Victor Hedman: A Deserving Captain
It is a historic day in the history of the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise. Earlier today the Bolts named Victor Hedman as the team’s new captain.
Hedman becomes the 11th player in Bolts history to be given the C. Even though the team waited all offseason before making this announcement, this session isn’t a surprise for any Bolts fan. Everybody knew this was coming.
Hedman has been the team’s alternate captain since the 2018-19 NHL season. He is a beloved member of the team and the Tampa Bay community. Many former and current teammates have vouched for him as a leader. Not to mention he’s a talented hockey player. He’s constantly viewed as one of the best defensemen in the NHL and one of the best players in Lightning history. All of this is to say the second the Lightning captaincy spot became absent, everyone knew Hedman would be the one to fill it.
Usually, whenever a team announces a new captain, it’s cause for excitement and celebration. But this time seems different. The Lightning fanbase’s feelings towards the announcement could be best described as bittersweet. And the reason for this is clear, Steven Stamkos.
Many fans are still upset at how things ended with Hedman’s predecessor. Stamkos is seen as the team’s all-time greatest player and an amazing leader. He was the team’s longest-serving captain and led the team to two Stanley Cups. Everyone wanted to see him retire as a Bolt. But instead, the Lightning weren’t offering him the money he wanted, and he left to join the Nashville Predators.
The sour taste in the mouths of Bolt fans caused by Stamkos’ departure could be seen in the reaction to today’s news. Look at the comments under the Lightning’s Instagram post announcing Hedman as the new captain. Sure, you’ll see some positive comments, but you’ll see more comments being up Stamkos. Hedman’s name is either not brought up and when it is it’s usually in the form to make it sound like this shouldn’t happen. For example, one comment said “Well deserved, but this wouldn’t need to happen if you just paid your old captain what he wanted.”
Look, does the way Stamkos left suck? Yes. Do I wish he was still in Tampa, wearing the C? 100%. But the way people are reacting is really undermining what should be seen as an incredible thing. Fans are making it sound like Hedman either didn’t deserve the C or is just a consultation prize for a team that lost someone better. And that shouldn’t be what this is.
Here’s the truth. Everything that Steven Stamkos did for the Lightning, Victor Hedman did as well. All of the credit for the success the Lightning have experienced in the past few years that have gone to Stamkos should equally be going to Hedman. And to prove this, let’s take a look at Hedman’s career. By doing so you realize that there shouldn’t be somber feelings today. Instead, today should be seen as a huge reward for a talented, deserving player.
Bringing Us Back
It’s been said many times before, but in the years following the Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup win, the team fell off hard.
Key players and fan favorites were traded away. Bad season after bad season. Attendance and interest in the team fell. If the team was going to return to the success it had in the early 2000s, it needed to get some young, talented players who could lead the team for years to come.
Many fans, and not wrongly, will point to the day that the Lightning drafted Stamkos in 2008 as the start of the team’s return to glory. However, a real argument can be made that that rise didn’t truly begin until the following year.
Stamkos had struggled a lot in his rookie season and honestly, he looked like he was on track to becoming a huge bust. Obviously, he would turn it around, but it still didn’t look good. If the team was going to succeed they needed to get him some help. Because even if he did improve, he wouldn’t be able to carry the team on his own.
Stamkos’s poor rookie season was a disaster for the Lightning overall as the team only went 24-40-18. As a result, the team would get the second overall pick in the 2009 draft. And it was with this pick that they drafted a young Swede named Victor Hedman. And with that pick, the Lightning truly started their journey to winning back-to-back Cups.
Two years after being drafted, the Lightning would finally make the playoffs. They made it all the way to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. A few years later, after both Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis left the team, the Lightning officially became the Hedman-Stamkos show. As the two clear faces of the franchise and team leaders, the team went on their greatest run of all time. 10 playoff appearances in 11 years. Five trips to the conference finals. Five trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. Two championships.
All of that success came with Victor Hedman leading the way for the defense. Not to mention during a few playoff runs, Hedman was the clear leader. Stamkos struggled with injuries and there were times he didn’t play into playoffs. These deep runs came with Hedman leading the way.
