Yes, this is a question that we must address. Seriously. Because when it was all said and done, Blues captain Brayden Schenn committed an ill-timed penalty that put the Jets on a power play in overtime. In that moment, the Jets were red-hot, having scored two goals to put the game into overtime, and the Blues were looking for a way to steal that momentum back.
When Schenn caused that delay of game penalty, he knew it, and it couldn’t have occurred at a worse time. Still, the Blues killed the penalty, and it wasn’t like it had a direct impact on their loss to Winnipeg. But what if the game stayed at even strength? Would we be having a different conversation now?
Honestly, we’ll never know. And it wasn’t like Schenn was single-handedly the reason why the game went into overtime, nor did he lose the game for the Blues because of that mishap. So, because there will always be a contingent of fans pointing fingers, even at the captain who just happened to commit a bad penalty, it heeds the burning question:
Should the Blues give someone else the ‘C’ next season? Yeah, I know. It’s an overreaction, I get it. Anyway…
Blues have an easy decision to make on Brayden Schenn’s captaincy status
If you ask me, I’m going to say this: There’s no way, no how, nothing at the present moment that would motivate me to give the ‘C’ label to someone else. Even if Schenn’s delay of game penalty cost the Blues the game, I still wouldn’t hand it off. Yeah, he’d have contributed to the loss. But so would the penalty kill.
Maybe if the Blues missed the playoffs or even if they made it and the Jets overmatched them in every facet, putting the series away in four games. At that point, I’d say, “Yeah, give it to someone else, but not for the reason you think.” Instead, if I were general manager Doug Armstrong, I’d say the team’s retooling project isn’t complete, so I’d move a few players in the process. Aging players. Schenn included.
But that’s not the case. Instead, Schenn’s leadership skills and productivity have fared well for the Blues after a regular season that saw him put up 50 points and 18 goals, along with a plus-3 rating. These are good mid-tier numbers for a hockey team that’s only going to get better. That said, Schenn’s my captain until he gives me a reason to give the ‘C’ to someone else.
A conversation we don’t really need to have…and shouldn’t…
The problem with monumental collapses like this is that the blame game goes around and overreactions run rampant. And now I got the song “Lion Rampant” by Skiltron stuck in my head. Anyway, you see my point here: We don’t need to overreact to the captain making a mistake at the worst possible time that didn’t end in a Jets power-play win.
And even if it did, should one bad play determine a team captain’s fate? One who helped lead a team that wasn’t supposed to take the Presidents’ Trophy winners as far as they did, let alone make the playoffs? No on all counts. So, I’m not going to sit here and claim that Schenn’s penalty should result in anything other than him returning next season with a ‘C’ on his chest.