I posit that when you can write down on a piece of paper what someone is going to say, maybe it's because the team is getting it wrong and keeps getting it wrong.
I think it's a major issue that deserves the coverage it's getting on here. We're not exactly flush with center prospects. We could really use one of Andersson or Howden being a player. One of them is still being rewarded for doing the wrong things. The other, on the complete opposite side of the coin, can't seem to get a break with this coach. Both are wrong and both are alarming.
Again, there comes a point where the conversations become predictable because the stupid **** the team does is predictable.
I don't think it's a widespread conversation. It's literally being driven by the same people who always do that with one or two guys. If we moved Howden tomorrow, and he never played another game for the Rangers, everyone on here can expect that someone else will be put into that position and it will be the same handful of people doing it.
I can almost guarantee that I could put down several names on a piece of paper today, place the paper in a sealed envelope, and if Howden was moved in the offseason, those people would pick another player, put him in that same position, and make almost identical comments this time next.
It would be a completely different player. Could be a completely different position. Play a different style of game. You name it. The comments would look almost identical.
Why? Because that's what they do. That's what everyone knows they do. That's what they'd do if we had the best team in hockey.
That's what they've done, that's what they bring to the table, and that's probably what they will always bring to the table. Eventually, most of them fade away when they realize most people aren't listening. And then someone new comes and does the exact. same. thing.