And the nominees are:
The San Jose Sharks
Not as bad as in recent years, but still: The Sharks won first overall in the Western conference, but fell in the Conference Finals. The only thing that surprised some people was that they went that far in the playoffs. No amount of success will convince anyone that the Sharks are a good team until they actually get to the Cup finals, a feat they have yet to manage. So they can continue to win regular-season games and President's Trophies, but they will have a permanent spot on this list until they prove they're an equally good playoff team.
The New York Rangers
If only games were won on paper, or based on contract size. The Rangers would have a winner each year. But this is reality, where people like Olli Jokinen, Chris Higgins, Wade Redden, and Chris Drury have to actually produce results. The final game of the season was a microcosm of the Rangers' season: they waited and waited for something to happen, for someone to score a goal, until they finally realized they had lost a game waiting to win it. Like so many previous Rangers teams, they had plenty of potential, but had no idea what the hell to do with it.
The Washington Capitals
Presiden't Trophy winners, a first-round exit. It doesn't matter that they got out-coached, out-played, out-defensed, or out-goalied. None of the reasons they lost excuse the fact that a first-place team could not get past the first round of the playoffs. Perhaps Washington needs to consider the old saying that offense wins games but defense wins championships. Washington has outrageously good offense, but Montreal brought their shortcomings in goal and on defense into sharp relief.
HM: Calgary, Anaheim
No comments:
Post a Comment