This year, the Buffalo Sabres celebrate 40 years in the National Hockey League and their captaincy has been filled with characters, twists, turns, and everything in between. For you sticklers about captains, the Sabres have had thirteen captains in their history and two years in which the captaincy was rotated amongst players (more on that later).
The inaugural year for the Sabres was headed up by Floyd Smith, who held it just for that year. The following season, Gerry Meehan was named captain and held it until 1974, when Jim Schoenfeld assumed captain duties. In his time as captain, which ended in 1977, there were no referees being told to have another doughnut. Danny Gare followed and his ability to score, as well as mix it up, made him a fan favorite in his time in Buffalo. He relinquished the captain duties in 1981 to another Sabres favorite Gilbert Perreault. The all-time leading scorer in Sabres history was also the original Sabre, as he was the team's first ever draft pick. In 1986, he gave up the captain duties to current Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who held the captaincy until 1989, when Mike Foligno and the "Foligno leap" was named captain. The 1990-91 season saw the team go without a captain. The following season, it was Mike Ramsey's turn to wear the C, and after the season, it was Pat LaFontaine who donned the captain's C. He held the C until 1997 and was briefly spelled in the 1993-94 season by Alexander Mogilny while he was injured. Unfortunately for LaFontaine, injuries would derail a solid career. 1997 saw a new captain in Michael Peca, who oversaw the team's Stanley Cup run in 1999. A contract dispute after the 1999-2000 season saw the captain's C taken from Peca, as not only did he play without a contract for the 2000-2001 season, it also meant that the Sabres went without a captain for that season as well. Peca's trade after that season saw a new captain in Stu Barnes. He held court until 2003. For the 2003-2004 season, the Sabres went with a rotating captain system that saw (in order) Miroslav Satan, Chris Drury, James Patrick, Jean-Pierre Dumont, Daniel Briere, and Drury again wear the C during the season. From 2005 through 2007, the captaincy was bounced between Drury and Briere, with Drury wearing the C during home games and Briere being captain during road games. After both left in 2007, the captaincy was once again rotated amongst players for the 2007-2008 season. This time, (in order) Jochen Hecht, Toni Lydman, Brian Campbell, Jaroslav Spacek, Hecht again, and Jason Pominville donned the captain's C during the year. Beginning in 2008, Craig Rivet was named captain of the Sabres, which has, for now, stopped the revolving door at captain.
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