There were smiles and polite words about group leadership, and the coach said the captain had been asked to relinquish his position to a teammate and, as “a gentleman,” he had agreed to do so.
Was this all about Kings captain Dustin Brown stepping aside for his friend and teammate, $80-million man Anze Kopitar?
Well, not yet.
The example occurred at training camp in 1989 when the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky took over captaincy from a franchise icon, Dave Taylor, who had been the team’s leader since the 1985-86 season.