Panthers Playoff Famine

Some say the Florida Panthers are in the middle of a playoff drought. This is not true. A drought would mean that there is a group of people that really want something to happen, but not enough has gone wrong to really affect too much.

Others refer to the Florida Panthers as “playoff starved.” This is also not true. A starved group would mean that people are on the verge of disaster if something doesn’t happen soon enough.

No, the only term to describe what the Florida Panthers are going through is playoff famine. That means that most fans have already succumbed to the situation, and the few remaining are on the verge of joining them.

The way things are going, the Panthers will miss the playoffs again this year, tying the all-time record for most consecutive seasons out of the playoffs, at nine. And so, another group of season ticket holders and hardcore fans will bite the dust, bringing the already low number down further. In a market that most call unfit for a hockey team, Florida can ill afford to keep up this dangerous streak.

We all know the only way that hockey can succeed down here is icing a team that wins. The fact that there are any fans left at all speaks to the incredible devotion of the hardcore fans that do exist.

I’m not writing anything that anybody doesn’t already know. We need to make the playoffs and we need to have made them yesterday. Even though most of us, including myself, have admitted that the playoffs just aren’t in the cards this year, the back of my mind still dreams of making a run. A run that doesn’t find us ruining out draft stock only to miss the playoffs by a point, but one that actually gets us into the big dance.

The chances are greater that an alien space craft crashes through my window right this second and abducts…

All kidding aside, the playoffs are extremely unrealistic again here in South Florida, but forgive me for not being able to completely let the dream die in the back of my head. There’s too much at stake, including the fate of a franchise that needs success more than any other in the sport.

I have already promised the Greek goddess Athene a permanent segment on my sports talk radio show if the Panthers can somehow get into the playoffs (I’m in a Greek Epic class right now). With all the bad luck this team has had in the past, it may take the work of a Greek goddess to exorcise the demons.

Tags: Florida Panthers, Playoff Drought