You've heard Howard Simon's pregame feature before every Sabres' game and now we'll make sure to post them on-line as well. Here's his thoughts on a trade that paved the way for the Sabres' success.
When the Sabres reached the conclusion they had to get rid of Alexander Mogilny, the question was what they could get back for the talented but enigmatic winger. The answer was two guys most of us hadn’t heard of and a first round draft pick. Now the pick turned out to be Jay McKee which worked out nicely. One of the players acquired was Mike Wilson who didn’t amount to much but the other guy coming over from the Canucks, Michael Peca, he was the guy to watch out for according to then General Manager John Muckler.
He told Sabres’ fans you’ll like this guy because other teams won’t. Muckler nailed the prediction. Despite an acrimonious end to his 5 year Sabres career due to a contract dispute, Peca was very popular and worked his way to the team’s captaincy. He recently announced his retirement from the NHL after a career that included 864 regular season games with vancouver, the Sabres, the Islanders, Edmonton, Toronto and Columbus. He finished with 176 goals and 465 points and won 2 Selke trophies as the league’s best defensive forward, the first coming as a Sabre in 1997. There were 2 appearances in the Stanley Cup finals…1999 with the Sabres and 2006 in Edmonton.
The former Sabre also earned a gold medal as a member of Team Canada in 2002. Peca was a guest on our morning show this week and we asked him what advice he would give first time Olympian Ryan Miller about playing in the games.
“Go and play your game. You can’t be a guy that is going to be a difference maker. The best players in the world are always the best at the toughest times because they just do what they do the best. Other people wind up regressing because they do a little but too much. I think Ryan Miller has one of the strongest mind in the game today.”
Like many former Sabres, Peca is calling Buffalo his post career home. He said the best friends he has in the world are all guys he played with on the Sabres.
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