NYIntensity wrote:
Displaced Fan wrote:
Vanek. Any other suggestion is offensive. He is professional, a vet and a great player. Leads by example and should have been the Captain well before now.
Maybe. The 'leads by example' bit doesn't hold much water with me, because even though he's set the example for years on end, this team historically doesn't respond to that. Sure, there can be the locker room champion, I'm sure that's what Pommers was. The last person to wear a C that made ME feel like "HE is MY team's CAPTAIN" was Craig Rivet, and there were only flashes of it.
Ott wears his emotions on his sleeve during the game, and as a fan, that's what I want to see. Someone who's going to bust his nuts and rile the guys up when it needs to happen. When's the last time you saw Vanek trying to pump the team up?
Pumping the team up isn't what a captain needs to do. Does Sidney Crosby, Johnathan Toews, or Nicklas Lidstrom (all Stanley Cup winners) seem like guys who "pump their team up"? No, they just go out there, do the work, maybe they give the team a pep talk every now and again, but mostly, the captain is the guy the players look up to to score the clutch goals, or make the right play at the right time. That's Toews, Crosby, Lidstrom, etc. to a tee. Every team is different, but that's a consistent thing most teams have in their captain. Hell, even Chara has that whole "Norris Trophy winning" thing going for him for his players to look up to. I think when it comes down to it, it's about the player's resume, and what other players see what that player can do for the team. It's not about giving rah-rah speeches in the locker room.
That being said, I don't think Thomas Vanek fits any of these qualities. Vanek is a solid player, but he's never been all that clutch of a player. He has dominating performances here and there, but then he'll disappear on you in spots, too. I've said it before, I'll say it again: the captain of the Buffalo Sabres is not currently on the roster or has not currently progressed far enough as a player (prospects.)
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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.
@TJLuckman550