No surprises here, Richards gets the C

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In my last post, I stated that the Flyers wouldn't name a captain until late in training camp. Out of the possible choices, I thought that Mike Richards was the best fit after last season. Well, we didn't have to wait long. The Flyers made it official today and named Richards the 17th captain in team history. The team website stated that Kimmo Timonen and Simon Gagne will be the alternates this season. It sounds as if Mike is more than ready to step into his new position:

“It’s obviously a privilege to be part of such a traditional organization, and be captain of it,” he said. “I am going to do my best to do it. We have a lot of great team leaders right now on our team, and you don’t have to change anything. I think everybody really helps out around the dressing room. There are so many leaders, you just kind of have to do your own thing and more worry about yourself and help out where things are needed.”

It's nice to know they got this done before camp starts on the 20th. It's one less distraction and it gives Richards the opportunity to get used to his role as captain in exhibition games rather than giving him the "C" during the regular season.

- Speaking of camp, the rookies will head down to Virginia tomorrow to face the Caps.

- The full camp roster is up on the team website. The two-day tournament to kick off camp is a pretty cool idea and a good way to get some friendly competition early on. And a small note to the NHL: Naming divisions after famous former players is a GOOD thing.