The same people who have always stood up and cheered for him are probably continuing to do so. It may be time to accept that this is what America is now.

If you tell a good story people will be drawn to it. This holds true for books, poetry, comics, music, movies, and all the other media I am forgetting as I cobble together a half-assed list off the top of my head.

I think the rough part is the confidence of the fan base leans toward fragile right now given how the past few years have played out. If this team had recent solid playoff runs everyone would be talking about when things will bounce back and how a nice win streak will fix everything.

Sure, but where are all of the porn bots.

Given how media works in Canada I treat any trade rumor with TO with a huge grain of salt. They are listed as a destination for literally every good player that hits the market. I prefer sleepy ones that fly mostly under the radar, like LA or possibly even WPG which is a prospect/pick heavy team.

He'll learn from that, especially if they do not move him and eventually enter discussions regarding him staying / next contract. Lower commitment to a player is accompanied by a lowered commitment to the org on the part of that player.