Sigh.
I started out this season with expectations of a division title and a respectable post-season run.
In the wreckage of yet another road implosion, with the Flames staring into the black maw of elimination, I'm left with the unenviable task of defending the antics of a demoralized and frustrated 8th place seed.
What a shitshow this has become.
Unfortunately, many of the issues I pointed out in the prior post were in full display yesterday afternoon in Detroit: lack of ES scoring, an ineffective Jarome Iginla and a PP that was bound to regress back to more realistic numbers at some point.
(Playfair certainly helped the PP come back down to Earth yesterday, though. In the face of an impotent attack, his brilliant mid-game adjustment was to give guys like Amonte and Primeau more PP time.)
And now the players are left with slashes and punches to defend their damaged pride. Were they able, or at least hopeful, of exacting revenge for the continued road maulings through actual play - that is, shooting, scoring, winning - they wouldn't be left with attempting to claim a pound of flesh from their opponents at the end of games. In a way, it was good to see the Flames get angry, to see them defend themselves and their pride after a fashion...it's just too bad it's had to come down to this level.
McLennan suspended, most likely to end his career. Playfair fined. Iginla rendered nearly irrelevent. And I thought last year's play-off performance was embarrassing.
I'm fully convinced now that this evening's match is all but meaningless. Should they somehow prevail, the Flames have zero hope of beating the Red Wings back in Detroit on Tuesday. A victory tonight would really just be another face-saving excercise for the players and little else.
Fairwell Playfair. I won't miss you when you're gone.
