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Better Captain? Peca or Drury?


bob_sauve28

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Eh, I don't know ... I love Drury, but Peca was obviously a great captain at the time. They are different guys for different teams. There's no way to tell how that team would have responded to Drury or how this team would have responded to Peca when he was younger, willing and able to throw his body around like he used to.

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That's a no brainer for me, Drury is just a smarter guy and a better leader.

 

Based upon what? Have you seen their test scores or something? Peca always impressed me as articulate and intelligent (as does Drury). He also seemed to lead with more emotion, which worked for that team. Drury seems to lead with reserve, which seems to work for the present team. How can we say one is a better captain than the other, much less "smarter" or a "better leader?"

 

I guess we could ask Jay McKee or Lindy Ruff.

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Peca was handed the captaincy from criminals as a negotiation tactic and preceeded to split the dressing room. He scheduled his wedding for the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals and refused to move it with the Sabres very much in contention. He went on to cause problems in the NY Islander dressing room and Oiler fans are already fed up with him. I wonder when the myth of Peca's leadership skills will finally go away...

 

Drury by a country mile.

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Peca was handed the captaincy from criminals as a negotiation tactic and preceeded to split the dressing room. He scheduled his wedding for the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals and refused to move it with the Sabres very much in contention. He went on to cause problems in the NY Islander dressing room and Oiler fans are already fed up with him. I wonder when the myth of Peca's leadership skills will finally go away...

 

Drury by a country mile.

 

Sorry but that is a LOT of revisionist history ...

How he got the captaincy is beside the point ... while he was captain, they went to the conference finals and the Cup finals. Yes Hasek deserves much of the credit, but someone kept people playing hard when he pulled his crap, and it certainly wasn't the insane goalie ...

As for his wedding do you REALLY think he would have skipped a game in the Stanley Cup Finals to get married? Come on ... they probably scheduled it a year in advance, did ANYONE think that team had a finals run in it before the season? It's not like after Game 5 of the Washington series his fiance said, "How's June 5, honey?" and he said, "Sure, I got nothin' goin on." They shouldn't have been looking ahead to the Finals anyway.

And what happened in NY and Edmonton is irrelevant ... it's like saying OJ was not a good running back for the Bills because he sucked in SF and went on to become a murderer (allegedly) ...

Does he lose some juice for holding out an entire season ... sure, but you said yourself he was dealing with criminals who tried to lowball him ...he's still human ... he took a stand and has to live with the consequences.

Peca still accomplished a lot as captian of that team ... I like Drury better too, but it's too early to say he is a better captain of the Sabres.

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Peca was handed the captaincy from criminals as a negotiation tactic and preceeded to split the dressing room. He scheduled his wedding for the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals and refused to move it with the Sabres very much in contention. He went on to cause problems in the NY Islander dressing room and Oiler fans are already fed up with him. I wonder when the myth of Peca's leadership skills will finally go away...

 

Drury by a country mile.

I don't know that the wedding thing can be held against him, especially because it never got to the point that it was actually an issue. The finals ended in '97 (June 7) before they even began in '98 (June 9). Except for the lockout season, the playoffs never ended later than June 14. The odds that he and his wife were thinking that the playoffs would stretch even further toward the Summer than they had previously probably weren't too high.

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This is a tough question because at the time, we all thought Peca was a great leader. Now, we feel the same way about Drury. So heres my analysis.

 

Whether it was pitching his team to the Little League World Series or helping the Avs win a Stanley Cup, theres no doubt Drury is a leader, winner and breeds success. He's a "Hockey God" (or whatever John Buccigross calls him on ESPN). He wasn't afraid to call out Miro or speak his mind on other issues regarding the team. He causes a stir when the team plays bad (after the Flames game) and this year's team is in the mold of him. He freaking had the team install a picture of the Stanley Cup in the dressing room. How can you not like that guy and rally around him?

 

I loved Peca. As a season ticket holder at the time, I hated that the Sabres didn't pay him and I despised the trade for 2 unknowns from NYI. Peca was a great penalty killer, open ice hitter, and showed flashes of offensive ability. However, the Sabres of the late 90's were a wayward ship with their goaltender saving the bacon. There were many listless performances and many times when the team waited for a trade to be made so they could "flip the switch" and start playing well again. It always seemed that those teams needed to be coaxed to play well.

 

With all that being said, my vote is for Chris Drury. I can't wait for this stretch run.

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That's a no brainer for me, Drury is just a smarter guy and a better leader.

 

 

I know Drury's play has been very good as of late. But let's not forget his first season plus a 1/4 of this season was a huge let down. He was a no show during the stretch run last season.

 

I would say Peca by far has more under his belt as a Sabre then Drury. I know Drury is the new toy and it's easy to forget what past players have done.

 

I think a better comparison would be to Stu Barnes. They are pretty much the same player with Barnes being a bit better in the offensive zone and Drury in the defensive zone.

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I know Drury's play has been very good as of late. But let's not forget his first season plus a 1/4 of this season was a huge let down. He was a no show during the stretch run last season.

 

I would say Peca by far has more under his belt as a Sabre then Drury. I know Drury is the new toy and it's easy to forget what past players have done.

 

I think a better comparison would be to Stu Barnes. They are pretty much the same player with Barnes being a bit better in the offensive zone and Drury in the defensive zone.

 

I think everyone has a transition phase when they move to a new team. especially one thats not successful... just look at pyatt and connolly... yes there alot younger but it makes sense... they took alot of time to finally come into there own in buffalo.

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I think everyone has a transition phase when they move to a new team. especially one thats not successful... just look at pyatt and connolly... yes there alot younger but it makes sense... they took alot of time to finally come into there own in buffalo.

 

 

That is correct sir. :D

 

There is a good chance Drury will end being a better Captain then Peca. As of right now Drury's Sabre resume is incomplete so any comparison at this point maybe a bit unfair.

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