This team's confidence has been destroyed. There's no swagger, there's no mental fortitude, there's no resilience. Some of it comes from the real core players being so young, some of it comes from the repetition of losing, some of it comes from really bad breaks and tough bounces, some of it comes from self-inflicted wounds, some of it comes from horrific goaltending.
I've been talking about their body language since the end of October. They're fed up and frustrated beyond belief because things just aren't going their way. And some of it can be a "you make your own destiny" kind of thing but some of it is just out of their hands: the Pinto suspension, Norris missing an entire year and not being at training camp, the Chabot injury, the goaltending woes, etc.
Look at how they react after the goalies let in a back-breaking goal. There's no tap to the pads and a "we've got you buddy, we'll get that one back". It's sheer dismay at how some of these goals continue to go in. If I played on a team, professional or not, where 1 position continually let us down, I'd find it hard to just shake it off and play. It has to be impacting them. Every shot, from anywhere on the ice, in any situation, at any time of the game can go in. How the f*** do you relax and play your game? I'm not saying it absolves them of their dogshit play but there's an intense psychological impact to it constantly happening, game in and game out. And, again, all you have to do is look at their body language.
Watch the clip of the 3rd Arizona goal last night, an absolutely brutal goal to give up by Korpisalo. Watch the player reactions after the puck goes in, it's like beyond belief what they're seeing. The dejected looks, the sagging body language, the "here we go again" vibe. We can say anything we want about what the problems are but everything starts from the net out. And the volume of unbelievably ridiculous goals that have been scored against them has broken them mentally.
