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I've noticed this problem with a lot of my fellow Preds fans across a number of fan sights and forums, or just out on the street. They treat the results of every individual game like this is the new reality. I blame it on the football mentality a lot of the locals have, especially college football fans whose teams only have 12 games to work with and one loss can potentially derail your entire season, so each win and loss feels that much more magnified. You can't look at Hockey under the same lens and yet I see it all the time, the team getting reanalyzed on a game-to-game basis. Not every win means all is right with the world, and every loss doesn't mean the sky is falling and everybody in the front office needs to be fired. That's something that used to kill me about Paul's blogs, every time the Preds won a game while struggling. There was always the inevitable blurb on his next blog asking if the Preds have finally turned the corner... Regardless of if the team they beat was crap, or whether or not they won by the skin of their teeth.
Where Hockey is concerned, performances needs to be analyzed in batches, and not just on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis either. You also have to take into account the play style of the teams your facing, their positioning in the standings, how that team is performing at the time you play them, and any number of other differen't variables. (Like if the team is on the road or falls in an early hole, injuries, crap like that) This recent road trip is a great example. You feel good to go four for four, but two of those games were one goal wins against NJ and the NYI, two teams that aren't exactly at top of the league right now. The Rangers are a legit good team, and on paper the best win on the trip... However that game was essentially the Juuse Saros show. The most impressive win in my eyes was in Detroit. An up-and-coming team with some skill and talent, but an inexperienced bunch and the Preds appeared able to take advantage of that. Just judging by Larkin's comments after the game, the Preds physical style of play really threw them off their game.
The most concerning window of games where the three against Edmonton, Colorado, and Vegas... All teams the Preds would likely run into in the playoffs if they happened to make it... The Preds looked overmatched in all three of those matchups. Throw Toronto in that group too. Differen't conference, but provide the Preds with the exact same problems. Speed and skill are the kryptonite of John Hynes' system. He needs to adjust better when playing teams too good to be pushed around. This upcoming game against Colorado is a huge one... Win or lose, it's important for the Preds to at least be competitive. If not, that's a pretty daunting sign that the last few games have just been the Preds maintaining the status quo rather than Hynes system slowly catching on and the team improving. |
