No Benoit, no problem, Eric Gryba is leading the B-Sens now

Though Head Coach Luke Richardson hasn’t come out and officially named Eric Gryba the new captain of the Binghamton Senators, it looks like the 3rd year pro & 2013 All Star has put in a pretty strong resume for the job.

Andre Benoit has not played a game with the B-Sens since January 11th vs. Adirondack Phantoms and is still second in team scoring with 9 goals & 16 assists for 25 points. And though Gryba’s 10 points with 5 goals & 5 assists through 36 games will not make up for Benoit’s scoring ability & touch; Gryba brings leadership through his defensive play and size on the ice.

With the B-Sens heading into game 46 vs. the Albany Devils at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Gryba leads the American Hockey League with a +26 and spoke about his play & the team at the All Star Classic in late January. “I’ve been happy with my season so far, it’s been a lot of hard work in the summer preparing for the season” Gryba said who was a +23 at the time of his appearance representing one of the league’s best defenses.

“It comes down to we’ve clicked right from the beginning, everyone’s on the same page, everyone’s playing together. No one is playing as individuals and that goes a long way.” Gryba continued about a team led by two former defenseman now coaching in Assistant Coach Steve Sterling and Head Coach Luke Richardson who played 18 years all in the National Hockey League and has gotten his squad playing team defense priority one.

Nothing could be better for Gryba then having a Head Coach who will preach team defense first, help all the young players with being more defensive reliable and allow the 3rd year pro playing the game that suits him which could land him a place on the Ottawa Senators defensive corp before the end of the shortened NHL season. “Yeah I am just down here working hard, waiting for the chance to go up there and show what I can do and make the best of it.”

Eric Gryba plays the game the right way, drops the gloves when needed, plays in front of his goaltender as a defensive defenseman, uses the big body in the right moments and can fire a shot from the blue line that if the All Star skills hardest shot runner-up with a 99.6 MPH shot does anything, shows he could and may all ready be the newest Captain of the B-Sens with or with out the “C” on his jersey.