All hail boy king Gabriel Landeskog, the next captain of the Colorado Avalanche

Gabriel Landeskog has always seemed more mature than other young people.

The youth movement in Colorado just got a whole heck of a lot youthier. The Avalanche have named the fourth captain in their franchise's history, and it's 19-year-old 2012 rookie of the year Gabriel Landeskog.

Landeskog becomes the youngest captain in NHL history (and the third European in Avalanche history, but who cares about that anymore).

To put his age into context: Landeskog still can't drink in his home state for two more years. Milan Hejduk, the guy who relinquished the "C" and will serve as Landeskog's assistant captain, is 17 years his elder.

And heck, N.W.A. disbanded and April Wine got back together before he was even born.

He's young and he's got a lot left to learn. For instance, It's going to be very moody dressing room when Landeskog reads Nietszche this winter like all sophomores do and goes through his nihilism phase. His nihilism will be way worse than most sophomores, too, because he's Swedish.

Mind you, as amusing as this is, the rationale for the move is pretty solid.

First, Landeskog emerged as a bona fide leader on the Avalanche almost immediately last year, and surpassed every other candidate over his inaugural season. He led the Avalanche in goals, shots, and hits. He really was the most logical choice.

The only concern would have been age, but Landeskog has always been freakishly mature. He's been touted as a man among boys for years. He was the first European captain of the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, and he's been living on his own in North American since he was 16, which makes the great shape he's in downright remarkable. If I lived on my own at 16, I'd have died of a chocolate overdose within eight months.

And finally, there's impressive precedent. Landeskog takes the mantle of youngest captain ever from Sidney Crosby, who was just 11 days older than Landeskog is now when he was named captain. Crosby's done all right as captain. Plus Joffrey Baratheon has been Lord of the Seven Kingdoms for a season and a half on Game of Thrones and he's, like, 12.