The Ice Sheet: How to Root for Those Pesky Cats

Watching the hockey news wires Sunday, it was clear that some important news coming out of Florida was being squelched.

Yes, I suppose it was exciting that Sidney Crosby stepped up to defend teammate Evgeni Malkin. Then again, I think just as much attention, if not more, should be paid to the perfectly executed hip check that Keith Ballard delivered to send Malkin tumbling through the air in the first place. In hockey, the hip check has become a lost art. Bravo to Ballard for fearlessly delivering it clean, hard and without fear against one of the game's biggest names. But we shouldn't ignore the fact that the Panthers actually managed to win the game, 4-2.

After watching Ballard wipe out Malkin -- go and watch it again now, I'll wait -- I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the Panthers. I'll freely admit that's a bit abnormal, as I live in the Washington suburbs and have gotten used to thinking of them as a surprisingly pesky division rival of the Capitals. But I'm feeling sympathy nonetheless, and part of it comes from the realization that this franchise -- one that endured a raft of layoffs in their business operations earlier this year -- needs to make the playoffs more than just about any other franchise in the NHL outside of Phoenix.

Outside of that magical run to the finals all the way back in 1996 -- and boy does that make me feel old -- there hasn't been all that much to cheer about hockey-wise in South Florida lately. The Panthers haven't managed to win a playoff round since then, and haven't made the postseason since 2000-'01. Everything that's happened in between, we ought to admit, has been supremely forgettable, and I'm sure seeing their in-state rivals, the Lightning, win it all back in 2004 had to hurt something fierce.

Even franchises in established hockey cities like Boston and Chicago have had trouble reconnecting with their fans after long absences from the postseason. But in a non-traditional market like South Florida, one that doesn't have a great record of supporting professional sports in the first place, such a long absence has served as a virtual death sentence for the Panthers. More than a few Canadian hockey writers have started circling like vultures in hopes they might be relocated somewhere north of the border, a contention that I'm sure sits well with the actual fans of the team, more than 18,000 of whom showed up for Sunday's win against Pittsburgh.

That win allowed the Panthers to climb into a virtual tie for eighth place in the conference with the New York Rangers. Thanks to a sackload of shootout wins, the Rangers hold the tiebreaker between the two teams, both of whom have three games left in the regular season.

So who would you want to see make the playoffs, New York or Florida? With the way the standings are looking right now, it probably won't matter all that much, as any team that finishes in the eighth spot in the East would likely turn into cannon fodder for the resurgent Bruins. Then again, think of it this way: which franchise could best survive another postseason miss? If the Rangers fail to make the postseason, it might well cost GM Glen Sather his job, but in the end Madison Square Garden will still be filled and so will their corporate coffers.

But if the Panthers fail to make the postseason, it's easy to see how complete disaster could befall the franchise. After yet another miss, it's impossible to see how pending unrestricted free agent Jay Bouwmeester might return to the team next season. Without a reason for fans to believe in the near term, ticket sales will continue to fall in an economic downturn. What would happen after that would be anybody's guess.

Businesses fail all the time, and seeing ice hockey fail in South Florida wouldn't exactly be a surprise. But that doesn't mean you have to root for it to happen.

Every Monday morning The Ice Sheet will take a close look at everything that's happened in the NHL since Friday night at 5:00 PM -- or if need be, anything else the author wants to bleat about. To read them all, click here.