Brendan Gallagher should be named captain of the Montreal Canadiens, Hockey Hall of Fame member Guy Lafleur said Wednesday.
Lafleur, an ambassador with the Canadiens, told the Montreal Gazette that Gallagher deserves the captaincy because of the way he handles himself on and off the ice.
"A captain shouldn't be chosen on the amount of goals he's going to score," Lafleur said. "[Gallagher] really impressed me every night I saw him play. He's aggressive, he wants to win. He gets some bad shots from opponents, he takes a lot of hits, and there's not too many guys on the team that work like he does."
Prior to this season, Montreal defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov, and forwards Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec, were named alternate captains. The Canadiens said they likely would choose a captain for the 2015-16 season. Montreal's last captain was Brian Gionta from 2010-14.
"I like the way he plays," Lafleur said of Gallagher. "He shows up every night and gives 100 percent. I think he's a great influence on his teammates."
Selected in the fifth round (No. 147) by the Canadiens in the 2010 NHL Draft, Gallagher had an NHL career high 23 goals and 47 points this season, including six game-winning goals, and had three goals and five points in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. The Atlantic Division-winning Canadiens were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
Lafleur, who was in Montreal to present awards to student athletes, played 14 seasons with the Canadiens; he scored 518 of his 560 NHL goals for them, and won the Stanley Cup five times.
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