"Living the Hockey Life, Day By Day"
Decatur, AL • United States • 28 Years Old • Male
PPLS - Post Playoff Loss Syndrome
Posted 1:03 AM ET | Comments 0
It always hurts a little (or sometimes a lot depending on your “closeness” to a team) to see your hockey club lose. During the regular season you can soothe the pain by thinking ahead to the next game, but the playoffs hold a certain finality to them. What I mean is, once you have lost 4 games, that is all she wrote for that season, it is over, done, finished, and final. Some players won’t ever play in that respective sweater again, some front office people will be looking for a new team to work for, and sometimes coaching staffs will be turned over as well.
To me, what is most painful is not seeing your team meet expectations. When I look at the Nashville Predators, my team, I am discouraged by the lack of postseason success. 3 trips to the playoffs, 3 first round exits. 0 road wins. 0 trophies to display. As great a season the Preds had, they have nothing to show for it. They did not get past the first round. They did not finish first in the Western Conference. They did not win the Central Division. They did not win their regular season series with Detroit. It is unlikely that any of their players will receive any of the NHL trophies. So other than your memory and the record book, this will go as a season that did not live up to the hype. The expectations were pretty high in Nashville, but I honestly would have been satisfied if we had just made it past the first round.
I know that if Barry Trotz were sitting here talking to me he would talk about the growth of the franchise, the fact that their regular season speaks for itself, how few teams in NHL history have had a 110 point season, etc…. While Trotz is right is some regards, I still have to believe that the team and organization as a whole were just as disappointed as I was on Saturday morning. I found myself saying, “Is the season really over for the Preds? We only played 5 games of postseason hockey. What happened?” Well, I’ve spent the last couple of days recovering and reflecting. It was hard to do the last episode of the TV show I guest on since not only was it the last show for this semester, but the Preds season finished a night before that. Being a hockey analyst is great, but it is not so fun when you have to tell your audience what went wrong and why your team is no longer playing.
Unfortunately the season is over for the Preds, so we have to move on. But before we do that I would like to look back. I don’t want to dwell on the past too much, but in the next series of blogs I do, I’m going to write about my general thoughts on this past season. Some topics will include whether or not Barry Trotz should be the head coach, what went wrong in the SJ series, a blog of thanks and recognition (everything can’t be negative even though I am media), and my thoughts on the impending free agents. So stay tuned Pred fans as I’ll be trying to get at least one blog to you every other day. I know it is tough to get Pred news and notes now that the season is done.
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Just a side note: I finally got my laptop back. I had to get it fixed, then the people lost it, so now I’m on my new laptop which was given to me free of charge.(What can I say? I live a blessed life) I mention all that to say that you can expect more frequent blogs now. Previously it was hard to find the time, but now I’ll be able to produce at a faster clip. So expect more news and notes from me starting now. THANKS FOR READING!
To me, what is most painful is not seeing your team meet expectations. When I look at the Nashville Predators, my team, I am discouraged by the lack of postseason success. 3 trips to the playoffs, 3 first round exits. 0 road wins. 0 trophies to display. As great a season the Preds had, they have nothing to show for it. They did not get past the first round. They did not finish first in the Western Conference. They did not win the Central Division. They did not win their regular season series with Detroit. It is unlikely that any of their players will receive any of the NHL trophies. So other than your memory and the record book, this will go as a season that did not live up to the hype. The expectations were pretty high in Nashville, but I honestly would have been satisfied if we had just made it past the first round.
I know that if Barry Trotz were sitting here talking to me he would talk about the growth of the franchise, the fact that their regular season speaks for itself, how few teams in NHL history have had a 110 point season, etc…. While Trotz is right is some regards, I still have to believe that the team and organization as a whole were just as disappointed as I was on Saturday morning. I found myself saying, “Is the season really over for the Preds? We only played 5 games of postseason hockey. What happened?” Well, I’ve spent the last couple of days recovering and reflecting. It was hard to do the last episode of the TV show I guest on since not only was it the last show for this semester, but the Preds season finished a night before that. Being a hockey analyst is great, but it is not so fun when you have to tell your audience what went wrong and why your team is no longer playing.
Unfortunately the season is over for the Preds, so we have to move on. But before we do that I would like to look back. I don’t want to dwell on the past too much, but in the next series of blogs I do, I’m going to write about my general thoughts on this past season. Some topics will include whether or not Barry Trotz should be the head coach, what went wrong in the SJ series, a blog of thanks and recognition (everything can’t be negative even though I am media), and my thoughts on the impending free agents. So stay tuned Pred fans as I’ll be trying to get at least one blog to you every other day. I know it is tough to get Pred news and notes now that the season is done.
**************************************************************
Just a side note: I finally got my laptop back. I had to get it fixed, then the people lost it, so now I’m on my new laptop which was given to me free of charge.(What can I say? I live a blessed life) I mention all that to say that you can expect more frequent blogs now. Previously it was hard to find the time, but now I’ll be able to produce at a faster clip. So expect more news and notes from me starting now. THANKS FOR READING!