Like I've said, the last 4 years hav earned me the right to not trust or believe in this team down the stretch. That said, absolutely not is making the playoffs diminished by even a first round sweep at the hands of the Hawks. Are we so delusional or blinded by a draft pick that we can't identify just how special it would be for Dallas to make the playoffs? Only a real team could pull off what Dallas is attempting to do. They'd have to go on a special run, something this fan base hasn't witnessed since 2008, just to get in. Not to mention the massive benefit this young team would gain from playing real NHL playoff hockey. Lehtonen has never even finished a single playoff series in his career. Eriksson has never been the go to guy in the playoffs. Jamie Benn and countless others have 0 NHL playoff games. Do we expect that all of a sudden one season this untested team is going to be a Stanley Cup contender and go on a deep playoff run their first try? If you do, that's a little silly. One playoff series in Dallas could be the a great catalyst for real change in this organization's confidence. They need a free pass, no expectations cup of coffee in the playoffs if anything so they'll work that much harder this summer because they want that feeling back again and again.
I don't know ... well honestly don't think ... this this team makes the playoffs. That sucks because it would delay this valuable experience they could get. I question your reason for being a fan though if you wouldn't be out of your mind thrilled with this team for just sneaking in. To reach that level after where this team was 10 days ago .... that would be a hell of an accomplishment and something to be proud of.
Just to add to this .. since it was mainly fueled by an inability to go back to sleep ...
I don't want to say an exact percentage, but the Dallas Stars are proving a significant percentage of Stars fan right. The majority all year have said this team was probably picking 10-18 or some variation of those numbers in the 10 to 20 range. That's probably going to happen, especially with Dallas at such a high ROW.
The majority of people seem to really believe Dallas were right there on the border of barely in or barely out once again. Now ... I thought that would be because of guys like Jagr and Roy ... and yes they did their part at times early in the year ... but who would have thought the team in it's current construction would have a chance? That's what they have is a chance right now to sneak in.
I don't fault the tankers. I'm a reformed tanker, but I don't fully believe they're getting in the playoffs. For me personally, and maybe some will agree, the lows in the middle of this season were lower than normal ... and the highs this season just weren't that high. Nothing so far has made me feel as beaten down as the blown opportunity in Minnesota the last game of the season, but I had some lost faith in the organization leading up to the deadline. I really though that a true rebuild was coming, and that we were headed for years of building a better team. I can't give you a reasonable answer why, but I think most of you will probably agree that the low a few weeks ago was one of the darker times as a Stars fan. They looked pathetic, and I didn't have as much optimism and hope as I typically have for their prospects and future teams. If people are still in that place, I refuse to condemn them for it because it was a legitimate and reasonable response to the product on the ice.
This will be fun to debate in the summer, and I think I'll need more time to wrap my head around it and actually see the end result first ... but I can't tell you what's going on right now with this team. Is is the dead cat bounce Sturm mentioned? God ... I really hope not. Did a team some how grow out of that despair, and they'll miss the playoffs, but next year is brighter? I can't answer that. The only thing I know is this team is legitimately in a position to make the playoffs. What they do with that remains to be seen. I know what I want to see, but I don't have the faith yet it happens.
As far as tanking goes though we're essentially debating a mid first round pick. That seems silly now to want to tank for a better mid first round pick, but like I said I bought into the tanking philosophy 10 days ago. Call my a flip flop if you want or accept the fact I overestimated how bad this team was, but I told txomisc on that day with confidence that I thought this team could easily get a Top 6 pick ... probably somewhere from 4th to 6th. I admit that so I can't fault a guy for still believing tanking is the right step. Now ... with the reality of the situation though, I'm not going to hope for picking 10 to 14 when picking 15 to 18 means playoffs and a pretty similar player had we missed the playoffs.
They've won back my desire for the playoffs, and I really do hope down the stretch I start believing it can actually happen again. It'll be a crushing blow if they don't though, and I hate to think what that would do to my opinion of the team.