Easy to forget that this team was not even a favorite for a playoff position starting this season.
This is what it looks like when a young team faces expectations for the first time. Pundits were basically unanimous in picking the Flames to advance, but Colorado has more playoff experience and outside of a miserable middle 1/3rd of the season, due almost completely to goaltending, were a top 5 team.
Remember when people said Datsyuk and Zetterberg just weren’t built for playoff hockey in ‘04? That wasn’t their first kick at the can either, and that followed them around for years. They figured it out.
Too early to say Mony and Johnny will never be able to elevate their game, but that knock on them is clearly established at this point. Time for them to figure it out.
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