Langenbrunner Named US Team Captain | IXGAMES

New Jersey Devils’ Jamie Langenbrunner was officially named the captain of the US Olympic team. Langenbrunner will head the hockey team for the games in Vancouver in February, along with alternate captains Zach Parise, Brian Rafalski, Ryan Suter, and Dustin Brown. Rafalski is a former defenseman for the New Jersey Devils, while Brown used to captain the Los Angeles Kings.  Langenbrunner and Rafalski both have previous Olympic experience. Rafalski is a three-time Olympian. The new captain According to Team USA manager Brian Burke, there was no problem choosing the team captain, citing Langenbrunner’s consistency and versatility as the reasons why he was chosen. Burked further claimed that they had difficult decisions to make and had several arguments with the selection process.  However, there was no doubt that Langenbrunner should be the captain.  “…we didn’t have any kind of a fight on was picking our captain.”  Langenbrunner, according to the Team USA manager, came from well-respected franchise in the NHL, the New Jersey Devils.  Aside from that, he is also known as a very consistent hockey player and has never failed to show great skills on ice. When asked about Langenbrunner, Coach Ron Wilson has this to say, “I have coached him in a couple of events, and he is the ultimate professional.”  Wilson believes that New Jersey Devils’ Jamie Langenbrunner would be a good captain considering his Olympics experience and performance in the World Cup.  The new captain can head the team toward one goal. There are a total of four alternate captains chosen to work with Langenbrunner, although only two will get to wear the A for each game. Alternate captains for each game will chosen by rotation. Langenbrunner’s NHL record Langenbrunner has spent 15 years in the NHL and has been the Devils captain for the last three seasons, serving as captain since 2007. The Cloquet, Minnesota native has had 13 goals and 27 assists in a total of 45 games for the current season. He is also a two-time Stanley Cup winner and has competed in the 1998 Winter Games held in Nagano. He has neither confirmed nor denied the reports when it broke out, but Langenbrunner told reporters, “I don’t think it’s anything I ever dreamed of as a kid or anything like that but it’s definitely something, if bestowed on me, I would take very seriously and be very honored to do.” The US teams has long been left out of the list of favorites to win any medals in Vancouver. The American team has only won one Olympic medal since it joined the games, at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics where they won the silver medal. However, the team is optimistic. The influence of the Devils, multiple winners of the Stanley Cup, is what the captains are banking on. The team is expected to square off with Switzerland in February and will play against Norway and Canada in the preliminary rounds.