Toews Made Generous Offer To Get Teammate's Name On Cup In '13
(CBS) What's it mean to captain a hockey team?
It means displaying selflessness, which for Blackhawks leader Jonathan Toews meant giving up the recognition of being a captain on the sport's biggest prize, if need be.
After Chicago beat Boston to win the Stanley Cup Final last summer, Toews told team executives that in order to make room to engrave teammate Jamal Mayers' name on the Stanley Cup, they could omit the "Capt." in front of his name if need be, according to a Sports Illustrated feature. It's customary for team captains to receive that designation on the Cup, but Toews wanted to ensure that Mayers, a 14-year NHL veteran who was a respected presence in the locker room, would have his name on the crown jewel despite his not playing in half the team's regular-season games -- the traditional threshold for getting your name engraved. If that space was short, Toews wouldn't need his so much space dedicated to himself.
"Jonathan's the ultimate team guy," Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman told SI. "And it's a constant theme for him. It's all about the team. He's not bigger than anybody."