Written on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 1:55pm by dave in Rocha | No Comments

Capt. Craig

Newcomer Craig Rivet is the new captain of the Sabres.

New PERMANENT captain.

From the Buffalo News:

In a surprising choice, defenseman Craig Rivet was named captain of the Buffalo Sabres today, coach Lindy Ruff announced after practice in HSBC Arena.

What really interested me came further down the article:

Ruff said the players voted on the choice of Rivet and the coaches then endorsed it.

That to me says a lot. It says that last year’s squad was starving for leadership, which is not surprising when you consider that all three letter-wearers from the year previous were not on the team for 81 of the 82 games. It also says that none of the guys who wore the ‘C’ last year showed that they really have what it takes now to wear it full-time. Sure, five years from now a guy like Pomminville might become a great captain, but he obviously doesn’t have the right relationship with this group of guys to lead them. Neither did any of the other “captains” last year. While the new “core” has a ton of talent and promise, it clearly needed a new, experienced voice in the room to get them focused game in game out. The more I think about it, the more this sounds like how Drury became captain over guys who had been here at the time such as Dumont and McKee. And when I put it that way, I’m an even bigger fan of the move. Let’s hope it gets reflected in the standings.

Tagged with: , ,

No Comments

  1. twoeightnine says:
    October 8, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    I like it. A lot. Darcy still sucks though right? All he did was bring in a physical D-man who is now our captain. Slacker.

  2. Ben says:
    October 8, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    I was not happy to read that, until the bit about the players voting. If true, then it’s a great choice.

  3. trevor says:
    October 8, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Whatever. If Darcy didn’t suck he woulda signed Rivet to a ‘5 for 25′ three years ago!

  4. Brendan says:
    October 8, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    Great Move – Liked it before I heard about the vote. With the vote to back it up….I think we’re in for an awesome year.

  5. jan says:
    October 8, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    Welcome, Capt. Rivet. if the players voted to have him as captain, so be it. Now let’s play some hockey !!!!

  6. Gator says:
    October 8, 2008 at 4:56 pm

    anybody find it weird that there are 4 alternate captains? does that mean who wears the “A” will rotate since only 2 people can wear the “A” on the ice?

  7. twoeightnine says:
    October 8, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    Two are home captains and two are away captains.

  8. Gator says:
    October 8, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    Per WGR550: Ruff also announced that there will be different alternate captains for home and road games. Forward Jason Pominville and D Teppo Numminen will wear the ‘A’ at home, while D Jaroslav Spacek and F Jochen Hect wear the honors on the road.

    Thanks 289 – I guess I should read next time.

  9. twoeightnine says:
    October 8, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    More from Pommers.
    http://buffalonews.typepad.com/sabres/2008/10/no-disappointme.html

  10. Wolf says:
    October 8, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    They’ve got veteran leadership now… something I was begging for last year. While I was hoping more for a veteran goal scorer, obviously Rivet has made an immediate impact, so I’m happy.

    My brother called me this afternoon saying what a slap in the face this was to Pominville and Roy and Hecht, and what an idiot Ruff was… that is until I told him that TBN was reporting that the players voted on Rivet as captain. He then shut up. (Can you tell which of us is a Ruff fan and which isn’t?)

  11. Matty H says:
    October 8, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    With the players behind him, it quickly quelled my WTF? Look forward to seeing you guys in here starting on Friday.

  12. Dan Meyer says:
    October 8, 2008 at 11:19 pm

    Tom Golisano and Monica Seles?

    Speculation and rumors are flying around following news of Tom and Monica being seen together in WNY on more than one occasion:

    http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=61284&catid=37

  13. PA Pete says:
    October 9, 2008 at 9:04 am

    #12 — She likes his lob
    He likes her serve.

  14. trevor says:
    October 9, 2008 at 10:49 am

    Jesus Christ, if I were worth a billion I’d at least be banging Gabriela Sabatini.

  15. TheTick says:
    October 9, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    Maybe he’s a fan of the grunting…

 

You need to log in to vote

The blog owner requires users to be logged in to be able to vote for this post.

Alternatively, if you do not have an account yet you can create one here.

Powered by Vote It Up