Pronger; The Right Choice For Captain?

When the Flyers traded away Mike Richards, everyone wanted to know who would be the next captain.  Would it be Danny Briere; the veteran who certainly has leadership abilities.  Or perhaps a young gun like Claude Giroux or JVR to signify the new youthful direction the Flyers were clearly gearing toward.  In the end the Flyers decided to make Chris Pronger, by many stretches the undisputed leader of this team, the next Flyers captain.

The Flyers certainly were justified in their decision to make Prongs the official leader of the team.  To start, even when Mike Richards wore the official C during his time with the Flyers, guys still looked toward Pronger as the true leader on and off the ice.  Also Pronger is a veteran, a guy who is not afraid to voice his opinion, and overall a natural leader in every sense, so giving him the captain position was essentially a no-brainer.

But one thing the Flyers failed to factor into their decision making process was Pronger's age.  Pronger is currently 37 and since joining the Flyers, the amount of games he has played in each year have steadily gone down.  After appearing in all 82 games in his first year with the Flyers in 2009-10, Pronger played in just 50 games last year hampered by injury after injury.  This year Pronger has played in just 13 games and could be out for the next 4-6 weeks with a knee injury.

Ultimately I don't think the Flyers should have given the C to Prongs because over the past season he hasn't been consistently in the lineup.  Jumping in and out of the lineup not only hurts this team defensively and statistically, but it also hurts them mentally.  Without their captain, the Flyers don't have a true identity and they play differently.  They aren't lost per say, but they lack a sense of purpose when they are without their leader.

Talking about this notion is a moot point because obviously the Flyers aren't going to and can't rip away the C because a guy is hurt.  But it is definitely something to keep in mind especially if the Flyers go through difficult losing streaks and difficult stretches.  The Flyers need their captain, and Pronger can't lead when he is sitting on the bench hampered by injury after injury.