You can forgive fans in hockey’s biggest fishbowl for having high expectations to begin this season. My lord, look at their roster. Auston Matthews already has 16 goals and 31 points on the season. William Nylander and John Tavares both have ten. Mitch Marner, though injured recently, has also been a key cog in a machine that should’ve been successful.
But they weren’t.
They were restricted on the ice. The team didn’t gel. They were sitting outside of the playoff picture. Mike Babcock was a mind-game playing asshole (insert shocked gasp here).