"Game Seven," the aftermath.

The Predators' series came to an end. In five games. To the Sharks. Again. To call this a disappointing outcome is an understatement. Here was a team that seemed built to make a deep playoff run, if not go all the way to the Stanley Cup. In some ways, the Preds were their own worst enemy. They spent way too much time on the penalty kill, and seemed almost lethargic.

The Sharks did us no favors. They generally outshot us, and showed a real ability to stay in the game at all times (the obvious exception being our one win of the series). They made things happen by simply putting the puck on net, while we seemed content to wait for a fancy play to materialize.

Looking back on all this, the big question is simply "what happened?" This team had no shortage of talent (Kariya, Forsberg, Dumont, Weber, Radulov, Erat, Legwand...) yet managed to go from being in the driver's seat in February to dropping crucial late-season games. After some thought, the answer I've (unfortunately) started to come up with is that the problem lies with the coaching. Barry Trotz has done a great job of turning around this franchise. However, as we've moved into the ranks of the NHL's best teams, with an ever-increasing array of talent, we've hit a wall. For three straight seasons, we've made it to the first round of the playoffs, only to make a rapid exit. It seems that Trotz may not be the man to take us further. It may be premature to say this, and I'm certainly not advocating that he be shown the door right away. Hopefully, these past couple seasons have been a fluke. Let's see what happens, and go for a Cup in 2008.