Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle
After a full weekend to disconnect and remove the emotion from the disappointment, coming back into this thread and reading some of the broad brush statements and overall writing this team and it's key players off has become even more embarrassing to read.
Most of it is driven by unrealistic expectations of how good this team should have been in previous years, and grumpy old timers like myself who are just chomping to add to the pity party list of 30 years of "failure".
Changes are needed to this team, and they would have been even if we'd won this series. The nice thing is, clearly the GM was already on that page, and you can tell by some of the moves he tried to make over the last 12 months but wasn't able to (yes, it will be on him to find ways to do it).
But, the overall sentiment that this group has proven they can't win is such garbage. They haven't proven themselves to be losers yet, or winners though, they are still unproven, although I'd say trending very much in the right direction. Which is ok given they are young. 6 years ago, this was the organization in the NHL with the worst situation in regards to assets. In that time they've made the playoffs 3 times, won one playoff round as an underdog and won the regular season point total in the west. After this year, yes, you can also add to that list drastically under performed and caved to the pressure as a favorite in the first round. It's terribly disappointing. But the narrative that this young group has now proven they can't do it and complete wholesale changes are needed is a good 2 to 3 seasons premature and is a very painful overaction to one data point (with lots or stretches added in by fans to make it seem like there's a pattern).
I'll thank my lucky stars that people running the team aren't as dramatic as the fans on this board and will take measured approaches to helping this team get better in the off season, not tear something to the ground because of one bad playoff series they should have been better in.
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Well there are changes coming, whether you or I like it or not. And sorry but this groups core was no where close to being good enough that you bring them back unfettered, because the majority of the problem was with core guys.
Its merely deciding what those changes are, and how deep they go. Either way though, they are coming.