, the city of Detroit has been blessed with some incredible men who proudly wore the “C” on their sweaters.

Unfortunately, there is a larger-than-ideal portion of casual hockey fans that determine greatness by numbers and stats. I am here to argue that, although it is a contributing factor, leadership cannot be measured by stats and stats alone. Believe it or not, numbers can actually be used with an agenda in mind, turning them into a detriment when making an argument. I know, crazy. Right?

So, what makes a good captain of an NHL team? Being an Original Six hockey team brings years of history and thousands of players that have stepped on a sheet of ice wearing the winged wheel. For as many legends that have worn the captain’s insignia, there have been countless number more who have worn the “A” as an alternate since the inception of the league.

To lay the groundwork for this list, it must be stated that only true captains were considered. Players who wore the “C” on their jersey and were the sole captain of the Detroit Red Wings. For recency’s sake, let’s take a look at the five Detroit Red Wings captains of the last 40 years and attempt to rank an almost immeasurable quality.

Here are the top five Detroit Red Wings captains over the last 40 years.

5. Danny Gare

Early on, it’s time to own up to the recency bias, even if the first one may be a name that leads some to discredit the next four in the countdown. But there is still plenty of insight to talk through, but I had to own up to the recency bias (or lack thereof) with Danny Gare. I was born in 1989 and truthfully do not have a recollection of watching hockey before Eric Lindros laced up the skates for the Flyers on my father’s grainy basement television.

If it was unclear, that was well after Gare’s reign as a Detroit Red Wings captain. All of my knowledge of his play comes from older clips I have seen of him from the 80s since I did not see his play live with the Red Wings. It is a fairly understood fact that Detroit was not icing very competitive teams for much of the 80s, so needless to say, it was a pretty grim decade for Detroit.

What I know of Gare is that he had a long stint with Buffalo before leading the Red Wings and that he never shied away from dropping the gloves. Seriously, if you are unfamiliar with him, as I was, look up some of his highlights online. You will be bombarded with videos of him chuckin’ knuckles for his teammates.

How can you hate on a captain who is willing to put his blood, sweat, and tears on the line for the boys that he went to battle with night in and night out? That’s why he slots in as no. 5 on this countdown of Detroit Red Wings captains.

4. Dylan Larkin

Does this prove that I am not ranking these guys based strictly on recency? The current captain of the Detroit Red Wings has had a tough run of it, all things considered. Fans have been blessed with Dylan Larkin to be quite honest; he has been the only bright spot that the team has had over the past five years or so.

Once he got the “C” stitched on his sweater after two seasons of wearing an “A”, it was easy to see Larkin take command of the team. You really got the feeling that he felt it was “his team.” For as bad as the club was during the stretch of his captaincy, he still showed a passion for doing what he could to bring as many wins to the city as he possibly could, albeit without a supporting cast.

After Steve Yzerman took over as General Manager (GM) of the Red Wings, one domino fell after another throughout the rebuild. The casualties of the “Yzerplan” became many of Larkin’s best friends and teammates on the roster. As we stand today, Larkin is the only remaining member of the Red Wings still on the roster since the day that Yzerman took control of the team.

He has not had the good fortune of having a constant on the team. Subsequently, Little Caesars Arena was built in an attempt to upgrade the previous historic barn and bring back fans for an exciting product to watch on the ice. Constantly adapting to new venues, new linemates, and new attitudes within the locker room deserves our respect towards our captain, Oh captain, my captain, Dylan Larkin.

The Detroit Red Wings current captain comes in at no.4 on this countdown. Let’s continue!

3. Henrik Zetterberg

If Dylan Larkin is “The Karate Kid,” then Henrik Zetterberg is “Mr. Miyagi.” He taught the kid everything he knew about being a captain. It was unfortunate that Zetterberg had to endure the drama surrounding the Mike Babcock coaching era and, ultimately, the fallout from what was left after his departure.

It is well documented that Zetterberg and Babcock had their disagreements during their time together. That, coupled with the reports of how he treated his players, put more of a responsibility on Zetterberg to speak up for his teammates when communicating with the man behind the bench.

Towards the end of his career, which was cut short due to a severe back injury, Henrik did what he could to squeeze any success that may have been left on a team that lost superstars Pavel Datsyuk, Nick Lidstrom, and countless others.

He was dealt a tough hand by former GM Ken Holland but competed night in and night out on both the penalty kill and power play units, all while taking youngster Dylan Larkin under his wing. He showed Larkin the drops back before being captain was ever on his horizon.

Before a devastating back injury derailed his career and put an end to his playing time in the NHL, Zetterberg totaled a respectable 337 goals and 623 assists. He became nearly a point-per-game player with an overall plus-minus of plus-160. A responsible 200-foot player who is likely to be put into the Hall of Fame in the near future puts Zetterberg at number 3 on this list of former Detroit Red Wings captains.

1. Nicklas Lidstrom

This list was never fair from the very beginning. How could anyone compete with the “perfect human?” Putting his name in the history books as the first European-born captain of an NHL franchise to hoist the Stanley Cup, Nick Lidstrom made a habit of always making the right play, whether it was in the defensive, offensive, or neutral zone.

Teammate and fellow Swede Niklas Kronwall said it best in the article linked above, “We call him the perfect human. And there’s a reason for that. Whatever he does, he seems to do it perfectly.” Constantly being played against the opposing team’s top line with the objective of shutting them down was never too much for him to handle.

Lidstrom won a total of four Stanley Cups and seven Norris Trophies as the league’s best defenseman. He is widely considered one of the best players ever to play the game and has his name brought up in the same breath as Bobby Orr. In his entire playing career, the Detroit Red Wings never missed the playoffs.

His leadership was held up more by his fantastic play on the ice and less by talking in the locker room. He is a first-ballot Hall of Famer with all of the credentials under his belt. Lidstrom became held to such a high standard that even one of his coaches, Mike Babcock, declared that it was more accurate to describe Lidstrom as the coach and himself as the learner.

A true hockey legend. A great leader. One of the best captains to ever play the game. As we round out the rankings, we tip the cap to Lidstrom as the no. 1 captain over the last 40 years of Detroit Red Wings history.