Since the Toronto Marlies made their way from St. Johns, Newfoundland, to our beloved Ricoh Coliseum, the team has had two captains in its history. The first was Marc Moro, who came over as previously being the captain of the St. Johns Maple Leafs, taking the role until his retirement in August 2007 (he now works with Leafs TV). After Moro’s departure, Ben Ondrus took the reigns, serving for several years, culminating with this past season. Unlike Moro, he didn’t leave due to retirement, but rather for greener pastures, taking his talents to Oklahoma City (at least I would hope so, NHL be damned, what kind of sick individual plays in Edmonton?) to play with the expansion Barons this year.

Its kind of a shame, as Ondrus, at least in my opinion, seemed like a fine captain and a good guy to have in the organization. However,  sometimes a change of scenery is needed, and perhaps Edmonton’s system is his best chance at having a combination of decent AHL and occasional NHL minutes. The point is, it’s time to move on and look to the future. One problem though – no new captain has yet to be put in place yet. The question is though, who do you put in place?

Personally, I think a certain combination is required to take that role. First off is age. The AHL is a different beast from the NHL, with the dressing rooms being a mixture of players that will be there for the short haul as they start their NHL careers, and journeymen who know the dance and have moved residences more often than they could n a monopoly board. You at the very least want a balance of this, someone who’s stuck around the AHL for a few years, knows what to make of it, and isn’t a huge risk to be called up for good 20 games into his tenure. A great example of what not to do is the suggestion you’ll get from younger Leafs fans who have no idea how the AHL works, in saying that if Nazem Kadri doesn’t make the Leafs, he should be captain of the Marlies. Yes, I have heard this from multiple people. Yes, it makes me want to stick my head into the sand and pretend it never happened.

Secondarily, on top of being old and experienced enough to make the team, you probably want them to have experience with the club. Mike Keane was an exception to this rule when he immediately became captain of the Moose in 2005-06, but at the same time, he was also a well known NHL leader at the time. Cases in point include both of our previous Marlies captains – Moro and Ondrus both had at least 2 years experience before taking the reigns.

Lastly, such a player has to be one that contributes to the team in a somewhat prominent matter. I’m not saying the best player must be the captain, but it would be logical if someone in the top 6 or top 4 would be made captain.

With those three points considered, these are the five players I’d be looking at if I’m deciding a captain. No particular order.

1. Darryl Boyce
Age: 26 AHL Seasons: 3 Games With Marlies: 134

Boyce is arguably the most recognizable Toronto Marlies players to the casual fan, making him the best choice if the move were to simply be a fan relations move. The reason for that he is recognizable is a good one too – Boyce attends seemingly every Marlies community event that there is, at least ones involving players. The fact that he calls Toronto home  may have a bit do do with that, but its great to see him doing his thing nonetheless. At the same time, he’s played a few years with the team, and is of a decent age to take the role. Ultimately, his missing of 60 games last year may hamper his chances, though.

2. Ryan Hamilton
Age: 25 AHL Seasons: 5 Games With Marlies: 83

Hamilton has a few things to his benefit. For one, you know he’ s going to be one of those players that won’t get a significant call up, yet will still be a very effective forward for the team, in the top 6 for a while yet (finishing tied for first on the team in goals kind of helps that). He’s had a fair bit of experience in the AHL, and could be the best combination of skill, duration, and tenure of anyone on the team.

3. Alex Foster
Age: 25 AHL Seasons: 4 Games With Marlies: 242 (All Time Record)

Foster is no doubt the obvious choice if we’re looking at his time with the team. He’s had four lengthy seasons in the AHL, all of them being with the Marlies. Heck, he even has 8 games in the Inaugural Season, meaning he’s the only player on the roster who has been with the Marlies every single hear. To make things even better, these four seasons give him the most games played in Toronto Marlies history, meaning that if tenure is what we want to see, he has it. The fans have shown they like him in the past too, seeing as he won the 2008 Marlies Fan Favourite Award.

4. Tim Brent
Age: 26 AHL Seasons: 6 Games With Marlies: 33

Brent’s advantage is in the fact that while still staying at lower-mid age, he’s done the journeyman pro player routine in the past, playing for 5 AHL teams and 4 NHL teams (albeit for a limited time) in his career. He likely won’t be playing that many games for the big club again (he got one last year as a makeshift way of giving him a raise, during the last game of the year). The issue is, while he’s got the quantities of a minor league journeyman, and while he is still at that solid age for the captaincy, he hasn’t spent a lot of time with the Marlies yet. Granted, Dion Phaneuf became the captain of the Maple Leafs in less time, but the two can’t really be compared. Brent would be a much closer candidate if he had played a season here prior to this one, but unfortunately for him, its not the case. He’s still a fringe candidate though.

5. Phil Oreskovic
Age: 23 AHL Seasons: 3 Games With Marlies: 196

Oreskovic is one of those options that could be picked if the Marlies are looking for a player that may eventually move on to bigger things, with easily the best chance at a consistent NHL job of any of the candidates. Granted, its still not a fantastic one, but its possible he could indeed become a servicable third pair defenceman. He also has tenure going for him – while he’s no Alex Foster just yet, he’s not far off. Heck, if he has a full year and Foster gets injured for 50 games again, this could be closer than one would think. I don’t think he’s a prime option though, unless they’re fixated on getting someone slightly younger, with slightly more hope, or, the third option, just someone that happens to be a defenceman.

(Speaking of defencemen – Jeff Finger will NOT get the captaincy if sent down. Just the thought of it is ridiculous).

Now, the big question, who would I take? For me, I would narrow it down to two people – Ryan Hamilton and Alex Foster. Hamilton because of the fact that he combines so many typical AHL leader features into his demeanour, and Foster for the sheer length of his time here.

Ultimately, my heart says Hamilton, seeing as he’s my favourite player on this team. However, the brain has to go with Foster. He’s the only one who can say “I was there” for pretty much any Marlies moment, the one that the Marlies fan faithful have grown to know the most of, and he’s not a terrible player himself. To top it off, he’s a fantastic person as well, so it wouldn’t shock me to see the C on his chest come October.

Though I’ve been wrong before, and I’m merely speculating. For all I know, Juraj Mikus is Messier and Yzerman combined and we’ve just not seen it, but the team and staff have. Or something silly like that. However, I think it’s safe to say that at least one of the five above will be the teams next captain. What do you think? Who would you give the C to, and if you don’t think its the answer that will happen, who do you think it’ll end up being? I’d love to see some comments.