To be fair, almost every decent hockey player has an off year or two. Carey Price had a .900 save percentage this season — the worst of his career — which compounded the pain for the Canadiens, who stumbled to their lowest points total in an 82-game season since 2000-2001.
But what makes Darling’s season more disappointing is the timing. His freshly signed four-year, $16.6M contract was immediately soured by an extremely inconsistent year in net, leading Caniacs to wince every time his name was announced as starting goalie.
You may think, “Hey, at least he isn’t Eddie Lack.