dude, this thread NEEDED cold water, it's amazing to see everyone so divided on this issue now,.... where was the debate when he was playing horrible? I don't remember all that many threads asking board members to give the guy a break or stop being so hard on him. If anything WAS said it was merely a slight suggestion, but never an emphatic level of support. Maybe those who were willing to be patient sat silently in the wings out of fear of getting flamed but this thread in a way a disgrace. There is no denying his early performance (eh hem, read lack there of). There's no denying his pay. Fans had a right to be upset, they spend hard earned free time and hard earned money on supporting these guys to get paid enormous sums of money to play a kids game. If this was Billy from around the corner and he was struggling in his pee wee league, then yeah, the whole "these guys are human" argument holds up. But this isn't Billy from around the corner, this is a hired professional. Would the patience be there for a doctor that was supposed to be the best if he was screwing up a surgery on a loved one? Or what about a financial manager that you hired who's poor performance meant your financial portfolio just went right down the toilet? Of course not, but since this is just a game it's okay to suck for a while? I guess those aren't really $51mil real world dollars this guy was cashing in either right? And it wasn't some poor guys hard earned money and time off that he spent taking his son to a game? get real. He sucked, and thus he deserved all the criticism and boos he received. That said, the guy is playing great and thus deserves praise. It's O-KAY. People are allowed to say a player is sucking if he is sucking and then turn around and say "it's about time" when the player is living up to the expectations set by his contract. I've been in the camp of wondering when he was going to finally be good. I wasn't about to ignore is piss poor play, but at the same time I knew there had to be quality there. I speculated in the past that it would take him getting to the off season to digest the market, the expectations, the contract and not think about the WC or 24/7 and just play hockey. It looks like I might be wrong (might NOT because I don't have faith, but because I'd hate to jinx it). So yeah, I'm no nay sayer, and I'm not going to be running around saying "see guys, I told ya so" either. He gets the same treatment I give all the athletes I cheer for. When you suck, I boo you. When you play well, I cheer you. Does it really have to be any more complicated than this? really?