ST. LOUIS -- When Brayden Schenn stepped in front of the podium, finally holding up a new jersey with a 'C' on the front of his No. 10, if there was any doubt the choice the St. Louis Blues made in selecting the 24th captain in franchise history went out the window in that moment.
Sure, it's common for teammates to show their respects and offer support when a captain is named, but it was a unanimous choice when it came to the Blues. From the front office to the coaching staff to most importantly, Schenn's teammates. They were there to show their unequivocal unity for the 32-year-old who has put so much into the franchise, through effort, energy, blood, sweat, tears, playing through injury and ultimately helping the franchise win its first Stanley Cup in 2019.
"His teammates are here supporting him. That's a good sign right there in my opinion that they're here to show the support," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think Brayden does everything the right way on and off the ice. Off the ice, you don't see all the little things he does, the work he puts in every day on the ice, off the ice, how he treats his teammates and supports his teammates and helps his teammates. On the ice, you guys see what he does. He brings toughness, he brings scoring, he brings all the intangibles that go into a captain."
Once Ryan O'Reilly was traded this past February and the torch was set aside until ultimately when he made his final decision this summer to move on from St. Louis, that page was officially closed and a new leaf would be turned up, and if the Blues were to name a captain, they would make the obvious and smart choice and did so.
And the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native has the backing of each and every one of his teammates.
"Well-deserved," said defenseman Justin Faulk, who could have been a candidate and who will wear one of the 'A's along with Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas. "He's a great guy, great teammate, takes care of everybody on and off the ice. His hockey speaks for itself. Everyone sees that.
"What people don't see is how good a guy he is. I think a lot of people actually do. He does a lot of charitable work in the community too. He's just an all-around good guy, a good teammate. Couldn't think of a better guy to take over."
When Doug Armstrong left his final media session following the conclusion of last season, he wasn't sure the Blues would name a captain for this season. And it was starting to look like one wouldn't get named as late as things had progressed into September.
But a week or so before the opening of training camp, the general manager text Schenn that he wanted to meet with him on the Friday morning before camp started to disclose the direction and why he was chosen. It kept coming back to an obvious reason, especially if this is a team that wants to retool more so than rebuild.
"I just kept coming back to experience, transitioning into a new era," Armstrong said. "When I got to the criteria that was most important to this team moving forward, 'Schenner' was the natural option. These decisions aren't made in a vacuum. I had a lot of different people giving me input in place, great support from ownership, Mr. [Tom] Stillman and his group asking me the questions that went into the decision and then supporting the decision.
"There's not much that he hasn't seen that he can't share with the group. Also his persona on the ice is St. Louis original and that's something that we want to continue with. But the process started, talking to a lot of different people in our organization, outside the organization in different sports on leadership, on leadership by committee, what it took."
Also, imagine getting endorsed by Blues captains of the past ... Bernie Federko, Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Barret Jackman, to name a few. These aren't just run of the mill players that wore the Bluenote. A lot of these guys are Hall of Famers who shared their respects for a deserving person.
"I think you can see by the way he plays, the way he acts, the way he handles himself both on and off the ice," said Federko, who serves as an analyst for Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest who served as Blues captain for the 1988-89 season. "I think that's what St. Louis is all about. Any time you have a captain on a team, it's not always just what goes on the ice or off the ice. It's the community and all the other stuff. We all know what Brayden does, what he has to say, how he handles himself on the ice. If something needs to be taken into his own hands, he does that."
Schenn has played 858 NHL regular-season games in his 13-plus seasons after being selected with the fifth overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 2009 before being dealt to and playing six seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers, then being traded to the Blues at the 2017 NHL Draft, playing the past six seasons in St. Louis.
With five years remaining on his contract, there's a good chance to finish his career in St. Louis, and who better to mentor the next generation of Blues players than Schenn?
"When you've got young kids coming into the organization, you need to follow someone and I think he's the perfect role model for them to be able to follow," Federko said.
"Always been a guy I look up to on and off the ice," the 24-year-old Thomas said. "He's someone that a lot of guys lean on for anything from dinner reservations to whatever. He's a guy that's always around, always helping everyone out. I'm really happy for him. Going to do my best to support him."
As will the 30-year-old Parayko, who couldn't be more thrilled.
"I'm excited," Parayko said. "'Schenner' is a true captain. He's got all the qualities on the ice. Obviously you see what he does on the ice. He's a true leader and I'm looking forward to him being the captain. I'll try and help him as much as I possibly can personally. I know there's a lot of things he does behind the scenes that not a lot of people know. Just the six or seven years that I've played with him, he's done a tremendous amount for me. Things like that go a long way for everybody. I can only imagine what he's done for everybody else. I'm excited for him; he's definitely deserved it. Everyone's got his back and we're all going to be helping him out working for him."
There's no questioning whether Schenn will work for his teammates, and he now gets to lead them. There are instances when a room can be divided and not everybody will work for a particular captain, no matter the sport. In hockey, it's important, and Schenn understands his teammates are with him.
Now he will join O'Reilly, Alex Pietrangelo, David Backes, MacInnis, Pronger, Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Federko, Scott Stevens, Plager brothers Bob and Barclay and other greats to don the 'C' in St. Louis.
"Just from my experiences, I'm just going to try and lean on (teammates support) and on my 13 years out of playing and move this team in the right direction," Schenn said. "I see the team and the whole organization to hold ourselves to a high standard. We have a vision for this team. We feel we have goals that we are going to shoot for this year. Everyone's hungry and ready to go this year and there's a good energy in our locker room right now. ... There's a good excitement and we're looking forward to this upcoming season."
