I hate using the injury excuse but at some point when a team has had as many of them as we've had this season, I think it's valid and it doesn't make sense to say they haven't been a factor. Saying injuries don't matter is like saying who's on our roster doesn't matter and that sounds kind of dumb doesn't it?
This weekend we were missing our #1 goalie, our #1 Dman, an elite forward and a couple of other pieces. I think that qualifies as extraordinary.
Haha that's pretty dumb for sure. Too many people have an agenda and don't even try to be objective. The teams on the bubble are tightly packed so it's almost pointless saying who's in and who's out when it changes on a daily basis but I guess it's just human nature.
This year, for stretches, we've been down our:
#1B Centre
#1 Defenseman
#1 Goaltender
#1A Right Winger
#1B Right Winger
#2 Defenseman
Those are all major injuries that any team would struggle with. Then there's the injuries to other capable guys:
3 2nd line capable left wingers (Hyman, Mikheyev, Johnsson)
2 #4 Defensemen (Dermott, Holl)
Add all of these injuries together coupled with the disastrous start under Babcock and yeah, we are fighting tooth and nail for the playoffs. Now some issues could've been mitigated had Dubas gotten a more capable backup sooner, or Babcock had been fired before the year started, but the reality is that this team has had some serious obstacles this year, which they haven't had the past two seasons.