Comes down to fans of a team just not wanting to admit that they are or may be a last place team. The only problem I've seen is, I've seen more Erie fans take offense to it then most teams.
Also to the poster who said those 4 50 win seasons sure did chap some people.....they didn't. If you want me to be quite honest, most fans around the league where happy for Erie. Those where 4 well constructed teams. Those teams where cleanly built. People don't just hate you because you win. And to your other comment about how other people want to see you finish in the basement, again why?
If you ask me and it was well documented in my predictions post, there is nothing that currently separates Erie from teams like Sarnia, Kitchener, Flint. If Soo decides to sell off add them as well. Any one of those 3 and possibly 4 teams could finish last and it shouldn't shock anyone. Even Guelph missed the playoffs twice in a rebuild and in the 2nd year had guys like Liam Hawel, Nate Schnarr, Isaac Ratcliffe, Garrett McFadden, Ryan Merkley and Givani Smith which if you ask me is a lot more then what Erie currently has.
Erie has pieces to be excited about. Drysdale is going to be a stud. Sproule is a future leader. Golod is going to improve, So much so that I think he gets selected next year in the nHL Draft, Fowler will get better, Poddubnyi will get better. The rest is a lot of "what ifs" if you ask me.
Overall, for fans like me who loved making trips down to Erie, eating at the olive garden and then being part of the post game honkers club lol, sitting in an arena with probably the best, loudest fans in the league, I wouldn't be shocked to see Erie maybe slip into the 8th spot, I also wouldn't be surprised if they finished last. If teams like Sarnia and Kitchener where getting 100% gutted I would say yes Erie should take a leap this year, but those teams still have pieces that allow them to hover in the 6-10 area.