New York Rangers hadn’t named a new captain since Ryan McDonagh left the club in 2018. However, earlier this summer, defenseman Jacob Trouba was named the 28th captain in franchise history. Trouba, 28, has been with the Rangers since 2019 when he joined from Winnipeg Jets. In the previous two seasons, he’s played with the “A” on his chest.
Rangers will have a captain on their team for the first time in four years, and Trouba’s teammates are thrilled.
And, as usual, Artemi Panarin shows his happiness in the most awesome form. Panarin isn’t just snowed for his amazing goalscoring abilities.
He’s also known as a jokester and a showman who always makes everyone around him laugh. So when Trouba was announced as team captain, Panarin sent a video message congratulating him in the most fantastic way.
“Jacob, Jacob! Congratulations, buddy. Happy for you, but I still think I’m the better choice,” Panarin joked in the video posted to the Rangers’ Twitter account in August.
The video was an instant meme, and when Panarin showed up on Rangers media availability this weekend, he wore a T-shirt of himself with the text “Jacob, Jacob. Congratulations!”
Reporters asked him if Trouba was the correct choice as a captain, and he made everyone burst out in laughter with his amazing answer.
“It’s because I don’t speak English,” Panarin said.
Jokes aside, Panarin was thrilled with the Rangers’ captain choice.
“To be honest he definitely is the best choice on the Rangers currently out of anybody that could be captain,” Trouba said to NHL.com.
“I’ve wanted him to be captain for quite a while so I’m very happy for him.”
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