Pack It In
February 7th, 2010 | by imber |During each season of the past decade, there has come a point in time where each Florida Panthers fan has had to say, “Well it’s over – try again next season.”
This year I’m suggesting we all do ourselves a favor and admit it early. Because while the fact remains that Florida is only two measly points out of the playoffs, there is really so much hidden by that same notion. The Panthers are tied for the fifth worst point total in the NHL. They are eight points away from being the 2nd worst team in the league. That would be good enough to give the Panthers a shot at the number one pick of the upcoming draft, although that would take luck, and not ‘Panthers Luck.’
Panthers Luck dictates that the worst possible thing will happen every single season. Last year, it was having a playoff caliber record in the best Eastern Conference in some time (every day it’s looking more and more like 93 points would get the Panthers home ice advantage in the first round this year). This year it has clearly been the crucial loss of Nathan Horton. It is becoming more obvious every day just what a difference Horton had on the team. Not only was he scoring, but he was making everybody around him a better player (making huge impacts on both Reinprecht and especially Weiss).
The way it stands now, this team has no shot at the playoffs, and would be better off building for the future (for the umpteenth time). Last night they managed just 13 shots in an entire game against a teammate that they were trying to make a point against. Tonight, they couldn’t beat a team that had traveled all day and was so late to the game that it needed to be moved back nearly an hour. Oh, and they just lost their super star too.
Just about everybody around the Panthers won tonight – Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and the Rangers. Even the Bruins grabbed another OT point, something Florida hasn’t done in a while. If there’s a chart mapping the Panthers playoff hopes, it just fell off the paper tonight.
This Panthers team is a lot like the Bad News Bears, and there isn’t much hope that things will get any better.
Tags: Florida Panthers, Nathan Horton
By VanMurph on Feb 8, 2010
I am saddened by the state in which we currently find our team…
The blog entry above is well-written and is to the point. I feel we are going to be in for another letdown in the coming months. It’s tough to admit, but our hockey team is just not that good. In fact, it’s currently one of the worst in the league.