Blame it on the “slide” or the “slump” if you want to. Some of us point to the “Nashville goal that never was” and make a good point that it all started there. I don’t know, you don’t know and the boys don’t know. What we ALL know, is that it’s kind of over…
You hope against hope. Hockey fans are like that. You love your team and you love the game. The only thing you hate about spring is it means hockey is ending for a few months. True fans stick with the team no matter what. But we’re fans and we’re only human. We like winning, too. We’d like to see Nash or Umby heft that cup over their head and see Calvert kiss the damn thing.
Well, the cannon did fire last night, then everything went silent. Only when the game went into OT did the dark thoughts start…
Friends, Family, Beloved Season Ticket Holders, Visiting Teams and NHL Officials…even you stupid refs, We’re here to celebrate what was, and mourn what could have been and take comfort in each other and the assurance that there will be another season. Not that this makes you feel better right now. Go ahead, have your moment and cry. Way back when, there was hockey. There will always be hockey. Take comfort in this…it may not be your team carving grooves in that playoff ice, but it will be, and this should give us comfort and hope. There’s always another season…this is the statement that makes all of our souls turn soft and purple with hurt, but find the glimmer of hope. Let us mourn this season with the understanding of what was…new beginnings in October, new faces that barely got started will no doubt blossom. Let us embrace strong and fearless coaches. Let us partake in the Molson and Italian sausage together and find strength in our love of the Puck. This is what sees us to another day! As we stand here today in the cold and seemingly endless rain in Columbus, we accept the truth. Let’s hold hands as fans, hockey faithful and even idiot refs who may have hastened all this shit in the first place, and say it together: Playoff Chances Are Dead.
Everyone is invited for fellowship immediately after we all have a good cry or mental-person laughing fit at Roosters (where we can remember better days and followed the games faithfully all season) or the R-Bar, where grief counseling has already started and will continue as needed until October.