How 'bout that? Another scathing - but honest - MSM Panthers article

Sports Illustrated's Allan Muir - my personal favorite over there - hasn't thought too highly of the Cats' organization and its' results thus far (pre-win over Lightning):

"The culture of losing is deeply ingrained in this squad. Only one player, Radek Dvorak, was in uniform the last time the Panthers played a game that mattered. Thirteen regulars have never appeared in the postseason. The tough truth is it'll take more than DeBoer's motivational wizardry to address this mess."

Says more about the Ducks than it does the Cats, given what transpired in Anaheim a couple of nights ago.

A Closer Look: Sports Illustrated Power Rankings 10/28/08 (Your Cats: 15th)

From Hell's heart I stab at thee... Fifteenth! Now that's confidence. And up from last week's placement at 18. Scott Wraight must be gunning for free tickets over the holidays while in Boca (hey Scott...$35 at the Broward DMV will get you a nifty license entitling you to passage along the beautiful "Florida's Turnpike" AND two freebie admissions once. Once.)

Anyway, Here's how the Cats stack up at the SI offices.

Teams above: DET (3, up from 6, 6-1-1, "sluggish start"???), SJS (6, up from 7 - after losing to FLA, they're up?), COL (10, up from 15)

Teams below: ANH (18, up from 28), NAS (21, down from 19), LAK (24, down from 19...hmm...how'd they get to 19 in the first place?)

A Closer Look: Sports Illustrated Power Rankings (Your Cats: 21st)

And we're off: the first of the MSM's pointless but must-read-like-a-crack-whore-needs-her-junk "power rankings" is upon us.

Scott Wraight at Si.com starts off the festivities, ranking the Cats a lowly 21st out of 29. Oops. Sorry Toronto, I meant to type 30. Haven't even played a game and already we're behind defensive mainstay Tampa Bay (15th). Hey lookie there...we're better than New York! No, the other New York.

Oh well, get used to it. We all know the drill. Respect will be earned after a 10-4 start out of the gate (sounds pretty steep, eh?). Seeing as the last playoff game in Sunrise took place in 2000, I can't beat up on him or any of the countless others who will agree.