Brian Gionta was named the 28th team captain of the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, confirming earlier reports and officially ending the team's first-ever period with no one wearing the "C" on the jersey.
Gionta has always been considered a strong candidate to replace Saku Koivu, who served as Canadiens captain from 1999-2009, matching Jean Beliveau for the longest tenure in club history.
The 31-year-old Rochester, New York native becomes the second American captain of the Canadiens, following Chris Chelios who served as team co-captain in 1989-90 before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Denis Savard.
Gionta got the nod over the team's longest-tenured player, defenceman Andrei Markov, who is entering the final year of his contract with the Canadiens and will be unable to start the season as he recovers from knee surgery.
Gionta, on the other hand, is signed for four more years at $5 million per year, giving the Canadiens some long-term stability as captain. He led the team last season with 28 goals despite missing 21 games with a broken foot, and he continued his production in the playoffs with nine goals and six assists in 19 games.
Many believed Markov was not interested in assuming the media responsibilities that come with the captaincy, but he said last season that he would not refuse a request to serve as captain for the Canadiens.
While Koivu was elected captain by his teammates, Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier and head coach Jacques Martin indicated they will select the next captain of the team.
The Canadiens produced a video to make the announcement that runs through the history of the team's captaincy, which can be seen by clicking here.
