When a reporter asked whether he’d admired the ‘C’ on his jersey, Max Pacioretty said, ‘I don’t want to look down because I don’t want to get too emotional.’Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The Montreal Canadiens typically contract out the embroidery and lettering for game-worn sweaters, but this particular needle-and-thread job was done in-house by the equipment managers.
Affixing the "C" to a sweater – in this case Max Pacioretty's No. 67 – represents a solemn occasion.
When enough mythical figures occupy a job, it takes on a legendary aura all its own; so it is with the captaincy of the most storied organization in NHL history.
"I don't believe I belong in the same sentence as any of those 28 other captains," Pacioretty said at a news conference where he mostly succeeded in keeping a lid on his roiling emotions.
The Connecticut-born 26-year-old is selling himself short – he's an elite left wing, the team's leading scorer and the vital offensive cog of a team with championship pretensions.
Still, the "C" in Montreal manages to be both more and less than a letter.
More, because it confers membership in a club that includes bona fide folk heroes such as Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Jean Béliveau, speculation about the next in line has been a perennial topic since Brian Gionta decamped a year ago (the Habs played without a captain last season).
It's also less because of what the job has become.
The captain is basically a middle-management position – a liaison with the coaches and front office, a sober, respectful interlocutor for the refs.
One of the reasons Pacioretty was seen as the logical candidate for the job was his low-key steadiness, his sterling family-man reputation.
Consider the officially designated leader is neither the team's best player (that would be Carey Price) nor its emotional centre (also Price). It is not the universally beloved face of the franchise and leading philanthropist (P.K. Subban). He isn't the gritty, beating heart (Brendan Gallagher, who joins the ranks of alternate captains) or its veteran eminence (Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec, also alternates).
He's the left-brain, the paterfamilias, and indeed found out about his election on Thursday evening as he and his wife were getting their children ready for bedtime.
General manager Marc Bergevin called and told Pacioretty to go open his front door. There was no one there.
"We had the wrong house," Bergevin grinned.
The GM and head coach Michel Therrien were standing in front of a neighbour's.
"It's something I'll always remember," Pacioretty said of watching the pair roll up.
On second thought, that's a pretty terrific origin myth.
And this is plainly a job Pacioretty wanted and cares deeply about.
His lengthy opening remarks were delivered exclusively in French – like Subban and others, he's been taking regular lessons and is perfectly competent – and he got misty when it was put to him that Béliveau's widow gave him her imprimatur.
When a reporter asked whether he'd admired the "C" on his jersey, he said, "I don't want to look down because I don't want to get too emotional."
This point isn't made in the intention of taking away from Pacioretty's merits as a person, a leader and a player, but if there hadn't been a rule against voting for Price – goalies are forbidden from being NHL captains by league edict – he wouldn't have won.
For nearly eight decades, being captain of the Habs meant a couple of things: Stanley Cup rings and a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame (all 11 captains between 1940 and 1990 have bronze busts in Toronto).
More recently it's become a prelude to exit; the last captain to finish his career in a Habs uniform was Bob Gainey.
That was back in 1989, and in the intervening 26 years all eight of his successors have either been traded or departed in free agency.
There are a couple of factors to suggest Pacioretty is in it for the long haul: he, like each of the alternates, is a homegrown product (drafted and developed by the club).
He is also strongly committed to the fan base and the city – "this is home now," he said.
Also, the team reversed its recent practice and allowed the players to elect their guy. This has led to minor fiascos in the past, such as the contentious vote where Saku Koivu won over Shayne Corson in 1999 and the even split with which Guy Carbonneau and Chris Chelios split the job a decade earlier.
Management was confident of the outcome – Subban, who was otherwise magnanimous in congratulating his teammate, intimated Pacioretty was the brass' favoured choice.
Asked whether he felt a let-down at not being picked, Subban said, "What's there to be disappointed about? We're all in this together."
He added pointedly his ambition has never been to be captain. It's to be a champion.
The last Habs' captain to achieve that is Carbonneau, 22 years ago (coincidentally, on a team with a brilliant goalie who also had a towering dressing room presence).
Earlier in his career, Pacioretty was known for fragile confidence and a tendency to be exceptionally hard on himself. Teammates say his hallmark now is a willing ear, and stalwartness.
In a town where captains are judged on the basis of how many Cups they've won, his temperament will be tested.