I blame the media for alot of this. They raise expectations of the team to stupid levels when everyone KNOWS it is not that good a team. They are not even close to competing and if by some miracle they pulled it together and scraped 8th place, they would be one and done, probably by a sweep. The east is crap, but the top 3 or 4 teams are way better than the other 11 or 12 teams.
Media, from what I understand, are far too negative about the players. That is quite a de-motivator. Think about it. If you are constantly criticized in your job, most people eventually lose interest and don't see the point in trying. Salary is irrelevant. These guys earn so much it is probably not even a factor in their thinking on a day to day basis. If you keep telling someone they suck, eventually they will believe it too. Its a self-fufiling prophecy. Funny how when players leave this atmosphere they go on fire, Stempniak springs to mind last year with Phoenix. TO is a poisonous atmosphere for these guys.
Just my .02 cents.