New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward Ryan Callahan has been named the 26th captain in franchise history. Brad Richards will join Marc Staal as the club's two alternate captains. Ryan Callahan embodies all the leadership qualities we seek from our Captain," Sather said. "He leads by example with courage and a tireless work ethic on and off the ice, which is why he is so deserving of this honor."Callahan, 26, has served as a Rangers Alternate Captain for the last two seasons after being named to the post on October 2, 2009. He captured a silver medal with Team USA at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, and is a two-time Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award winner (2008-09 and 2009-10).Last season, Callahan captured the Players' Player Award, as voted by his teammates, and the John Halligan Good Guy Award, selected by the NY chapter of the PHWA in recognition of cooperation with the media.Entering his fifth season in the NHL, Callahan was originally selected as the Rangers' fourth round choice, 127th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He has registered 76 goals and 68 assists for 144 points, along with 179 penalty minutes in 284 career regular season games. Callahan has reached the 40-point plateau and surpassed the 20-goal mark in two of the last three seasons, and has recorded 200-plus hits in each of the last three seasons.The Rochester, New York native enjoyed his most productive season in 2010-11, establishing career-highs in goals (23), assists (25) and points (48) despite missing 22 games due to injury. He tallied his first career hat trick with four goals and a career-high five points on March 6 vs. Philadelphia, and notched his first career penalty shot goal on October 30 at Toronto.On October 23, Callahan registered his 100th career point with an assist on the game-winning goal at Boston. Callahan made his NHL debut on December 1, 2006 at Buffalo, and tallied his first career NHL point with a two-goal performance on March 17, 2007 vs. Boston.