Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathgod
Wow, we're really grasping at straws here, aren't we?
- Getting panic in the figurative sense (intensely worried/anxious that this could be another lost season due in large part to goaltending) confused with the literal sense (frantic screaming, throwing around objects, running in the streets, and whatever else).
- Making excuses for an .889 save % goaltender coming off a brutal playoff series. Ignore the numbers because oh look, he made a quality save here or there. And for some reason he deserves a free pass on goals where he mishandles the puck behind the net.
- Claiming that I want the team to fail, when I actually spend every moment of my existence hoping that they succeed.
The bottom line is this, if Markstrom doesn't soon get back to something close to what he showed last year sans the Edmonton series, and/or he collapses in the playoffs again, it's going to be another lost season while the team is in win-now mode. We're basically at the quarter pole of this season and he still hasn't shown me that the Edmonton series was an aberration and not indicative of the type of goaltender he really is. When you look at his body of work this season and compare it to goalies on other teams that have Cup aspirations, the contrast is quite stark.
My question to all of you is, if Marky doesn't turn things around, who does the team turn to for stability in net? Vladar is a solid backup but not starter material (his numbers this year are actually worse than Marky's), and Wolf is not yet ready to be the starting goalie for an NHL team (unless he's secretly a Price-level talent). No team can seriously compete for a Stanley Cup without decent goaltending. There's signs that, perhaps, we might not have it.
And to me, yes that does warrant some level of panic.
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But it doesn’t, because it’s hockey and as a fan you “panicking” in the figurative or literal sense has no effect on what occurs with the team. The only effect it has is a negative one on you.
Nobody is “grasping at straws.” Stop being so desperate to make this some serious debate. It’s not. It’s a casual conversation. If you care about winning it, go find a better hobby, or come back down to earth and discuss things like a human being. I don’t get why some of you guys get so worked up about hockey opinions. It’s for fun. It’s a game.
- “Making excuses for a 0.889% goaltender coming off a brutal playoff series”: Nobody is. We’re watching a player and seeing him play better and make less of the mistakes he was making earlier. Good things. A bad puck play behind the net is different than letting in a soft goal. One is something that doesn’t really happen to goalies on their game, the other is a mistake that can happen to any goaltender. “If I have to explain why…” etc.
- “Claiming that I want the team to fail, when I actually spend every moment of my existence hoping that they succeed”: You have a weird way of showing it but if that’s true good for you, as that’s a lot of time hoping for something. I also want the team to succeed, but people who panic/worry/are overly negative and look for the faults in everything tend to come off like they’re looking to have their negative prophecy fulfilled. Like, you may hope the Flames do well, but you’re probably so negative because at least you’ll feel better about having been right, right? Maybe whether you realise it or not. I’d rather hope the Flames do well and look like an idiot when they don’t. It’s a lot more fun.
- “he still hasn't shown me that the Edmonton series was an aberration”: Cool, again, it’s fine if he hasn’t shown you that. Maybe he has shown other people that, or maybe people see signs he’s on the right track at least. None of it weighs any more than anything else. Dismissing evidence that isn’t good enough to
you doesn’t mean anything to anyone but you. And it’s fine if you want to share that, but categorizing other people’s opinions as “making excuses” is silly.
- “Marky doesn't turn things around, who does the team turn to for stability in net?”: No one from the looks of it. But he’ll probably turn it around and it’ll be too late for us if he doesn’t, so why worry? Maybe Wolf could surprise? But again, this is not reason to panic (which is always the wrong response). Best we can do is celebrate signs of life and hope he returns to form.