Why Dion Phaneuf Should Be The Next Leafs Captain

It is that time of the year again. That's right, the time of year when the media is fanatic about leaf's captaincy issues.

As far back as 2007-2008 season when Mats Sundin was rumoured to be traded, there was speculation that the so called kids of the maple leafs; Matt Stajan, Kyle Wellwood, Alexander Steen, Nik Antropov were all candidates for leaf's captaincy.

In 2008-2009 season, the media was at it again, with either Matt Stajan, Luke Schenn, Tomas Kaberle or Ian White as the new captain of the leafs.

And this year was no different.  Names like Phaneuf, Komisarek, Kessel are thrown into the hat.

Why is there such a craze for captaincy with the media? It is always going to be the coach's decision. But I guess, speculating on who is going to be the new captain is just about what the media could talk about with the leafs now a days.

Don't get me wrong the leaf kids are doing alright in these last stretches of games but I have seen this happen for the last 4 years. And every year we fans hope that this play carries over next season. But when 'next' season arrives we end up disappointed.

The way things are going right now, the candidacy for captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs is an open one. Until we get a COMPLETE TEAM we cannot speculate on who could or will be captain.

And most importantly, we know nothing about the quality of a player until he has played a complete season with his home team. The candidate names being thrown out there for this year have not even played a complete season with the leafs and/or produced effectively to be considered a captain.

To be considered a captain of a team, let alone the captain of YOUR Toronto Maple Leafs, is something that is only deserving to a player who really earns it. And I truly think Phaneuf meets this criteria.

He has the stamina, the charisma, enthusiasm, confidence, and leadership that truly marks him as a leader, and a captain of our Toronto Maple Leafs.  Most of all, he is very vocal, which is what we need of our captain to be, especially in times of bad games, and playoff performances.