Memory Monday

When I decided to start this series, this forthcoming entry topped the list of planned topics to memorialize. Then, for reasons which will soon be quite clear, I put off having to write it. But it's becoming obvious that I'm going to have to write it sooner or later, and it may as well be sooner. It will be much healthier to just get this out of my system and move on. So, here goes...

I sort of casually paid attention to last off-season. I knew the kind of moves the Sabres were making, who was staying and who was going, but I wasn't obsessively checking the newspaper and the internets for the most up-to-date news. (In retrospect, I think I was much better off stuck in that mind-set, but there's nothing I can do about that now.) As far as departures go, I had mixed reactions. Pyatt needed to go (even though he was and still is the hottest hockey player I've ever seen), Dumont and Grier were gone but not really mourned, and even though McKee was bordering on heartbreak-territory (he would've been a True Sabre to the very end, if we'd given him the chance, poor guy), it was all tempered by the fact that Danny Briere was returning. My team was to have two captains again. I didn't pay attention to the cynics who were predicting that his one-year deal spelled disaster for the following summer (just like I'm plugging my ears to the noise that Brian Campbell will be a hot item on next year's UFA market... LALALALA), I was just happy to have my co-captains back. Now, it's true that things didn't really work out for the best in the end, but if I tried to pretend that I didn't love them while it lasted, then I would be a big, fat liar. So, over the next two Mondays, I'll be paying tribute to my favorite moment from the past season with each of my captains. First up:

Danny Briere - The NHL All-Star Game

Okay, on the one hand, I guess it says a lot about my level of love for Briere (not to mention his vitalness to the Sabres) that the best of all the memories I could come up with was an exhibition match that didn't matter what-so-ever, but on the other hand, this really is the most fitting. Danny is one of the New NHL's biggest success stories. In the Old NHL, he was still skilled, but way too undersized to really make anything of it, and while I don't completely buy that he never thought he was going to make it to the All-Star Game, I bet that when he was struggling in Phoenix, nothing seemed further away. Then, when the rules changed at just the right time, and he found himself in an offensive system in Buffalo that really showcased his talent, he started shining like an All-Star. I was happy not only to see him in the All-Star line-up, but in the line-up by fan vote. It showed him that he was no longer unnoticed and unappreciated; Buffalo fans were vocal, and willing to stand behind him. Still, in the weeks leading up to the game, the only story lines were about Briere's fan-voted linemates Sid Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, and how, due to last year's Winter Olympics, this was to be their first shot at the All-Star Game. The youngsters were the undisputed superstars of the Conference and the League, and in their presence, Danny just seemed like "The Other Guy." But when game-time came around, he made everyone look dumb. Sid and Ovie got one point between them, while Briere (on a different line) netted the first goal of the night and then added four assists to skate away with MVP honors, and the car keys that came with it.

Now, does this prove that Briere is a better player than Crosby or Ovechkin? Not a chance. But I couldn't help but admire the way he went in and quietly stole the show from the Young Guys and Big Stories. He just did his job, like all of the Buffalo voters had asked him to, and graciously accepted the award that was given to him for his efforts. And I just loved him for it. This isn't to say that this was necessarily the hockey high point of his season, but it was the one moment that I remember feeling most potently proud that he was my captain. So thank you for that, Danny.

To be continued next week, but Chris Drury-er.