Syracuse, N.Y. -- Even before his title as new Syracuse Crunch captain was made official last week, Erik Condra showed his teammates what a true veteran move looks like.

Condra organized a team dinner and outing. There were plenty of options for a fun night out, but Condra made arrangements for a bowling tournament.

Hmmm.

"I think I'm the best bowler. That's why I set up bowling,'' he said.

Foresight is an important attribute for a captain. Turns out that his team, which also included Mike McNamee, Kevin Lynch and John Kurtz, won the competition, according to Condra.

Ultimately, though, if Condra turns out to be as good a captain as he is a hockey player and bowler, the whole Crunch team could be the a winner.

Condra, 30, was named on Friday as the team's second captain of the season. Its first, defenseman Luke Witkowski, was recalled to Tampa Bay in January and isn't coming back this year.

Since then, the Crunch had proceeded with a rotation of players wearing the 'A's. Tampa Bay assistant general manager Julien BriseBois initially said there was no plans to name a new captain. But the Crunch players and head coach Ben Groulx came around to the notion that one, indeed, might be helpful heading down the playoff stretch and into the postseason.

"There was so many callups, guys going up and down (from Tampa Bay), guys going up and down from the East Coast League,'' Groulx said Tuesday. "So at a certain point, there's so many different players on the team. I think at one point, you need people in the room to make everybody feel that, hey, this is our team, we're OK.''

Condra, who has never been a captain in the pros before, was the choice of a large group of veterans that voiced their support to Groulx. In a parallel move, defenseman Matt Taormina was named a permanent alternate.

"He's a person that you can trust. He's a player that you can trust,'' Groulx said of Condra. "I think our guys respect him. He's been around the playoffs in our league. He's a successful hockey player. I think for him it's a challenge. He's the type of person that we needed on our team to be our captain, our leader.''

Condra's biggest selling point for the job is his respect for the game. The NHL vet expected to spend this season with the Lightning but has handled a year filled with promotions and demotions with grace and productivity (12-27 in 44 games).

"I think once I realized I was going to be down here for the better part of the year, I took a little bit more ownership then. When you're not sure what team you're going to be on, you don't really want to step on any toes. But now that you're solidified for the most part down here, you take more ownership of that team, you buy in a little bit more,'' Condra said.

"I like to keep things loose. We're playing a game. We're having fun. I've found that's when you play your best, is when you're enjoying coming to work. I think I'm a personable guy. I talk to a lot of guys one-on-one, and outside of it. And then on the ice, you try and let your game do the talking. I'm not like a big rah-rah guy, but if it needs to be done I can try and get the guys going.''

It's an odd situation, to be sure. Captains usually start bridge-building at the beginning of the season, and take extra time to get a sense of the personalities of the new players.

But Condra, of course, already knows everyone on the team. He doesn't need to go around the room for new pep talks or sounding board sessions.

'C' or not, all the Crunch needs Condra to do is keep being himself.

"It hasn't been very much different,'' Condra said of his first few days on the job. "As you've seen more guys go up to the NHL, and we've had our team here now for the last few weeks that is going to be here until playoffs at least, I think me and Taormina have kind of taken the reins throughout the whole time. And I think we're going to continue to do that as a one-two leadership with a lot of support guys. That support group will be helpful and we'll kind of take the reins.

"I just think the biggest thing is keeping the team in a good spot, even keel, not too high, too low. You've got to keep guys excited going into the playoffs, but also even-keeled and ready for it.''