Commentary
Pominville, Roy deserve credit for leadership roles
MATT KRUEGER Sports Reporter
There's no denying Chris Drury and Daniel Briere were the heart and soul of the Buffalo Sabres the past two seasons. And seeing them walk out the door for the greener pastures of New York and Philadelphia served as a huge kick in the gut for the team.

But two more skaters have responded to the need for leadership on the ice and in the locker room. When the team is down, you can count on one of them to make an important play or score the big goal.

That's why Jason Pominville and Derek Roy should be commended for their work this season. It's not just about goals, assists, points and plus/minus ratings. Pominville and Roy are the go-to guys on the team, the ones to fill the roles left vacant by Drury and Briere. In a disappointing season, those two stars have shone brightest.

Pominville and Roy not only lead the team in points - Pominville has 78 and Roy has 77 through Sunday's win over Boston - they take the responsibility of answering all questions, hard and soft, from the media on a daily basis. They don't shy away from interviews after a troubling loss. They stand front and center and answer each question as honestly as they can, without sugar-coating anything.

Pominville and Roy, known to their teammates as Pommer and Royzie, have been such stand-up players this year, I'm making the case that one or both of them should be named the captain for next season. Pominville ratcheted up his game while serving as the team captain for the month of March with eight goals and 11 assists in 14 games. In that same stretch, when the team was playing do-or-die hockey and needed players to step up, Roy, who served as alternate captain for the month, tallied six goals and 13 assists. They played their best hockey at the end of the season, when the team needed it the most. That's the sign of leadership.

Maybe it's appropriate those two were both selected in the second round of the 2001 NHL Draft. They pair up nicely.

While we're handing out accolades for the Sabres, let's give a hearty "that a boy" to rookie defenseman Mike Weber. In 13 games, Weber has posted a plus-14 rating. He and fellow call-up Andrej Sekara (plus-five in 34 games) have been a wonderful surprise on the blue line and have played well enough to become full-time Sabres next year.

It would be easy to pile on Thomas Vanek for underachieving this year. The $10-million man fell well short of last year's performance when he had 43 goals, 41 assists and an NHL-best plus-47. But the expectations for Vanek, who is tied with the Ranger's Scott Gomez and Briere as the highest-paid players in the league this year, were monumental. He would have had to improve greatly over last year's fantastic numbers for most fans to think he earned his paycheck. His numbers this year (32 goals, 28 assists, minus-five) don't make for a bad season. But not matching last year's output after signing such a large contract, makes him a target.

One player who deserves the criticism is Maxim Afinogenov, whose minus-14 rating is the worst on the team. Afinogenov, who holds the longest tenure in Buffalo with eight seasons, has just 10 goals and 17 points this year, a drastic fall from last year's 61-point performance.

Afinogenov will be a free agent after next season, so don't be surprised to see him traded.