I was watching the Nash interview aired during the 2nd intermission of the Wings game and for some reason it reminded me of an odd comment he had made some time ago. This was printed in a Dispatch article back on March 4, this yr. Rick states "There were some dark days when we were just standing still, but it feels good to know we are building. It's important for the fans, too. THEY ALMOST HAVE BEEN OVER-PATIENT WITH THE FRANCHISE."
Hitchcock had also made a similar statement early on in the season. I believe he said " The fans are finally raising their expectations".
So my point is this. How accountable are we, the fans, for the extended poor performance of our beloved team. For years. By our low expectations, coupled with our low demands of performance.
I was watching the Nash interview aired during the 2nd intermission of the Wings game and for some reason it reminded me of an odd comment he had made some time ago. This was printed in a Dispatch article back on March 4, this yr. Rick states "There were some dark days when we were just standing still, but it feels good to know we are building. It's important for the fans, too. THEY ALMOST HAVE BEEN OVER-PATIENT WITH THE FRANCHISE."
Hitchcock had also made a similar statement early on in the season. I believe he said " The fans are finally raising their expectations".
So my point is this. How accountable are we, the fans, for the extended poor performance of our beloved team. For years. By our low expectations, coupled with our low demands of performance.
I found it strange when Gare started asking Nash about the season ticket holders and what he would say to them...
I was watching the Nash interview aired during the 2nd intermission of the Wings game and for some reason it reminded me of an odd comment he had made some time ago. This was printed in a Dispatch article back on March 4, this yr. Rick states "There were some dark days when we were just standing still, but it feels good to know we are building. It's important for the fans, too. THEY ALMOST HAVE BEEN OVER-PATIENT WITH THE FRANCHISE."
Hitchcock had also made a similar statement early on in the season. I believe he said " The fans are finally raising their expectations".
So my point is this. How accountable are we, the fans, for the extended poor performance of our beloved team. For years. By our low expectations, coupled with our low demands of performance.
We're accountable for many things, but not that. Low expectations from fans should never be an acceptable excuse for a) poor play and b) poor management. You shouldn't have to nag at people to get them to perform to the best of their abilities.
I saw the comments(both Nash and Hitch) more along the lines as saying the fans have been so loyal that they really need to pick up their game and thank us for standing behind them.
My (realistic) expectation and hope in early February (when we started to lose many home ice games right after the ASB) was that we would get somewhere between 85 and 88 points. Not playoff worthy but still respectable, especially for this organization. I had hoped it (3 - 5 wins shy of a playoff berth) would go a long way towards growing the confidence of the team and attracting additional talent over the summer.
Looks like we still have a ways to go. Damn those overtime losses and our inability to win games in shootouts.
We're accountable for many things, but not that. Low expectations from fans should never be an acceptable excuse for a) poor play and b) poor management. You shouldn't have to nag at people to get them to perform to the best of their abilities.
Agreed.
However, I don't think Hitch and Nash were indicating that the fans are responsible for the poor play.
For example, if you call into the coaches show why do you tell Hitchcock "Good job this season"?(like everyone seems to do) I'm a Hitchock fan, but if I called in I would say "Disappointing season for you coach". "So last week you were saying we need to evaluate each player and that people weren't getting in posistion to score, yet this week you are saying with the exception of a couple of players you got about all you could out of these players. So, which is it? If they aren't doing aren't going to the hard places, you didn't get all you could out of them."
A lot of fans gave up on this team before the year even started. I was expecting the players to play better. I'm ticked they didn't. I'm ticked with Management and Ownership with the moves around the trade deadline. I'm pretty sure I am one of about 10 people in central Ohio that hated what we got for Feds and Foote. I'm ticked with Agnew for having the worst 5-3 PP I have ever seen. I still don't know what the hell Howson meant when you say "We went into the trade deadline knowing we had to move Federov. We are moving in a different direction". That's an idiotic statement for a UFA. That's moronic code for "We didn't want to pay the rest of his salary".
However, I don't think Hitch and Nash were indicating that the fans are responsible for the poor play.
For the record, I don't either. I was just responding to the OP's questions regarding those comments. I don't think he was interpreting them that way either.
For the record, I don't either. I was just responding to the OP's questions regarding those comments. I don't think he was interpreting them that way either.
Yes sir, I got that. My appologies. I should have split off the rest of it like I do sometimes when I am no longer addressing the person I quoted and getting on my soapbox.
Yes sir, I got that. My appologies. I should have split off the rest of it like I do sometimes when I am no longer addressing the person I quoted and getting on my soapbox.
