Well, the two disappointing 5-1 losses last week against 'easy' teams really put a damper on the postseason hopes, and the trading of players like Bryan McCabe, Cory Stillman and Dennis Wideman has all but solidified our need to tank. With the draft class shaping up into just what we need, all we have left to do is maneuver ourselves into position for a bountiful draft day. Now believe me, there will be games in which we need to play for pride, but those will come down the line. Right now, tanking is in our hands as much as it is in the hands of other teams.

The rules for tanking become simpler, although much more painful, starting with #1, the Panthers must almost always lose #2, teams below us in the standings must always win #3, Bettman points must be earned! Okie dokie then...

Some things to note, in order to tank correctly, we have to look into the mighty Western Conference now that playoffs are no longer a concern. We now need to root furiously for Edmonton and Colorado to string together some wins, as well as give some love to struggling St. Louis. In the Eastern Conference, we need Ottawa and the New York Islanders to win some games and New Jersey to keep their miraculous run to the playoffs going. The factor of games played becomes inverted when you strive to tank, as now we want teams to have played less games which therefore gives them more points to potentially earn.

Here is how the league standings look today (2/28):

Now, if everything works out in our favor, the potential standings on March 7th:

And there we sit, just a few points away from cashing in on Sean Couturier, cool right? Wrong, this f-ing sucks to write, I hate the fact that I am willingly hoping for the Panthers to lose. The fact is, the playoff race in the East is becoming distant and crowded, and we have traded away all but the essential players today. Bring on the draft, next year is going to be much sweeter when we have the scoring problem fixed and can make our way into the postseason. So lets get this season over with and set sail for a crap-tastic week!