As a result of drafting Hedman, the team got a player who helped carry them for over a decade. Great NHL captains are usually guys who have been around for a long time and helped a team achieve success. Hedman has done both.
All-Time Great Bolt
Ask any Bolt fan to give you their Lightning Mount Rushmore and you’ll usually hear Hedman’s name.
Hedman is a future Hall of Famer. His jersey will one day be retired by the team. He is without a doubt one of the greatest players in franchise history. Defiantly the greatest defender in franchise history. There are so many things that those this.
First of all, Hedman’s trophy case is stacked. Two Stanley Cups. A Conn Smythe Trophy. A Norris Trophy. Four NHL all-star game appearances. Six NHL all-star team selections. That’s a list many players could only dream of achieving.
In terms of accomplishments, no one has accomplished more in a Lightning uniform than Hedman. His six All-Star team exceptions are the most in team history. For as good as Stamkos was, he only won a single trophy for his play on the ice, the Rocket Richard. Hedman has won two. And it wouldn’t shock anyone if he earned another Norris in the future. He’s always in the running for one.
But Hedman isn’t just winning awards, he’s setting records. Almost every Lightning defenseman record belongs to him. For example, he holds the team record for most defensemen goals (20), assists (65) and points (85) in a single season.
Hedman’s also high up in every overall statistic category. He has the fifth most points in team history, the eighth most goals in team history, the third most points in team history, the second most playoff points in team history and has played in the second most amount of games in team history. And vying for any injury, he’ll break that final record this season as he’s only 30 games behind Stamkos.
It was mentioned earlier that Hedman was selected second overall in the 2009 draft. With the power of hindsight, if you asked most hockey fans or executives to redo that draft, he would have been taken first overall instead of John Tavares. Tavares is good but when you look at the level of success accomplishments, dominance on the ice and impact for a team, he doesn’t come close to Hedman.
But now Hedman gets to add one more thing to that list of accomplishments, being an NHL captain. And after seeing all he’s done as Bolt, you can see it’s justified.
2020 Playoffs
You might remember earlier that I said that Hedman had to act as the team’s solo leader in the playoffs due to Stamkos getting injured before the playoffs. Well, that happened in 2020 and it shows why people should be celebrating Hedman being given the C. Because he has shown he can captain a team to success.
Every Bolt fan knows the story. In 2020 Stamkos missed all but a few minutes of a single game in the playoffs due to an injury. The Lightning had to play the first three rounds and most of the Finals without their captain. And they had to do this in a quarantined bubble.
At that moment you could argue Hedman became the team’s defacto Captain as he was there the longest and was the team’s longest serving alternate captain. And well, it’s fair to say he did his job well.
Not only did the team he led win the Cup, but he led by example out there. He scored 22 points in 25 playoff games. His 10 goals were the third most goals scored in a single playoff run by a defenseman. Only hall-of-famers Paul Coffey and Brian Leetch had scored more. He scored the series-clinching goal in overtime against the Boston Bruins His performance won him the Conn Smythe.
When asked to lead, Hedman preformed incredibly and was the MVP when leading his team to a championship. He showed in that moment not only could he be a great captain, but he could be a captain of a championship team. And that should get Bolt fans excited that he’s now officially the captain.
Conclusion
Steven Stamkos was clearly a wonderful captain. The way he left sucked and it’s going to be tough that he’s not the Bolt’s captain anymore. But the circumstances surrounding his exit shouldn’t damper Hedman from being given the C.
Hedman has been with the team forever. He’s one of the best and most accomplished players in franchise history. He’s going to break the record for most games played in team history. He helped lead this team out of the dark era and was a key contributor to several playoff teams. He was the most important member of a championship team and by doing soshowed he could be a great captain.
Victor Hedman being given the captaincy is an amazing thing. He’s done so much for the Lightning and he earned the right be wear the C. Key word there, “earned.” This is something he earned.
So to all the Bolts fans sad over the Stamkos situation, I get it. But don’t take it out on Hedman. His being named captain isn’t a consultation. It’s a reward for an incredible player.
