Hi everyone, first time poster here.
During the '05 Lockout, TSN did a roundtable discussion with Scotty Bowman, Mike Keenan, Don Cherry, Wayne Gretzky, Stan Fischler, Dick Irvin, Bob Nicholson, and Brian McFarlane, where each was asked who their top 5 captains of all time would be. Messier didn't get any votes, and Keenan even told an inquiring fan that Messier didn't deserve his vote. Also of note, was that Scotty Bowman didn't vote for Yzerman. He actually voted for Sakic instead.
I can't find the video online, but someone posted the final results on various message boards:
Scott Bowman (Hall of Fame NHL Coach)
1. Maurice Richard
2. Wayne Gretzky
3. Mario Lemieux
4. Jean Beliveau
5. Joe Sakic
Mike Keenan (Former NHL Coach)
1. Maurice Richard
2. Wayne Gretzky
3. Bobby Clarke
4. Jean Beliveau
5. Steve Yzerman
Don Cherry (Former NHL PLayer/Coach)
1. Wayne Gretzky
2. Bobby Clarke
3. George Armstrong
4. Maurice Richard
5. John Bucyk
Stan Fischler (Hall of Fame NHL Journalist/Author)
1. Maurice Richard
2. Wayne Gretzky
3. Jean Beliveau
4. George Armstrong
5. Brian Sutter
Dick Irvin (Hall of Fame NHL Broadcaster/Author)
1. Maurice Richard
2. Jean Beliveau
3. Bobby Clarke
4. Mario Lemieux
5. Dave Keon
Bob Nicholson (Director, Hockey Canada)
1. Maurice Richard
2. Wayne Gretzky
3. Mario Lemieux
4. Denis Potvin
5. Bobby Clarke
Brian McFarlane (Hall of Fame NHL Broadcaster/Author)
1. Maurice Richard
2. Mario Lemieux
3. Jean Beliveau
4. Wayne Gretzky
5. Ray Bourque
Wayne Gretzky (Hall of Fame Player)
1. Jean Beliveau
2. Maurice Richard
3. Bobby Clarke
4. Mario Lemieux
5. Yvan Cournoyer
1. Maurice Richard (6-1-0-1-0) 36 pts
2. Wayne Gretzky (1-4-0-1-0) 27 pts
3. Jean Beliveau (1-1-3-0-0) 21 pts
4. Bobby Clarke (0-1-4-1-1) 19 pts
5. Mario Lemieux (0-1-1-2-0) 11 pts
6. George Armstrong (0-0-0-2-0) 4 pts
7. Yvan Cournoyer (0-0-0-1-1) 3 pts
8. Dave Keon (0-0-0-0-1) 1 pt
9. John Bucyk (0-0-0-0-1) 1 pt
10. Joe Sakic (0-0-0-0-1) 1 pt
11. Steve Yzerman (0-0-0-0-1) 1 pt
12. Brian Sutter (0-0-0-0-1) 1 pt
13. Ray Bourque (0-0-0-0-1) 1 pt
I'd say that that's a solid top 5, and it's refreshing to see that the true experts don't buy into the Messier hype.