The Toronto Maple Leafs have named veteran defenceman Stephane Robidas an alternate captain.
The 37-year-old is expected to play beside captain Dion Phaneuf on the Leafs’ top defensive pair when they host the Montreal Canadiens to open the 2014-15 NHL season Wednesday on Sportsnet.
“It shows a lot of confidence in me,” Robidas told reporters. “It’s something that I don’t need the ‘A’ to be a leader and you don’t need letters to be a leader. [It’s] something that I take pride in. I just want to be myself. I’m not going to come in and change everything. I’m just going to play like I can play and be myself.”
Forward Joffrey Lupul will also serve as an alternate captain.
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Robidas joined the Leafs as an unrestricted free agent July 1, signing a three-year, $9-million contract. Last season, he registered five goals, five assists and 20 penalty minutes in 38 games split between the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks. He also broke his right leg on two separate occasions.
“In his role, we felt that he would be a guy that could provide leadership, not only to our younger players, but some of our older players,” Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle said.
The Sherbrooke, Que., native has played 885 NHL games since breaking into the league with the Canadiens 14 years ago. He is a respected leader and has earned praise from his new teammates throughout training camp and the pre-season.
“He’s a guy who plays the game extremely hard,” Phaneuf recently said in regards to Robidas. “He’s been around for a long time and he does a lot of little things very well. I’m excited to play with him. His reputation is that he might not be the biggest guy, but he plays the game. He plays with a lot of edge and that’s what he’s going to bring here.”
