With yet another lost season winding down, what is something you as a poster were sure would happen this year that was the absolute opposite of your expectation? Think back to how some reacted to the Greenway deal or Luukkonen still being in net or Ryan Johnson's intentions or what have you.
Mine? That Pat Kane was washed. That guy looked so cooked and had a surgery that nobody has come back from to produce at a high level and yet, he's doing it with the Wings. I admit, I was wrong.
Just as a note, grandstanding on some hot take will probably get deleted. You want to take a victory lap on something, this isn't it. This is looking at what was held as so and turned out to be diametrically different in outcome.
The Thompson line would at least maintain their 2022 numbers
the PP would be a consistent benefit for a team that struggles into a defensive shell
Really my expectations were for another wildly inconsistent season with slightly better goaltending and penalty kill, slightly worse production from the thompson line and better production from the cozens line. That combined with consistent play from the PP led me to believe that they would finish 4 points higher than last season and make the playoffs.
Quinn never played, cozens has had a tough year, and the Thompson line has been an outright failure. But the PP. In the decades of mediocre PP this one is possibly the most pathetic version. Im traditionally soft on the coach hate. I dont think coaches in hockey are anywhere near as important to a hockey team as the other major sports. The performance of the PP and the outright refusal to do anything to change it, I would have fired donny in december. I would have fired donny after CBJ. I would have fired donny after the harrington no salute bull shit.
the outright failure of donny to keep this team progressing was the biggest thing i was wrong about
but I also want to own that I said trying to teach this roster to play defense was a fools errand and completely waste of what talent existed on the roster, you were never going to get this group to play like the bruins in 1 season, when these guys think they fail, when they are moving on instinct they blow people over. all these players that were consistently useless finally all found success by just playing offense, why people thought asking them to go back to traditional hockey was a good idea is beyond me
@Chainshot ive edited this thing about 8 times if you want to disclaim your thumbs up