You're rendering the word choke meaningless.
To each his own.
Posted this last week:
12-13: 3rd worst team in the league with 15 games remaining. Go 10-5-0 to end the season.
End up drafting 11th.
13-14: Worst start in franchise history losing 7 of their 1st 8 games and 11 of their first 14.
Make the playoffs on the back of miraculous late season heroics by Giroux/Mason/Couts/Schenn (lol).
Lose to eventual conference champs (NYR) in heartbreaking 7 game series as 8th seed.
14-15: Another garbage start (8-13-4). 13!!!! regulation losses thru first 25 games. This time they dont recover.
Reluctant semi-tank down the stretch nets us Provorov at 7th.
15-16: Lackluster start (6-9-5) offset by more Giroux/Mason heroics helped by Neuvirth and young Ghost.
Grab 8th seed again only to get slaughtered by the Caps.
16-17: 10 game win streak buoys their "best" start in years (9-8-3)....
and then is immediately followed by a stretch of 12 losses out of fifteen (3-9-3).
No playoffs yet somehow they reverse-tank (7-3-2) grabbing 16 of a possible 24 points down the stretch which due to pure lottery luck nets us Patrick @ 2nd overall.
17-18: 10 game losing streak followed by awesome stretch (26-8-2) only to get clobbered by the Pens as the 6th seed.
18-19: 2nd worst team in the league at the half way point (15-22-6). Are briefly the worst team in the league in mid-January. Jack/Kakk well in reach. Then go off (18-6-2) only to still miss because too little too late.
What conclusions can we draw?
****I have to think the people wanting playoffs and not a tank and purge to really get to the bottom of the problem are simply gluttons for punishment.
What talent? After they traded Schenn, they had Giroux, Voracek and Couts.
Provorov, Ghost, Sanheim, TK have been works in progress.
Patrick just showed up last year, Lindblom at the end of last year, JVR this fall, Hart and Myers this spring.
Talent, especially depth and experience on defense, has been the issue for 7 years.
The Blackhawks had Kane, Toews, Keith and collapsed under Q when the depth deteriorated as players aged and the goalies went south.
A few stars can't carry a team, you need a TEAM.
Look at the runs we've gone on in recent years, despite the worst coaches imaginable.
We've had the top end talent to go with almost any team. Its depth and scheme that hurt them yes but also
consistency.
I never expected Giroux-Voracek-Couts to win a Cup by themselves.
When you continually stumble out the gate and the problem spans 4 different coaches i think the mediocrity of this whole era needs to be shouldered by the coaches yes but also Hextall, Homer, and the core itself