Who are the top 10 captains in Detroit Red Wings franchise history

There is The Captain, and then there are the captains of the Detroit Red Wings franchise.

It's a position of honor on any team, but especially on the most successful U.S.-based Original Six franchise, home to 11 Stanley Cup championships.

The club started out as the Detroit Cougars in 1926, had a brief run as the Detroit Falcons from 1930-32, and came into their own in 1932 when grain merchant James E. Norris bought the team and renamed it the Red Wings. In the history of the franchise's captains, Art Duncan was the first, Dylan Larkin is the latest, Steve Yzerman the longest-serving, Nicklas Lidström a most perfect one, and Ted Lindsay a most determined one.

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We rank the top 10.

10. Art Duncan

In 1926, Duncan served as the first team captain, coach, and general manager of the Detroit Cougars, setting the tone for a team that had been assembled from the players of the Victoria Cougars in the failing Western Hockey League. Duncan was gone by the next season, but his name is part of franchise history.

9. Doug Young

Young, a star defenseman, was in his first season as captain in 1935 when he suffered an eye injury during a puck battle late in a game. Young's leadership was exemplary, and he led them to the Stanley Cup in 1936. He missed most of the next season but his name was still engraved on the Cup, and he remained captain until 1938.

8. Ebbie Goodfellow

Goodfellow was captain from 1934-35 and again from 1938-41. In 1940, he was the first player in franchise history to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. In his heyday, he was a star, and his overall tenure with the franchise spanned from 1929-44.

7. Henrik Zetterberg

About a decade before he was named captain in January 2013 (the 2012-13 season was delayed by a labor dispute), the Wings placed Zetterberg's locker next to Yzerman's, a chance for the young star to learn from the best. Then came another apprenticeship during Lidström's tenure. Zetterberg handled himself with ease as captain, including serving as a buffer between players and then-coach Mike Babcock, until retiring in 2018.

6. Gordie Howe

When it comes to franchise legends, Howe is No. 1. But his captain's tenure isn't up there with Yzerman's, or his Cup champion teammates. Howe was named captain on June 12, 1958 by general manager Jack Adams, who had decided to every few years rotate who wore the "C." (It came with extra salary at that time.) Howe served from 1958-62, a tumultuous time after Adams had torn the championship group apart. The team didn't qualify for the playoffs in Howe's first and last years with with the 'C.'

5. Alex Delvecchio

Delvecchio is second only to Yzerman in tenure as captain, having worn the "C" from 1962-63 to 1973-74 (though he retired as a player in November 1973 to take over as coach and general manager). In three of his first four years, the Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, but then the franchise began a long decline.

4. Sid Abel

Abel captained the Wings to three Stanley Cups. He served as captain in 1942-43, culminating with the franchise's third Cup. In 1943, Abel left to serve with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. In August 1945, with the war over, Adams told reporters he hoped it wouldn't be long before Abel was discharged: "Boy, we could use someone like Sid Abel." Abel rejoined the Wings in February 1946. Abel captained the Wings from that season through 1951-52, winning the Cup in 1950 and '52.

3. Nicklas Lidström

He's where he is on this list because after succeeding Yzerman wearing the "C," Lidstrom made history: In 2008, he became the first European born-and-trained captain of a Stanley Cup winning team. (He made history in 2002, too, when he was the first European player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, given annually to the playoff MVP.) Lidstrom served six seasons, from 2006 to his retirement in 2012.

2. Ted Lindsay

Lindsay was named captain by Adams on Oct. 6, 1952. It was a bold choice: A main duty for captains during games was to act as the team's spokesperson with officials, and Lindsay regarded officials with deep mistrust - and he wasn't shy about letting them know that. Lindsay wasn't about to change, either: "I'm still no candidate for the Lady Byng Award," he said. "My ambition is to be as much an inspiration to the players as Sid Abel was." Lindsay captained the Wings to the Stanley Cup in 1954 and '55. He was stripped of the captaincy in 1956 because of his attempts to organize a players association, and traded by Adams to the Chicago Blackhawks.

1. Steve Yzerman

It could only be him, the savior of the franchise in the immediate years after its purchase by Mike and Marian Ilitch, the player who morphed from shy teenager to quiet leader to being the first to hoist the Cup when in 1997 it returned to Detroit after a 42-year drought. It was coach Jacques Demers who presented the 21-year-old Yzerman with a sweater bearing the "C" on Oct. 7, 1986, after practice at Oak Park Ice Arena. Yzerman was the youngest captain in the the team's history. He captained the Wings to three Cups, retiring in 2006 after serving for 19 seasons.