Overall, a very disappointing season to me. In the beginning of the year (probably a month before), I told everyone I knew that the Preds would go to the WCF. Everyone laughed and thought that was dumb, but I knew this team had so much talent and losing the likes of Sullivan, Dumont, Ward, Goc, etc. did nothing to me talent wise (great guys love to cheer for them, just didn't do much for me ON the ice). In the November-December days, we looked lost. We brought in everyone from the Ads just to try to find something that worked (I never want to see Zack Stortini touch the ice for us ever again). However, I still held strong, as did the team. We found some chemistry and started to really roll. Poile and Trotz had me sold, AND THEN we had a nice haul at the deadline giving up draft picks for some really solid PLAYOFF help. And then Radulov.....wow, I was sold 110 percent then. It was Cup or bust......
Got to the playoffs, won some close ones (some we probably shouldn't have....sound familiar?) and beat Detroit in 5 games!! This team was different. This team had the intangibles and the "it" factor.
My mood was tempered when I saw we would play Phoenix. They play the same d**n style we do, and we always seem to struggle against them....but no matter THIS team was different. We had it all. Lost game one in OT...no big luck goal we got this...Murdered in game 2, now I'm Mr. Negative. I have a day to relax and let it set and said the hell with it, we are winning this series. Pick it up and win game 3 (even with the fiasco of the Russians). YES ITS TIME! Go into game 4, and air let out of my g** d*** sails. YOU KIDDING ME?!?! I'm ranting on the way home about how this team does nothing and how it will be another letdown. Call my GF a couple of names.....have a day to think, say "okay, we win game 5, send it back home and then its back to work".....NO!!!! Series over! This is the best team we have ever assembled in our history (on par with the 2006 Preds, but I didn't think we had a shot like THIS year) and now the daunting look at what lies ahead makes me the most POed person in the world.
Will we get better? We will lose a lot of pieces AGAIN this offseason so what really excites me about next year? Unless you are the Wings, playoffs don't happen EVERY year. We have overachieved so many years, we cannot keep playing Russian Roulette with this team. We HAVE TO CAPITALIZE ON THE TIMES NOW NOT LATER because it is never promised. On one end, we could get some more young talent in here, our ownership group actually DOES go out and spend some money, we get Webs back, and have a full, top to bottom solid team that has a chance to win the Central and take it. Flip side, we lose Suter, AK, SK, Rads, etc. keep the youth movement, have Webs play out his RFA contract, get some injuries, another 1st round exit, lose Webs next year, rebuild. Uncertainty is the worst for me and I'm not liking what I think will happen to this team. I've been wrong before, but maybe I'm not.
Overall, I'm angry.
lol
