Poll of the week: Leadership

[BigTed3]

This summer, there was a lot of debate over who should be the next Canadiens captain. The team and players chose Max Pacioretty. He's stoic, he's a team player, he toes the party line and supports the coach. He says what people want to hear, he tries hard, and he does his best not to ruffle anyone's feathers. Players respect his skill and his toughness.

On the other hand, you have P.K. Subban, equally determined and tough, a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, for better or for worse. Last game, Subban erupted with a profanity-laced tirade about the problems with the team's performance and its system. Subban has stepped up as a leader in the community and a face of the Habs. He gives you as much effort and hustle as any other player. But was his vocal outburst helpful or hurtful?

We want to know... whose leadership style do you think is more effective? Do you want a leader who is calm and collected and tries to stay the course or do you want a leader who rocks the boat and tries to rally the troops?

[Guest habs1952]

PK......by a mile.

[jeff33]

PK......by a mile.

yup.

i dunno what max does in the room but he is not a presence on the ice and hes not a presence with the media. everyone goes and asks PK anyway

i always thought your captain is the guy who has to take the team on his back even if your down 6-0 and make you feel like you can still do it and he hasnt given up even 1%. that was koivu. gallagher is like that on this team. subban is. patchy....isnt.

[habsisme]

I voted Max but in a way PK is more effective but I wouldn't want him as captain. PK is more effective but risky and so his effectiveness can easily completely lose the room and the media

[RicochetII]

I think you need both sides to be an effective leader. For that reason, I would choose PK. There are things Subban has and does that Pacioretty simply does not. There is not much Pacioretty can offer that Subban can't.

Subban can emulate Patches and if not, he can learn to. The reverse isn't true, and an attempt by Pacioretty to emulate Subban would simply feel contrived and have little impact. Sometimes you need energy, passion, or anger from your captain, especially at times like these. If he doesn't lose control or draw attention, eventually someone else will. It's his job to do that on behalf of the team, because he has the leeway and ability to handle the pressure that comes with it.

[PuckPundit]

Why are the poll choices limited only to Pacioretty and Subban?

Never mind, my choice can't be included. It's Carey Price - the unofficial but real de facto leader of the team. It's Carey's team. Can anyone say the same with Pacioretty or Subban?

[jennifer_rocket]

I voted P.K. because I think his on-ice (performance) leadership has been superior this season.

[js2]

Subban is more wild and a little crazy at times(like his announcing of the line up) while Pacioretty is a little more mature. So Pacioretty.

[Habsology2]

The question reads "Which player's leadership style do you think is more effective?". If I look at what a leader means to me, it is someone who I am motivated to follow, to do well for, and (ideally) someone who I look up to. For me, the best leader is someone who does not lose their cool when the going gets tough. I've been in plenty of jobs where when things are going bad the heat starts to come down. Although it tends to make me work harder, it does nothing to make me work better or more efficient. Instead it leads to more errors and second-guessing. Those same managers are great ralliers when things are going good. They are giving high-fives all around and giving kudos to everyone within eyesight. But when things go wrong, they are too high-strung to promote any kind of positive motivation. I have also worked for managers where when things are going wrong, they maintain composure of their emotions and are more interested in coming up with solutions instead of looking for someone to blame, thus providing a calming effect. It is these types of leaders that I find myself being motivated to work for. The question itself is a pretty subjective one, so I can only speak for myself when I say, that I think that MP's style (while more subdued) is probably going to be more effective. I get it that this is a sport, and usually in sports there is a lot of "raw raw rawing" going on to motivate players. But at the core of individual psyches, I think we all want to follow someone who we see as strong and composed, rather than someone who is erratic and boisterous. So my vote is for Max.

With that said, if given the choice, I would choose Gallagher over the both of them

[BigTed3]

I'm not 100% on board with Subban making a spectacle of his emotions a couple of times in the past few days. Some of it's a little over the top. But without a doubt I'd prefer the guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, who is passionate, and who's willing to put the team on his back when it's needed. I've been quite disappointed in Pacioretty as a captain, and I don't see him doing anything more than what's cliche and expected. Yes, he meets with the media, he works hard, he faces the music. But he's always toeing the company line and what he spews out to the media seems very generic and as a result, somewhat less authentic than what you get from Subban.

Take Pacioretty's handling of the Galchenyuk incident. He basically said "no comment" and that "it's tough to be a Canadien." The end. But when Kassian got into his car wreck, Pacioretty was quick to condemn it and say Kassian had made a huge mistake. We also saw him giving Subban a couple of cold stares in the past little while. I just get the feeling Pacioretty isn't a guy who's uniting the team right now. He's a guy who wants to do what he's told by management and who wants to follow the book and code of conduct. But he's not sticking his neck out for his teammates and he's not showing much emotion about the goings on with the team. I don't necessarily want him to be as exuberant as Subban, but something like what Koivu brought would probably be a happy medium. As captain, Pacioretty should be expected to deliver more right now.

[jennifer_rocket]

Whichever guy is grittier and jammier.

[jennifer_rocket]

The one thing I would comment about this poll, is that I think we should retake the poll at a later point in the season. It's no secret that Max hasn't had the best first half of the season, while P.K. has been a more consistent performer on the back-end. I wonder what the results would show if Max scores 20 over the remainder of the year.

[fnveenie]

At the end of the day, all that matters is that the captain has the respect of the players. They unanimously chose Patch and I think that is more meaningful than management picking who they think is best suited for the role.

If it was my decision, I would pick PK, but I respect the players' decision. It is what it is.

[BigTed3]

The one thing I would comment about this poll, is that I think we should retake the poll at a later point in the season. It's no secret that Max hasn't had the best first half of the season, while P.K. has been a more consistent performer on the back-end. I wonder what the results would show if Max scores 20 over the remainder of the year.

To me, it doesn't have much to do with Max scoring or not scoring. He's still on track for over 30 goals. He's a proven scorer. What I'm disappointed in him for are things like bad turnovers, bad penalties, and a lack of support for his teammates in the media. He seems to be riding whatever the coach tells him to say, but he doesn't seem to be sticking up for fellow players the same way. I don't see that changing even if he scores 5 goals in his next 5 games.

[jennifer_rocket]

To me, it doesn't have much to do with Max scoring or not scoring. He's still on track for over 30 goals. He's a proven scorer. What I'm disappointed in him for are things like bad turnovers, bad penalties, and a lack of support for his teammates in the media. He seems to be riding whatever the coach tells him to say, but he doesn't seem to be sticking up for fellow players the same way. I don't see that changing even if he scores 5 goals in his next 5 games.

I understand. But I would posit that some of the people who voted in this poll might be more influenced than you if he was scoring at a higher rate. Even if the other poor elements of his game continued.