Quote:
Originally Posted by Icon
I'm not so sure about that. I think expectation levels for the team will have died off enough that there'll be no reason to be pointing any fingers at anyone (except maybe management for not rebuilding sooner). To accuse a guy of underperforming his contract when there's really not a realistic goal to aspire to is like yelling at a rock for not growing when you water it.
That said, there will of course be some who just look at the stats & salary and point fingers I suppose... just won't have as much backing as when it's looking at a team that's underperforming as a whole & looking for reasons.
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I think that regardless of anyone's expectations for the team, guys that under-perform - especially in terms of effort through this rebuild - will always be whipping boys.
Bouwmeester became a whipping boy here at some point. Last season, he was finally playing great, and he stopped being that guy. Same story with Stajan. After Iginla was traded, Tanguay turned into the biggest whipping boy, and rightfully so.
As a fan, I don't expect this team to finish high. I expect them to finish in the bottom 3 or so next season. However, my expectations for the individual players on this team moving forward is to provide entertainment, provide value to the team, and provide a lot of effort out there and live up to their contracts as best as possible. That will always be my expectations for the players, irregardless of my expectations for the team.