zeke
Well-known member
Let's be real. The Isles have absolutely humiliated us since the Tavares signing. Imo, these humiliating games have been a massive indicator and even cause of both the Isles' continued overachievement and the leafs' underachievement since then. I dont think I'm exaggerating the psychological effect of the head to heads on both teams at all. It's been an absolutely discouraging low point for the leafs since the signing, while being the pinnacle rallying point for the plucky isles and their surprising success.
Now that we have a coach that believes in our team, and vice versa, I've been kinda looking at this game as a potential turning point for both teams. A resounding victory, reflective of the talent gap between the two teams would be much needed closure for the captain, and good for the team overall. Meanwhile, on the other side, I really do think it might also be a catalyst for the Isles to finally fall back down to reality after a year and a half of shocking overachievement. They've already shown signs that they're faltering - they had an incredible 17gm point streak early in the year but have been barely .500 in the near 20gms since. (It hasn't been a complete debacle, though - they have managed to continue beating good teams during that stretch, while losing to dregs.) But a resounding defeat to Tavares could finally pop their bubble over there, and see them slide back down to where their talent belongs.
But of course, now Keefe has to spice things up by starting Hutch. Of course he does.
One other thing to point out - the Isles lost maybe their most crucial player to injury for the season, and that's their underrated #1 defensive dman Adam Pelech. He's been a huge part of what they've done the last year and a half and I'm not sure there's another player they could afford to lose less. Even barzal.
Though talking about barzal, don't fall for the narrative that he's not that good because of raw point totals - he is that good, as the underlying numbers attest.
Now that we have a coach that believes in our team, and vice versa, I've been kinda looking at this game as a potential turning point for both teams. A resounding victory, reflective of the talent gap between the two teams would be much needed closure for the captain, and good for the team overall. Meanwhile, on the other side, I really do think it might also be a catalyst for the Isles to finally fall back down to reality after a year and a half of shocking overachievement. They've already shown signs that they're faltering - they had an incredible 17gm point streak early in the year but have been barely .500 in the near 20gms since. (It hasn't been a complete debacle, though - they have managed to continue beating good teams during that stretch, while losing to dregs.) But a resounding defeat to Tavares could finally pop their bubble over there, and see them slide back down to where their talent belongs.
But of course, now Keefe has to spice things up by starting Hutch. Of course he does.
One other thing to point out - the Isles lost maybe their most crucial player to injury for the season, and that's their underrated #1 defensive dman Adam Pelech. He's been a huge part of what they've done the last year and a half and I'm not sure there's another player they could afford to lose less. Even barzal.
Though talking about barzal, don't fall for the narrative that he's not that good because of raw point totals - he is that good, as the underlying numbers attest.
