Theme Week: Vancouver vs. Complacency

[dogwoodmaple 380]

When you're the defending champions and currently in first place in the league, there's truly only one rival that can stand up against you - complacency.  There's a reason why there's a saying about how it's harder to stay at the top than it is to get to the top.  The big reason is that it's difficult to have that necessary competitive edge on a daily basis.  So many teams get to the top of the mountain and just run out of gas or get soft.  They celebrate their achievements and are happy to rest on their laurels, not wanting or not willing to put it all back on the line to make it happen again.  That's currently what we're fighting in Vancouver and it is a daily struggle.  Yes, we won a title.  Yes, we're atop the table.  Yes, it is tempting to downshift and just sort of coast for weeks at a time.  But that's when we have to remind ourselves that there's a huge difference between winning one cup and winning multiple.  Winning one could be a fluke.  Winning one could just be a great run of luck.  Winning one could mean the right player got incredibly hot at the right time.  But winning that second one? Especially if it's a second in a row?  The entire conversation changes.  There are whispers of "dynasty".  There are talks about front office members having a fast track to the Hall of Fame.  And most importantly, there's no discounting that second title.  One can be explained away by other teams.  But not two.  And that's our goal this year in Vancouver, but we face that complacency opponent every single time we look in the mirror.  Each night, we get everyone's best shot.  We get 110% effort from every opponent night in and night out and if we're not ready?  If we've lost that battle with complacency that night?  It could get ugly.  And that's not what we want for our franchise or our incredible fans.  They support us every single game and it's not fair to them if we don't put our best foot forward on the ice every single night.  Now, we're not perfect and we let complacency get the better of us from time to time, but we have to continue to keep that monster at bay, especially with the playoffs right around the corner.  Humility is a game away and if we let the complacency demon get us, we could be looking at a first round exit and draw the ire of all of Wolves nation.  It's a constant battle, but the run we went on last season gave us the boost we need this year to fend it off as best we can.  We saw what working hard every day could result in.  How exuberant we all were.  How every fan celebrated for days on end after we won.  We know what's at stake and we know that it will all be worth it if we bring it home again.  All those late nights, all that hard work, all those daily battles with complacency.  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we know what's waiting for us.  We just have to finish the drill.