The Montreal AAAnAdiens

Ryan Remiorz / Canadian Press

The Canadiens’ very public race for the captaincy has a new development.  Montreal announced they would enter the upcoming NHL season without a captain but with four alternates, Adrei Markov, Pernell Karl Subban, Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty. They also decided that the most appropriate way to make the announcement would be to do so at a charity golf event that the four players were participating in.

And so Les Canadiens de Montréal paraded their four alternate captain selections out in their updated jerseys; a style reminiscent of Miami’s big three announcement.

The four candidates will now square off in a televised pageant consisting of swimsuit, eveningwear, and talent competitions. Oh, that’s not where this is going?  You could have fooled me.

With their former captain, Brian Gionta, signing with the Buffalo Sabres during this offseason (why?), some players launched their campaign to be the next bearer of the “C”.  Both Subban and Pacioretty expressed to the media why they would make a good captain.

It’s important to note that the Canadiens are currently one of seven teams that have yet to assign a captain.  However, it is also important to note that none of these other teams have turned the situation into such a publicity stunt.

And so the finalists to lead the club, both on and off the ice, include a guy who refuses to talk to the media in Markov, the great actor Plekanec, Subban, who was repeatedly benched last year as a defensive liability and Pacioretty, who Montreal legend Guy Lafleur described as a player “you can’t keep on your team.”

Good luck and may the best man win!