Saturday, February 9, 2008

Atlas has NOT shrugged

Okay, everyone. I know it's tempting to look up and check for pieces of sky tumbling toward your unguarded head, but really, it's not necessary. Sure the Habs lost a stinker last night. And a boring crapfest to the leafs in the game before. But let's all put on the brakes and calm down for a moment.

This is the team that was supposed to be WELL out of the playoffs according to most of the "experts." They're five points behind the mighty Sens. This is the team that was supposed to see its PP plummet after Souray's departure. They're second in the league. This is the team that was supposed to swan-dive after Christmas. They have a better record after than before the holidays. So, they're not lowering themselves to our expectations so far.

They're not going to win every game, and some of them will stink. We have to remember they're a very young team that still needs three major components: a fourth strong D, a shut-down centre, and a scoring forward. Those parts are coming in the system, so we may have to wait. We should be good at that by now.

The problem we have is that everytime the team overachieves, we believe it. Instead of saying, hey, they're playing over their heads, we EXPECT them to be able to overtake the Sens. Seriously...Ottawa is a team featuring a perrennial 50-goal scorer. And two of arguably the best 20 players in the world. Our team can't match that, yet we're surprised when we lose to them. I guess that's good...we still have high expectations after years of futility. But really, we need to take it easy and realize the Habs are still two years away from adding the players they need to fill the holes they have.

The Sens are at the top of their game right now. The Habs are still rising. It's not shameful to lose to them...there will come a day when our guys are pounding the crap out of them. But we, as fans, need to support the guys we have and enjoy the ride. They're on the way up. The Sens, though, must win it now or never. And they're looking behind instead of ahead.

1 comment:

Chris said...

Agree wholeheartedly. In some respects, I am SO thankful that we got spanked tonight, as I hope it shows the more excitable portion of the Habs fan base that we are NOT a serious contender for the Stanley Cup this season. As such, trading away any part of our future for Jokinen, Tanguay or Hossa is premature...let's enjoy the ride and look forward to the day when the Habs are as complete a team as the Sens when they have their heads screwed on straight.