Frustration thread

[predfan98]

I think it's the pp and the system we are playing now.
This is not a strong "we're coming down the ice as 5" and forechecking team.
They look out of sorts, and that stupid "let's pass backward and stop all forward momentum" play.
Frankly I'm shocked when we score....

This system seems flukey and disorganized, and so do the players.

Frankly the only thing we excel at is video challenges.

 

[GeauxPreds1]

I've been optimistic these last 2 months that we could turn it on during the playoffs. When we got granlund and Simmonds I was stoked. I'm just sick and tired of watching a team with all this talent look so pedestrian. I cant remember the last time they put together a dominant performance. I'm beyond frustrated with this team

 

[Maurice of Orange]

So frustrating

Da bubbles!

It’s frustrating....

 

[Drake744]

There are 21 teams below us in the standings which is.....odd.

 

[Scoresberg]

Fix the powerplay and this team can beat anyone in the playoffs.

If it continues to be hot garbage we most certainly get eliminated in round 1.

 

[King Weber]

Fix the powerplay and this team can beat anyone in the playoffs.

If it continues to be hot garbage we most certainly get eliminated in round 1.

I don't have any stats to back this up, but to me it's looked better since we got Boyle. Feels like now it's just down to pure luck, or lack there of. The optimist in me believes that the proverbial ketchup bottle is about explode somewhere down the stretch, and continues into the playoffs.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

I don't have any stats to back this up, but to me it's looked better since we got Boyle. Feels like now it's just down to pure luck, or lack there of. The optimist in me believes that the proverbial ketchup bottle is about explode somewhere down the stretch, and continues into the playoffs.

i admire your optimism. i don't have it.

 

[Enjoy i24 Traffic]

I think the mystique of our home crowd has been dwindling for awhile. It goes hand in hand with the changing demographics of the ticket buyers the more the city changes. People still go but I don't think the average fan is anywhere near as passionate as they used to be. Whether it's because they're new to town and/or hockey and don't know about how it used to be or just going with friends as an event or whatever, the crowd just seems different these days and isn't really some magical building anymore.

The arena has been getting quieter over the last decade and it's clear that they've chased off the early fans or they've just moved on. It was also more fun to cheer as the underdogs and most of the games under Trotz were +/- 1 goal grinds. And then this year you have no confidence that they can come back from any deficit.

 

[Pred303]

i do agree the atmosphere in the arena is much different than it was the first 10 odd years. which was of course inevitable. Hard to verbalize the enthusiasm of those original fans who were there when we were absolutely awful at first who by year 5 had grown into medocre, and then by years 8-10 when morphed into a really good team. Those same hardcore fans who were rewarded by that progress are honestly what made our arena special. Most of those (us) are gone now, in a natural cycle of change of a fanbase. The average fan we have now, came along or became an adult during the time we were already good and their expecvtations are totally different. Add in the fact that we had virtually no corporate tickets the first ten years or so, and now probably 1/4 to 1/2 of the lower bowl is filled with corporate seats and you become what every other fanbase is. Which is basically where we are now.

 

[FossilFndr]

In previous seasons the commentators would mention "the crowd stood up cheering on the team all through that time out" , talk about "the 7th man" or maybe that was a bank ad. But they referred to the crowd support routinely. This year I don't recall much if any of that. I turn off games, winning or losing, before the Preds first star interview so maybe they comment on how great the crowd was and how much that helped them during the game.

So you STH's, do you notice a significant difference in arena support?
Seems absurd as I type it but is it exactly the change in fan base that at least exacerbates the on ice mediocrity?

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

In previous seasons the commentators would mention "the crowd stood up cheering on the team all through that time out" , talk about "the 7th man" or maybe that was a bank ad. But they referred to the crowd support routinely. This year I don't recall much if any of that. I turn off games, winning or losing, before the Preds first star interview so maybe they comment on how great the crowd was and how much that helped them during the game.

So you STH's, do you notice a significant difference in arena support?
Seems absurd as I type it but is it exactly the change in fan base that at least exacerbates the on ice mediocrity?

