The Airing of Grievances: NHL Edition
A look at the glaring problems facing certain teams this NHL season
The day is here; a Festivus for the rest of us!
Hardcore Seinfeld fans remember this very well. One of the episodes from the show's ninth and final season, "The Strike," revealed that Frank Costanza (played ever so brilliantly by the late, great Jerry Stiller) created Festivus as a response to the commercialism of the actual holidays. The holiday is celebrated on December 23, and instead of a tree, a pole is put up, as Frank finds tinsel distracting.
Among the list of Festivus traditions is the "airing of grievances," which is basically a forum for people to complain about others. For this hockey fan, it's quite perfect. I've decided to bring a bit of Festivus to Vocal with this story, where I basically pick out a few teams and point out some glaring problems that have plagued them this season.
Starting with:
Buffalo Sabres
Wasn't this supposed to be the year that the Buffalo Sabres would finally break out and make the playoffs? It doesn't look like it from what I and other fans have been seeing. The Sabres ended last year with a lot of promise. They had finally traded Jack Eichel prior to last year, and yes, Eichel went on to win a Cup with Vegas, but Buffalo looked quite good during the latter month or so of last season. Because of this, many (myself included) figured that this year would see the Sabres finally end their playoff drought, which is the longest current one in the NHL. The Sabres last made the playoffs during the 2010-2011 season. Here's how long ago that was. Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, and Connor McDavid weren't in the league yet, and the Atlanta Thrashers were around (their final season in Atlanta).
The Sabres' lowest point this season came when they gave up nine goals to, of all teams, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Even worse, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen--the same goalie who shut out the high-powered Colorado Avalanche--was in net for that disaster. The Sabres are currently in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, with only one team holding them up:
Ottawa Senators
Seriously, when is this suffering going to end? I didn't think that trade would have such a long-lasting effect on the Ottawa Senators, but it has been six years since that deal with the Avalanche and Predators took place, and they are still not on the verge of anything positive. I want to say there was some promise after the 2021-22 season, especially with the big name acquisitions, but it's still resulting in a lot of nothing. The Senators, at this point, have played the fewest games in the league. Games in hand are good to have, but you have to win them. The Senators are not winning them.
Since winning back-to-back games in Sweden, the Senators are 3-10, and that includes losing their last six games. During this skid, the Sens fired DJ Smith as their coach, and decided to bring back Jacques Martin as their HC, with Daniel Alfredsson as the assistant HC.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes have a goaltending problem. That is something I never thought I'd say. And it's coming at the absolute worst time, as the Hurricanes' Cup window is starting to close. We all saw last year; that was Carolina's best chance to show their worth as a Cup contender, yet all they did was continue their third round problems. They've been playing without Frederik Andersen for the most part. and with the use of just Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov, it's resulted in disaster for both goalies. Raanta's 6-5 loss to the Predators resulted in him being sent down, though Andersen seems to be close to returning. Even so, the season's two months old, and there are too many teams ahead of Carolina.
St. Louis Blues
Nice to see that the St. Louis Blues and their fans are still major assclowns. Imagine booing your best player because he wasn't crazy about his now former head coach. That's what Blues fans did. Jordan Kyrou had been holding the fort down after the Blues shipped off Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko, but that wasn't good enough for Blues fans. Kyrou had very few words to say about the firing of Craig Berube as head coach, and Blues fans weren't happy. Imagine defending a staunch racist over the player who's been carrying your decrepit team for a calendar year now.
Toronto Maple Leafs
What are you doing, Leafs? What's this nonsense about giving up nine goals to the Buffalo Sabres? You do know that Buffalo gave up that exact amount to Columbus, right? I really want to say that the Leafs were still on that high over humiliating their former GM, but I think this is more than that. I expected a big boom with the Leafs, and the reason for that is very simple: last year. They did it. They finally won a series for the first time in almost two decades. The Leafs are doing quite well so far, but the few losses they have are damning. They also have goaltending problems, but in Toronto's case, it's Ilya Samsonov absolutely underperforming this year. Something needs to improve here.
Boston Bruins
Can someone other than David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand actually produce? I'm actually speaking as a ticked off Avs fan who saw the Bruins lose to Central Division teams this week. Colorado got knocked down to third place because the piss-poor Bruins couldn't beat the Winnipeg Jets. Even worse, before that, they lost to Minnesota. Seriously? I don't know how much money Charlie McAvoy's making, but I know this: it's too much. And again, Linus Ullmark is proving why Alexandar Georgiev should have won the Vezina last season.
Anyway, that's my "airing of grievances" for this NHL season. There's a lot of hockey left, and there's just over a month to go before the All-Star Break. It should be an absolutely fun ride.
About the Creator
Clyde E. Dawkins
I'm a big sports fan, especially hockey, and I've been a fan of villainesses since I was eight! My favorite shows are The Simpsons and Family Guy, etc.
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Comments (1)
This was absolutely raw and authentic.