Quote:
Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee
These guys were finally gelling before the Christmas break, but now 3 losses since then.
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i'm not sure they were gelling or if they had a bit of a streak getting some starters back - including their starting goaltender - and then settled back down into the team norm.
i don't think there's enough there to gell - it's the team itself from ownership through management that still believes this team - year after year after year - is the heir to the glory years teams of the 80's simply by donning the sweater (ignoring the constant screwing around with the sweaters and colours year after year in order to make a few more bucks) and without having to earn that legacy each and every night.
when it's handed to them instead of their having to earn it, that legacy has no value. as much as i enjoyed last season's run, i'm afraid it will be the next once in a decade exception that proves the rule. just as the exception that proved the rule last decade was the 2006 team that lucked it's way to the cup finals - a season that took the team a decade to start to recover from because there was a belief they actually deserved to be there even though they didn't have to work to get there and didn't have the talent or the work ethic to get back there. last year's team had the talent but still had to rely on a goaltender's season long streak to get them as far as they did. and they've clearly demonstrated this year that they still don't have a strong enough work ethic from the first period drop of the puck to the end of the game to be considered torchbearers of that 80's legacy. no-one associated with those teams from ownership to management to the players themselves would have put up with how this team continues to play the game.
i hope they turn it around because i believe there is enough talent in the room but sometimes i think we celebrate the talent too much and the media seems willing too willing to do the same thing as management and fans. unfortunately, out of that trifecta, there's only one group - the fans - who are expected to continue to pay for the privilege of. the more expensive that becomes, the more i wonder how long it will last... how many in attendance last night - once again - looked at their ticket stubs and wondered else they could have done and enjoyed that much more for that much money.