"It was really special the way that they did it with my family there," Okposo said.
Sabres coach Don Granato discussed the timing of the captaincy after practice.
"We could've named him captain a long time ago," Granato said. "It's way better for all fans and for people to actually see what we saw was going to happen with him. Rather than try to appoint a guy right away, I think everybody now has seen enough of Kyle to realize that this is the right move for our organization. That I'm real proud of.
"It's not like we just named him captain. Because we could've done that a year ago, and I don't think that would've been right. I love the way we did it and just let everybody see our team, get to know our team and get to know this guy, Kyle, specifically in that type of a role. So, it was a bit of a wait, but it's well worth it, I believe."
Read more about Okposo and how he earned the captaincy here, and hear from his teammates in the video below.
Video: Teammates on why Okposo is a great leader
Video: PRACTICE REPORT: Dahlin's Leadership
Here are more notes from Monday's practice at KeyBank Center.
1. Granato was asked whether Okposo will be ready to play in the season opener against Ottawa on Thursday.
"He's in a yellow jersey, which means no contact, but I don't think that was a no-contact practice for him," Granato said. "He was fully engaged. So very encouraging. Obviously, knowing him, no secret he's going to want to Thursday and I'm probably going to be conscious of that based on the fact that he's still where he's at now with the yellow jersey on. But we'll cross that bridge when we have to."
Video: AFTER PRACTICE: Granato
2. The deadline for NHL teams to submit their 23-man rosters is 5 p.m. on Monday. The Sabres' list will include rookie forwards Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka.
General manager Kevyn Adams confirmed that Quinn and Peterka will open the season in Buffalo. Both appeared in five of the Sabres' six preseason games after earning All-Rookie selections in the AHL last season.
"I think the body of work that Peterka] and Jack Quinn had in Rochester last year helped us feel comfortable that they're ready to take this step," Adams said.
[Video: KEVYN ADAMS
3. Here's how the Sabres lined up for practice:
| October 10 |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 22 Jack Quinn | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 77 JJ Peterka |
| 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| 15 Anders Bjork | | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| LD | RD | G |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 31 Eric Comrie |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
| 20 Lawrence Pilut | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | |
