For me, it is all about perspective. I am always completely devastated after we are eliminated from the playoffs. It almost feels like a death as ridiculous as that sounds.
But I still think some perspective is in order here. As is human nature, there is a WHOLE LOT of overreacting going on. And I get it, that is just the way the world is.
As many have mentioned already, I don’t think there is any question that the Cup run pretty much ruined and spoiled a large part of this fan base. Now, there is a large percentage of our fans who think that just because we have a leading contender, that we should/are going to make deep run every year and if we don’t heads have to roll.
But it is just not realistic. The Cup run year is not the norm nor is it ever going to be. The past two seasons, which have everyone looking for a tall building to jump off of, are the norm for just about any franchise. Anyone who expects to go to the Conference finals or SCF regularly, even when you have a loaded roster?? You are just fooling yourself. It ain’t gonna happen, and that is ok. We are not going to win a playoff series every year, no matter how good our roster is. Years like this one are going to happen.
Everyone is crushed today. I get it completely. I am. But the fact remains that over the past 4 years, other than the teams that actually won the Cup, you can make a strong argument that the Preds have had more success than any team in the league. Other than Cup winner, name me a franchise who you would trade the last 4 years with. There aren’t many, if any.
And perspective- just think about the fact the Toronto has not made it out of the first round since 2004. (2004!!!!!) Or Carolina, who made the playoffs for the first time in a decade this year. Or Columbus- who before this year had NEVER won a playoff series. Or how about former Thrashers fans. Over a decade with ZERO playoff wins. You can go on and on. Despite our crushing disappointment we are feeling right now, we still have it pretty darn good as Nashville Predators fan.
Finally, something I keep going back to that I wish I could stop thinking about. Seeing how hard it is to win in the playoffs these past 2 years even with a loaded roster, I keep going back to that 2017 Cup run. I will go to my grave believing that was our year to win the Cup. No doubt in my mind. I don’t think that was a super great Penguins team, and had we not suffered those horrible injuries, we would have won the Cup- should have won the cup. Heck, we almost won it in spite of the injuries. Just very painful to think back to that after the huge disappointment of the past couple of years.