Michael Smith

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On the eve of Opening Night, the letter “A” has been sewed onto select sweaters inside the Carolina Hurricanes’ locker room.

Andrej Sekera will be a full-time alternate captain, and the second “A,” which will belong to Jordan Staal when he returns from his injury, will rotate between Jay Harrison and Ron Hainsey.

“Exactly how we share that, we’ll figure out as we go. It’s easy to say one guy at home and one guy on the road or alternate every other game,” head coach Bill Peters said. “We have a good leadership group, and we have more than just those guys in our leadership group, but those will be the guys who wear the letters this year.”

“We’ve got quite a few leaders in this room, some older guys who have been around and been through a lot of things,” said Eric Staal, who enters his fifth full season as captain of the team. “For me to be able to work with them and be leaders in this locker room is going to be good.”

This is the first season in which Sekera and Harrison have been alternate captains in the NHL. Hainsey wore an “A” in Atlanta during the 2009-10 season.

“They’re confident guys. They talk. They’re invested in what’s going on in here, and they’re good with the young guys. Harry’s taken a leadership role in a lot of small little areas,” Peters said. “Hainsey has got a real good personality to him in being calm, cool and collected. He communicates on the bench and is very intelligent about the game. I think he can help the young guys and also be a good liason between the players and coaches.”

“We’ve got a lot of guys ready and willing to step up to be counted upon as the leadership group in this room,” Staal said.