The arena has no doubt changed since it peaked in 15-16 IMO. It's a significantly more corporate feel which makes sense given the numbers posted above, the team is selling a ton more corporate tickets than in the past. In the lower bowl I've noticed a decent number of people come in at the first intermission, drink 3 or 4 cocktails and take a few selfies and then leave halfway through the 3rd period. You've got probably 25% of the lower bowl who is just there to spectate and doesn't really care about the outcome of the game one way or the other. That makes a noticeable impact on the crowd noise especially as viewed on TV. The upper level still brings it IMO. The last bastion of the old guard Preds fan. Of course you also tend to have a lot of first timers and visiting fans up there on weekend games.

 

[LCPreds]

I’ve just decided to stop caring until the playoffs. Seems the team is of the same mindset. Not sure what else to do since the alternative is to be highly annoyed for the next month.

 

[drwpreds]

I believe I saw someone post that the team is 0 - 5 the last five Saturday home games. In Smashville. Do I need to go find the Hitchcock quote about playing in Nashville on a Saturday night? Preds have completely lost that mystique.

I think the quality of home play and that Sat. night record is a fire-able offense.

I was literally going to post this exact same thing- lol.

I can confirm the Saturday record- as many of you know we are in Birmingham and have to make a 7 hour round trip drive for any game we go to, so we obviously can't make every game. So right now we have seen 5 straight losses- an all time record streak for us. If you think it stinks watching loss after loss in person, try having to drive 7 hours just to witness it............

UGGGHHHH

That game Saturday was just complete misery. From the first minute we took about 1,000 penalties so it pretty much sucked from the get go. Then fall behind 2-0 and just chase the game the whole time.
I basically sat there ticked off the whole night. Even when we scored I never got excited- it almost ticked me off that we would finally score, but only after we were behind by 2. How about scoring when the game is tied??? How about scoring when you are down 1?? How about scoring consecutive goals, something we almost never are able to do?????

 

[Drake744]

In previous seasons the commentators would mention "the crowd stood up cheering on the team all through that time out" , talk about "the 7th man" or maybe that was a bank ad. But they referred to the crowd support routinely. This year I don't recall much if any of that. I turn off games, winning or losing, before the Preds first star interview so maybe they comment on how great the crowd was and how much that helped them during the game.

So you STH's, do you notice a significant difference in arena support?
Seems absurd as I type it but is it exactly the change in fan base that at least exacerbates the on ice mediocrity?

It doesn't have to do with on ice mediocrity. A lot of people who go to games now don't really correlate with the "fan base", they probably hear their friends talk about how it's a fun time so they want to participate. Or they go a few times a year as a purely social event. These people don't know what the standing Os are, or who Tootoo is on his night back, and all that is fine. I'm not trying to rip on people it's just the way it is. The Preds are a trendy event in town. The crowd reflects that. Despite how "bad" us hardcore fans think we are, we're a small percentage of those who go. We average something like 101 percent attendance a game and they've started to check standing room tickets on weeknights. The new influx of people at games aren't leaving the building and bitching about the power play, they're just there to have fun and hang out before they go to Broadway. I think the lower bowl is more corporate than it used to be and the upper bowl is more the younger crowd who weren't going in the past.

 

[Pred303]

have a friend who brings his 11 year old son to the games. after saturday he turned to his dad and said, "hey dad you remember that time we came to a game and we won?"

 

[drwpreds]

I literally dread every home game, whether I am there or not. I have 100 times more confidence when we are on the road than at Bridgestone.

 

[RickP]

I don't have any stats to back this up, but to me it's looked better since we got Boyle. Feels like now it's just down to pure luck, or lack there of. The optimist in me believes that the proverbial ketchup bottle is about explode somewhere down the stretch, and continues into the playoffs.

The best PP team in the league (Tampa) scores 11.02 goals per 60 minutes on the PP. The Preds score 4.44 goals per 60...

But with Boyle on the ice, the Preds score 6.84 goals per 60 on the PP.

And since they put Boyle with Johansen, Arvidsson and Subban on the same unit (the 5th player changed from game to game), that unit scores 12.97 goals per 60. The sample size is small (14 minutes of play) and they won't maintain that elite pace, but there's reasons to be optimistic with that unit. The best thing would probably be to put Forsberg back on that unit, and put Arvy in the high slot, but I guess they want to keep Forsberg on the other unit to give it more punch.

