Each day this week, I will featuring one of the five finalists in the search for the new SensChirp contributor.
I have narrowed the search to five contributions and will be posting the entry from each of the final five over the course of this week. The readers will have a chance to give their feedback at the bottom of the article.
Reality and the Super Fan
In the weeks and months leading up to this years draft, there were a lot of expectations for the Ottawa Senators. Everywhere you looked there was someone making a post on a blog or a tweet for Murray and co. to draft a name like Huberdeau, Landeskog, Couturier, Larsson, Strome or Dougie Hamilton. A few people were even calling for the GM to sell the farm and trade up to the top spot for Nugent-Hopkins.
Some fans thought they were doing their part going to games across the region “scouting” former Ranger’s captain Gabriel Landeskog when he played against the 67’s in March or watching the Voltigeur’s Couturier and Saint John’s Huberdeau play against the Olympique in the QMJHL playoffs. The reality of the situation is that few of us actually have scouting credentials and even fewer actually took into account what this team really needs; an NHL ready top 6 forward, who can put the puck in the net on a regular basis.
On the morning of June 24th 2011, the day of this years draft in Minnesota, there was a rumour going around that the Colorado Avalanche had sent Paul Stastny and the 2nd overall pick to the Senators for Jason Spezza and the 6th overall pick. It’s hard to believe either club would give up a fan favourite, but given comments made earlier by Stastny’s dad regarding a previous Avs trade, maybe it could be true?
Therein lies the danger of rumours and the so called “Super Fan”. When the Sens stepped up to the podium, going off the predicted path by selecting Mika Zibanejad, I’m sure a lot of people wondered how they had overlooked him or at the very least went to Youtube to view his videos. The reality is that rarely are these fanatical rumours accurate and the inability of these fans to live in the present makes the rest of us scratch our heads.
What I’ve learned from this years draft especially, is it’s best to let the professionals do their jobs. That a player like Sean Couturier (who was as inflated as anyone in this draft) could fall to 8th spot, should be enough for anyone to realize. As fans it’s our responsibility to step back and enjoy the game, instead of trying to become a part of it.
