Forepar
Registered User
It’s not just the contract issues, it’s that it is affecting Bob, or at least appears to be. And he has been the backbone of this team.I get why you'd say that about Bob, but curious what else you've seen to indicate that the Bob/Panarin situations are affecting other folks. It's starting to feel to me like these 2 (very different) situations are the scapegoat for this year's team's inconsistencies/deficiencies.
And that affects some. Foligno doesn’t have a clue (e.g. last night’s interview). I can’t pinpoint anything more specific, just a malaise. In a group (team) setting, most times the biggest issue for the group is who is in the group and who is not. I’ve watched it in small companies beyond the sports world. The ones “out” become targets, and the ones still in the boat perform like crazy.
Here, neither Bob nor Bread out of the boat completely, but not in either. Limbo.
And as much as we’d like to think “but these are professional hockey players...and coaches..., they should be able to ignore that” - they are human and they are young and their performance leaders are the ones in limbo. And their emotional leaders are dumbfounded and/or injured (Foligno, Jones & Dubi). Why do we expect that 20-somethings can easily handle what is difficult for 55 yr old senior executives to manage.
I may be all wet. But I’ve watched this movie on so many levels that I can’t get away from it. The sooner the limbo is resolved, in either direction, the sooner the malaise starts to lift. Not saying they will or won’t make the playoffs if they do/don’t get the limbo issue resolved. And maybe resolution would just help me get back to being as ardently interested as I have been.
But on current course (not record, but level of play) this year’s CBJ sure looks to miss playoffs. If that’s the case, get what you can and start the healing process now. The argument for keeping 9 & 72 for the season but having them walk next summer as worth a shot at a run for SC is losing ground with every period. And I supported that argument because I didn’t see any great return for either of them. I was wrong: misread the negative emotional effect limbo would have on me, and presumably on the team. And forgot how much hockey in general, and CBJ especially, feeds off emotion. Not faulting either player, that’s the business. But this season is starting to feel like death by a thousand slices - and players cannot be entirely immune to that. Some nights, maybe, but when adversity strikes (as it does over 82-game season), it creeps in.