I can't go into anything in depth here -- again, handcuffed by the column -- and my head is swimming because I haven't nailed down what I'll be writing about just yet. That being said, a few things:
Sorry, but I'm not ready to hand over the Cup to Pittsburgh. Their defence and goaltending specifically faced little (if any) grief, and they haven't been behind in a series yet. Their lines roll well -- there's still some chemistry to work on -- but ultimately it's going to come down to what happens from the blueline backwards. And will someone please tell them to go back to their powder blues?
Watching this franchise eat some crow after all the chest-thumping and poor decision making is going to be interesting. Most of you have figured out that the off-season's much-discussed pictorial essay was about Ray. At that time, the vitriol directed towards him from sources inside the dressing room was unbelievable. I didn't think it could get any worse...but it did. Long story short: You keep the cancer around, you're going to die...and it'll go quickly. Something must be done about this team's chemistry. I shouldn't be hearing from players how Teammate A "can't f*cking stand" Teammate B.
(Aside: E-mails that pester for names and question my decision to post anonymous information will not be returned. I do this for 99.99% of the readers who want to hear about it. If it bugs you, don't read it. Go outside and get some fresh air.)
The efforts of the youngsters (Cody Bass, Brian Lee and Nick Foligno) seem to be appreciated by the majority of fans. That being said, a couple of observations:
The media who think Foligno is destined for a top-six position on this team need to take it down a notch. It was four games. He's a top-six winger on a team where Mike Fisher would be considered a No. 1 centre. Just saying.
Brian Lee was obviously outmatched at times, but I appreciate his calm nature. However, if you don't get him into a proper defensive system with some structure, his growth will be stunted something fierce (and I'm not talking about his facial hair).
Cody Bass...is due for a t-shirt. The cynics have spoken.
I've already begun to crunch numbers for available UFAs and comparable RFAs...hoo boy. (Might get into that later...again, depending on column topic.) It's going to be a rough offseason.
More later.
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