A team that had been missing from the national spotlight vaulted itself back into hockey prominence thanks to its wacky post-game celebrations. But for the first three months of the season, it seemed like the Storm Surge would be the only reason to pay the team any attention.
A hot start was a distant memory by the time the team finished a dismal 4-9-2 stretch in late December. A different story erupted in the second half of the season. By the trading deadline, hockey pundits started to pay attention for what was happening on the ice before the final whistle.