I'm Sorry, Jason Pominville

by Ryan

When we last left Jason Pominville he looked a little something like this:



Now while the resemblance may be uncanny, he probably wouldn't ask if we wanted extreme fajitas at 10am on a Monday.

Looking back, I've been quite skeptical about the whole idea of "Captain by Committee", but especially with the reign of terror Jason Pominville has instituted this month. Here are some thoughts:

- Is that how we are assigning letters now? “He’s a great guy, everyone likes him, and he’s pretty consistent.” Apparently the Sabres captain needs to have the same qualities you look for in a mechanic. When’s the last time you thought an oil change showed leadership ability? Red Wing Ramblings, 3/3/08

Hey, and in that same post:

- What the heck was with the gong show on Pomminville’s goal? For once Jason’s nancyboy ways paid off.

Okay, that was a bit harsh. The truth of the matter is that looking back on the first 17 days of this month I've been pretty impressed with how Jason has handled the C. He has become accountable with the media, always one of the first players to talk to reporters and even posting his thoughts regularly on his Sabres.com blog.

People always look to on ice play to gauge how well things are going, but I've been much more impressed with the way he has handled all this outside of the rink. He has played quite well recently and the team is suddenly on the upswing, but I still think a lot of that upswing has to do with the coaching suddenly kicking in.

His entire demeanor has changed, and he's a different form of captain then most people are used to around here. He's not going to be the voice of experience, but leadership in his case may only have to be acting properly when faced with problems. He may not be the fiercest of players, but he has displayed a surprising amount of responsibility, both good and bad, for this team's actions. It may not be what we are expecting, but it is certainly a form of leadership.

The point of all this is that I should lay off of Jason, and I mean it enough to apologize for most some of the jobbing I've done. He's done a good job so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the team reacts to him down the stretch.



I still mean that, though.