Ryan Callahan announced New York Rangers Captain
For once, the Rangers have made some very good moves in the offseason. After acquiring goal scoring free agent Brad Richards, the Rangers decided today to award forward Ryan Callahan the spot of captain on the team, which was vacated by Chris Drury, who the Rangers bought out of his contract and shortly after retired from the NHL.
Playing five NHL seasons, all with the Rangers, Ryan Callahan had the best year of his career, with career bests in goals (23), assists (25), and points (48) while missing 22 games with an ankle injury and hand injury.
The newly acquired Richards will be taking Callahan’s spot as the alternate captain, along with Ranger defensemen Marc Staal. Richards was previously an alternate captain on his last team, the Dallas Stars.
Ryan Callahan was the perfect fit to be the Rangers captain. For some time there was some speculation that Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist could possibly be awarded the title of captain, but the Rangers put that to rest today.
Nobody on the Rangers deserved to be the captain more than Ryan Callahan. Already being an alternate, Callahan proved himself worthy of being a captain based on his leadership, and skill on the ice.
Callahan is one of the most well-rounded players in the NHL. Not only is he a goal scorer, he handles the puck very well and makes smart passes.
Another major part of Callahan’s game is his defense. Callahan is arguably one of the best defensive players on the Rangers, both at full strength and on the penalty kill (keep in mind that he is a forward.)
But what really stands out is Callahan’s leadership of this Rangers’ team. Being one of the younger players on the team, Callahan plays as if he is a ten year veteran; he is not afraid to get into a fight to stick up for his teammates, and his style of play on the ice is electric, and benefits all of the young, up-and-coming players around him.
The Rangers have set themselves up to do very good things this year; with the acquisition of Richards, and the leadership of Callahan, all they need to do is stay healthy and they will have a good shot at making it into the playoffs again, but this time possibly making a run for the Stanley Cup.
