I didn’t want to write this. I had no plans to write this. I was thinking of doing something about road games to plan a trip or two around.
But circumstances demand otherwise. The situation must be addressed.
What do you even say, though?
Everyone knew this defense was a major question mark – throughout the offseason, fans and pundits alike expected a trade that never came. We hoped that Ryan Murray would be a stabilizing influence (and for what it’s worth he’s clearly trying – it says a lot that he’s still got a 58% CF in all this.), but it’s clear the rest of the defense is, at best, struggling to cope right now, and the forward group that we hoped could score this team out of trouble on nights where the defense was overwhelmed hasn’t been able to deliver (though Brandon Saad has certainly been everything we hoped.)
And then there is Bob. What do we even say about Bob?
The only thing worse than watching his confidence visibly crumble last night was the fact that the coaching staff decided to leave him on the ice after the fourth Ottawa goal.
This is not the team we know. This is not the play that gave them such success last year. The whole thing is past bizarre and into a territory we can only call wrong.
But there is some solace out there for us, as unlikely as that seems.
Go take a look at the NHL standings. Sort them by division, by conference, or league wide, and you’ll see a truly baffling group in the bottom half of the table.
Boston with just one win? The Penguins and Kings in the same winless hole we’re found ourselves at the bottom of? The Anaheim Ducks, who brought an almost untouched roster back after being world beaters last year, languishing with a single point from an overtime loss?
We may be feeling like our team is the absolute worst right now, but we’ve got a lot of company down here.
Do I think this team can turn things around?
Yes. I believe that this roster has too much talent and potential to not find a way out of this situation, but it may take some pretty serious soul searching, and the longer this goes on, the greater the possibility of a major shake up behind the bench, in the locker room, or both.
We all like to say the Cup can’t be won in October, but it can be lost there – and there’s some truth to that – but it’s a young season. To call this team finished already is shortsighted. As tempting as that big, shiny, candylike panic button is, I don’t think it’s quite time to press it.
The team needs to find it’s confidence. They need to believe in themselves. They need to see things work.
And part of that is us believing in them, too.
Friday is another chance at redemption. Let’s see what happens.