Manitoba Moose

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Moose leaders chosen men

By: Gary Lawless and Tim Campbell

3/04/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Here they are, your Manitoba Moose captains.

The Moose will honour the six men who have led the franchise in its history with a pre-game ceremony tonight, and will give a free lithograph featuring all six men to the first 5,000 people entering the arena.

The club has had a fine run in selecting its captains, from the original bearer of the C in Randy Gilhen to today's leader, Mike Keane. Three of the captains are still with the organization: coach Scott Arniel, Keane and defenceman and assistant captain Nolan Baumgartner. The other three have moved on to successful careers -- Gilhen in the business world, Brian Chapman as a scout with the Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Eakins with the hockey operations department of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Moose GM Craig Heisinger has been with the team since Day 1 and been around all six captains, and we went to him for the final word on five of them. Here's a look at the leadership of the Manitoba Moose:

RANDY GILHEN

CAPTAIN FROM 1996 TO 1997

Team's record when Gilhen was captain: 32-40-10

Memorable moments: Success eluded those first-year Moose during a season that encountered head-on the city's Jets' hangover and much other turmoil, but Gilhen's NHL credentials as an ideal teammate and hard worker who made the most of his abilities made him a good pick as captain.

Quote: "It would be hard to quantify all of that without walking in his shoes, but I would think that was challenging because there is supposed to be lots of glory and photo ops that go along with being a captain, and in that situation, I would suggest there probably wasn't a lot of that as we went along." -- Moose GM Craig Heisinger, the team's equipment manager at the time.

SCOTT ARNIEL

CAPTAIN FROM 1997 TO 1999

Team's record when Arniel was captain: 86-57-21

Memorable moments: Prior to this season, the '98-'99 Moose were the best team iced by the franchise, with 47 wins and 108 points. Arniel's captaincy also coincided with Randy Carlyle's first two seasons as a head coach.

Quote: "With Randy as the coach, it didn't matter if you were the captain or a fourth-line player, he yelled at everybody no matter what," said Arniel, the team's current coach. "You have to remember he was learning on the job, too."

DALLAS EAKINS

CAPTAIN FROM 2003 TO 2004

Team's record when Eakins was captain: 32-35-2-11

Memorable moments: Eakins' year finished second in terms of Moose crises in one season, but little doubt remains that his hockey wisdom as well as being one of the finest character people the Moose have ever signed, helped to smooth many rough waters. Eakins succeeded Chapman, but continued the role with that classy, esteemed-citizen style when it was badly needed.

Quote: "It's not that often you bring in a captain, but that year we did," said Moose GM Craig Heisinger, the assistant GM at the time. "We had lost Chappy and were looking to replace that leadership, and Dallas sure fit that criteria. We had some good guys on that team with some leadership -- Nathan Smith, Chris Nielsen, Sean Pronger, Jimmy Roy -- but it was a trying year."

NOLAN BAUMGARTNER

CAPTAIN DURING THE 2004-05 SEASON

Team's record with Baumgartner as captain: 44-26-3-7

Memorable moments: Baumgartner helmed the Moose during an NHL lockout season and he led a mixed group of NHL veterans and top prospects to the AHL Western Conference final. His play and leadership were rewarded the next season when the Vancouver Canucks kept him for almost the entire season.

Quote: "Bomber represents what our organization is all about -- hard work, being a good person and community structure. He gets all that."

MIKE KEANE

CAPTAIN FROM 2005 TO THE PRESENT

Team's record with Keane as captain: 184-94-17-20 (as of April 3)

Memorable moments: Keane joined the Moose after 16 straight seasons in the NHL and three Stanley Cups. After skating with the club for a couple of weeks, the players held a vote for captain and quickly chose him. In the words of Nathan Smith: "It wasn't much of a decision. If he's good enough to captain the Montreal Canadiens, he's good enough to be captain of the guys here."

Quote: "An unbridled passion for the game. His accomplishments exceed those of everyone else in that room. At 41, he's still the best-conditioned athlete we have and he comes to the rink prepared to work every day. He epitomizes what it takes to be a professional athlete."

Brian Chapman

Captain during seasons 1999 through 2003 for 324 games

Manitoba's record with Chapman as captain was 152-128-12-32

Memorable moment: Hobbled badly to the point where he had trouble moving around when not on the ice, Chapman captained the Moose to the Western Conference finals in the spring of 2001. That playoff run featured a Game 7 win over the Houston Aeros in the conference semifinal after Manitoba fell behind 3-1 in the series. Chapman was at his best in the post-season and he found a way to rise above injury and lead his club in this memorable spring.

The quote: "Randy Carlyle said it first and I've never found a better way to describe Chappy than to say it this way. He was a warrior. It's the best way to sum him up as a player. He was a warrior."

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 3, 2009 C3

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