Wendel Clark was sitting beside Doug Gilmour at Real Sports on Wednesday as John Tavares passed the captaincy of the Toronto Maple Leafs to Auston Matthews by handing him a gift box.
Inside, waiting to be opened, was a new No. 34 sweater with a C on it.
“I leaned over to Dougie and said, ‘We didn’t get it out of a box,’” Clark said. “We didn’t have a fancy box.”
Clark was trying out for Team Canada in 1991 when the Leafs announced he would be the 21st captain in team history.
“Probably Doug (Gilmour) and (Wayne) Gretzky taped a fake C on my practice jersey. Then about two weeks later, I got cut from the team.”
Times have changed. But the role of captaining the Leafs hasn’t.
“The joy is leading one of the greatest franchises there is in hockey. The greatest,” Clark said. “And you’re the focal point with the C on your sweater.
“The downfalls, you’re the conduit. So if the team’s going through a tough time, you may get blamed individually. Yeah, but really, you’re not getting blamed individually. You’re just a conduit for the team. So you can’t take it as negative press, that ‘Oh, everybody doesn’t like me.’ It’s really the team is getting the negative press.
“Once you put a letter on your jersey, you’re the conduit for all that. So you can’t take any of that stuff personally. That’s the big thing.”
Clark is the only other No. 1 draft pick in franchise history other than Matthews. He wore the C from 1991 until he was traded in 1994.
“It’s always a huge honour,” Clark said. “Especially being in a Canadian city. When the organization and players and team around you think that you’re worthy of wearing the letter on that team, that’s just a huge honour.”
The Leafs haven’t had the greatest history in how they treat their captains. Dave Keon was criticized by owner Harold Ballard and all but forced to jump to the WHA. Darryl Sittler ripped the C from his jersey in a dispute with management and was ultimately traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. The last Leafs captain to retire as the Leafs captain was Ted Kennedy in 1957.
Clark enjoyed watching Wednesday’s transition from Tavares to Matthews.
“It was great how it was handled,” Clark said. “The professionalism and Tavares doing what he did and how he did it and how he wants to still be in leadership and help his teammate and buddy. He watched Auston grow … and now he gets to help.”
Tavares will continue be in the leadership group, wearing an A as alternate captain, and offered some advice for Matthews.
“It’s an honour and a responsibility for a reason,” he said. “At the same time, it’s not all on his shoulders. For him to just be himself, obviously to have key people to lean on, but to always be himself, trust his instincts, be who he is.
“You don’t have all the answers and it’s not all on your shoulders. Leaning on other people is critical.”
Tavares won’t be the first former Leafs captain to play under a new one. When Clark returned to the Leafs in 1995, Gilmour was wearing the C, and when he retired in 2000, it was Mats Sundin.
“I was under a couple of guys, but it’s great,” Clark said. “It’s the maturation. As a player, you’re moving on and other new players get (the C). The number one goal is to win. That’s the bottom line.
“Auston’s teammates (Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner) were here supporting him. They’re all part of that leadership that helps the team win. He needs them. They need him. They’re not changing as people. It’s just letters changing on the sweaters.
“Roles change and evolve over time. That’s part of being a team.”
Correction — Aug. 15, 2024
Wendel Clark was named Leafs captain in 1991, not 1987 as incorrectly stated in a previous version of this story.
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