With the season just days away (thankfully), the Buffalo Sabres still find themselves with a rather large decision to make (roster cuts aside) and that is who is going to be the next player to wear the “C” on his sweater.
After trading Jason Pominville last season, the Sabres found themselves without a permanent captain yet again. This has been something that has happened a few times, with the rotating captaincy being the likely end result.
Since the start of the new millennium, the Buffalo Sabres have used 14 different players as captain (Chris Drury 3x, and Jason Pominville 2x) and will be using player 15 this season. There are several players up for the job so it will be interesting to see which player they choose.
So who is it going to be?
If the preseason has anything thing to do with it, Steve Ott, Chrisian Ehrhoff, Thomas Vanek, and Cody Hodgson are the favorites. Ott, Ehrhoff, and Vanek held the captain role two times during the preseason.
Thomas Vanek has been with the team the longest. Ott is a fan favorite and a hard worker. Ehrhoff and Hodgson are signed long-term so it is anybody’s guess.
In my opinion, stability in the Captain’s role is essential. Alternating between players doesn’t seem to work out very well and by the sounds of it the Sabres may agree and choose one guy and stick with him this time.
There doesn’t seem to be a clear favorite. Each player mentioned brings something to the table and perhaps could even convince one of them to stay longer and see this rebuild project all the way though.
The only thing that is certain at this point is that hockey is back in full swing in just a couple of days.
John Is a contributor with The Hockey Writers covering the Buffalo Sabres. He is also a Senior Writer and Editor at MetsMerizedOnline.
