from Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice,

Elias said similar in 2013 before Salvador was named captain and in 2011 before Zach Parise got the C. The way he was stripped of it, with Sutter telling the media before discussing it with him, has never sat well with him.

He also recognizes that maybe he didn't handle being the captain as well as he could have.

“It's just the way it went,” Elias said. “I don't think it was handled the proper way, not just from Brent Sutter. Not just from him. So, I didn't want it after that. Maybe in a way, maybe when I had that C, you try to do too much maybe a little bit just because it's not an easy role. You might not even recognize it, but subconsciously you might worry about things that maybe you shouldn't. They put you in that role for a reason, because they like what they've seen, and you've got to keep doing the same things.”

Elias' mention of “not just from Brent Sutter” suggested that he also thought former GM Lou Lamoriello was involved in taking the C from him, but he would not say that directly when I asked if that was what he meant.

“I just thought there should have been more courtesy,” he said. “I don't know if the coach only makes the decision on the captain. We know that wasn't the case. But, I think I deserved a little bit better, not treatment but just letting me know. Not just take it off and finding out from you guys (the media).”

Elias' season as captain did not end well. Lamoriello appeared to give in to a mini team mutiny when he fired head coach Claude Julien with just three games left in the regular season.

Some players had been openly insubordinate with Julien. Perhaps, Lamoriello felt Elias, as captain, had a responsibility to help ease that tension and keep his teammates more in line and in tune with the head coach.

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