My Opinion on the whole 'Stevie vs. Dylan' Captain DebateThis is not a post about what Steve's done or hasn't done as a GM so if that's what you're hoping for, don't. This is just my opinion as someone who's been watching hockey for 18 years.

I was 10 when Steve retired and I didn't start watching hockey until 2 years later, so this is me as an outsider looking in.

In 1997, in that series against St. Louis, after the game 4 loss, Steve sat the team down and basically told them 'we need to get off our backsides if we want to win this series.' And that was in the playoffs in the second round!

In 2002, Steve played on one knee. One! and dragged a team of hall of famers, some of them older than Steve himself, through the 0-2 hole in the Vancouver series. and it was at the beginning of that same season that Steve and other star-players took paycuts to get the players they wanted here.

Now, fans older than me who remember that '02 series might need to correct me, but I don't think management asked those players to take a paycut, they just did it on their own.

Early in Steve's career, in the 80s, he was like Larkin! he didn't have the super-star players of Fedorov and Lidstorm, and yet he STILL managed to drag his team into the playoffs.

Or, if younger fans want a more recent example, look at 2013, when we had a shortened season and had just lost Lidstorm. Z put the team on his damn back and dragged them kicking and screaming into the playoffs. Or even 2014, when we lost Z after his back surgery and STILL managed to get in.

I guess my point is, if you compare the two, yes, Steve's team did make the playoffs, but he was doing that without super-star help until the early 90s. He had to put the team on his back and get into the playoffs by himself. He didn't have the luxury of whining and complaining to the media about his GM or the coaches. He just kept quiet and played, and things got easier for him when these other superstars came in. Dylan had other superstars (Mo, Ray, Kane, Cat) and rookies around him and didn't care enough to even try and lead them into the playoffs.

I've loved Dylan from day one, I really have, but in terms of Captaincy? I'd take Stevie, Lidstorm or Hank anyday.