Slug in a ditch!

The worst loss I ever witnessed personally was a 10-2 loss vs the Rangers in November of 1998. I'm so glad the Lightning tried to match that effort in futility tonight.

Listless.
Uninspired.
Lacking in desire.
Just plain awful.

Even those words don't adequately explain what happened on the ice in Madison Square Garden. I'm sure there will be the usual post game responses from the players:

"We have to put tonight's game behind us."
"We were just outplayed tonight."
"I don't know what happened, we just didn't have it tonight."
"Frankly, I had the over on goals scored so winner, winner chicken dinner!"

O.k. so we probably won't hear anyone admit to the last one, but for all intents and purposes (what a silly phrase when you type it out) the season is over for the Bolts. They don't have the extra gear needed to make a playoff run.

Is that disappointing? A little, but it's not the end of the world. Despite inconsistent play they have improved over the last two seasons. This team is on the right path and with the right moves during the trading deadline and in the off-season they could seriously make a run next year.

So, the point of this post, which I admit is typed in haste and the disillusionment that follows a nasty defeat, is that I'm declaring the season over. No playoff revenue for the hometown boys this season. If the Lightning prove me wrong and go on a sudden hot streak I'll be the first to admit I was wrong, but I don't see that happening.

I'm upset with the loss and the inconsistently that they've displayed this season, but I'm not going to curse Tocchet's name or carry on about how certain players are lazy and nonchalant about the team's affairs.

Nor am I going to call for the owners' heads or question Brian Lawton's manhood. Because deep down I believe that they are focused on building a winning team. Whatever their motivation may be, be it pride, money or a sense of community, they all have vested interests in putting a winning team on the ice.

Fans tend to forget who's money is at stake. We might shell out a couple of a hundred of dollars, perhaps even thousands on season tickets and merchandise, but that pales in comparison to the millions the owners put up - even if it's not as many millions as they said they would put up.

Thank you for listening to a mini-rambling rant about a team you don't care about. By the way, the title is a reference to how TV versions of movies used to dub over curse words. In the Michael J Fox/ James Woods blockbuster "The Hard Way" one of the stations dubbed in "Slug in Ditch" for the more vulgar Son of a B*tch. It was funny only because there was a scene where it was repeated about 6 times in a row....hmmm maybe you had to be there.