Vokoun's Done

The Preds' second trip to the playoffs will be without Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun's condition is a lot more serious than the Preds ever let on. He will recover--but it will probably be a long time. Just in general, showing general human emotion about it, we can all hope he gets back to health--hockey or no hockey, in the future.

As for hockey itself, I am not going to be one to jump off the bridge because of it, because I think Chris Mason can be capable. I also tend to believe that because of Vokoun's dominance, defensive players often get lulled into a false sense of security and don't do their jobs as well. I wonder what Vokoun's numbers would be like if the defense played like madmen all year.

Anyway, all arguments are going to be moot at this point. We can all say the Preds' now have no chance or they've been severely damaged, but I'm not going to jump on that bandwagon. Everyone needs to support Mason now. Being at the game against the Blues a couple of weeks ago, I know the fans are willing. If anything, we should be excited to see the guy get a shot, be the man come playoff time. We have a perfectly capable guy who hasn't been destroyed by a long season of games. Even if that's the tiniest glimmer of hope for, perhaps, some of you, it should be enough.

UPDATE: No surprise, The Tennessean has thrown themselves off the bridge because of Vokoun. Here's the main article, throwing in an editorial comment before you can even read the thing, and of course, the always naysaying Joe Biddle jumps the gun.