The other unit with Granlund hasn't scored yet, but they're moving the puck well, goals should come.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

The best PP team in the league (Tampa) scores 11.02 goals per 60 minutes on the PP. The Preds score 4.44 goals per 60...

But with Boyle on the ice, the Preds score 6.84 goals per 60 on the PP.

And since they put Boyle with Johansen, Arvidsson and Subban on the same unit (the 5th player changed from game to game), that unit scores 12.97 goals per 60. The sample size is small (14 minutes of play) and they won't maintain that elite pace, but there's reasons to be optimistic with that unit. The best thing would probably be to put Forsberg back on that unit, and put Arvy in the high slot, but I guess they want to keep Forsberg on the other unit to give it more punch.

The other unit with Granlund hasn't scored yet, but they're moving the puck well, goals should come.

Let's hope those numbers hold up. I'll be quite happy to forgive and forget if everything peaks at just the right time and the playoffs aren't a writeoff. I guess it's just hard to really get too hopeful about that at this point, given how long things have dragged out, however.

 

[Drake744]

The best PP team in the league (Tampa) scores 11.02 goals per 60 minutes on the PP. The Preds score 4.44 goals per 60...

But with Boyle on the ice, the Preds score 6.84 goals per 60 on the PP.

And since they put Boyle with Johansen, Arvidsson and Subban on the same unit (the 5th player changed from game to game), that unit scores 12.97 goals per 60. The sample size is small (14 minutes of play) and they won't maintain that elite pace, but there's reasons to be optimistic with that unit. The best thing would probably be to put Forsberg back on that unit, and put Arvy in the high slot, but I guess they want to keep Forsberg on the other unit to give it more punch.

The other unit with Granlund hasn't scored yet, but they're moving the puck well, goals should come.

Appreciate this research because I've been curious how the numbers have looked since Boyle got here. In terms of having a solid depth and PP guy, I might burn a couch on Broadway if we don't re-sign him.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

I was literally going to post this exact same thing- lol.

I can confirm the Saturday record- as many of you know we are in Birmingham and have to make a 7 hour round trip drive for any game we go to, so we obviously can't make every game. So right now we have seen 5 straight losses- an all time record streak for us. If you think it stinks watching loss after loss in person, try having to drive 7 hours just to witness it............

UGGGHHHH

That game Saturday was just complete misery. From the first minute we took about 1,000 penalties so it pretty much sucked from the get go. Then fall behind 2-0 and just chase the game the whole time.
I basically sat there ticked off the whole night. Even when we scored I never got excited- it almost ticked me off that we would finally score, but only after we were behind by 2. How about scoring when the game is tied??? How about scoring when you are down 1?? How about scoring consecutive goals, something we almost never are able to do?????

all those stats and who brought that up is on the observations thread (me). outscored 19-9 in those 5 games. last home win on a Saturday was against NJ in a lackluster shootout win.

 

[Drake744]

I'm frustrated enough to go back to the good luck avatar. You're welcome ladies.

 

[Montross]

Then fall behind 2-0 and just chase the game the whole time.

I know in reality it is not the case, but it sure has felt for the longest time this season that the team gives up the first goal or two each game.

 

[Predsanddead24]

I know in reality it is not the case, but it sure has felt for the longest time this season that the team gives up the first goal or two each game.

There was a post over in the observations thread with the by period goals for and against stats and the 1st period is the only period we've gotten outscored this season. So we are actually fighting to come from behind quite often.

 

[101st_fan]

I can accept playing .500 hockey while Turris, Arvy, Forsberg, and Subban combined for over 80 missed games over the span of about 40 games played. The lack of a significant bounceback since everyone returned (allegedly) healthy is problematic.

 

[LCPreds]

I'm frustrated enough now that I'm considering putting our April 6th tickets on the market. Fan appreciation night that happens to fall on a Saturday against the Blackhawks.

Blasphemy I know but will probably go a long way towards paying for that first round of the playoffs. Probably won't need to spend much more than that.