<div class="article_timestamp">Posted on Mon, Sep. 24, 2007</div> <p align="center"><u>Gagne ready to take on 'C'</u></p> <p align="center"><u>If the captaincy of the Flyers is offered, he won't turn it down this time.</u></p> <p class="byline">By Tim Panaccio</p> <p class="byline lastline">Inquirer Staff Writer</p> Simon Gagne recalls walking into the dressing room in 2006 and witnessing then equipment manager Turk Evers sewing a "C" onto his sweater.</p> It stopped Gagne cold.</p> "I got caught by surprise and I was not ready for it," Gagne recalled. "I was still trying to find my game. I wasn't sure what kind of player I would be. A checker? A scorer or a playmaker? I didn't know."</p> Twice during the 2005-06 season, Gagne disappointed coach Ken Hitchcock by refusing to accept the captaincy in the wake of Keith Primeau's absence with post-concussion syndrome.</p> Derian Hatcher took the captaincy on Jan. 29, 2006. He eventually lost the "C" to Peter Forsberg.</p> Some would argue that Gagne wasn't ready for the job, either emotionally or from a leadership standpoint.</p> Now, two years later, following back-to-back 40-plus goal seasons, there is growing speculation that the longest-tenured Flyer will be given the "C" before the team boards its plane for Calgary on Oct. 2.</p> www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070924_Gagne_ready_to_take_on_C.html</p>
