No-Man's Land!

UPDATE: Thank you to all those well wishes for FR2! I am happy to report that FR2 was released this morning on bond. He is at home relaxing and working on his defense. The entire fauxrumors family is confident that with the help of our high power lawyers and acquittal will be achieved. As we mention before...FR2 had no clue the boy he was involved with was under 18 and therefore we are sure he will be vindicated!

1) The original meaning of No-Man's land came from WWI. It referred to the area between the trenches that the troops had built. Usually filled with mines and covered with wire fences, anyone caught in this area was in grave danger (thank you to BrokeBack guy for letting me know that the term No-Man's Land actually dates back to the 14th century and for last night too! Source: Wikipedia)

2) With regard to the NHL, the no-man's land we're alluding to here are the teams that fail to make the playoffs, but don't fall into the bottom 5(lottery) teams. By finishing in the slots from 17th to 25th they are assured of not getting playoff revenue that many teams rely upon to turn a profit. Worse yet, they not only miss out on that cash, they also miss out on attaining the top prospects in the draft. Reducing their abilities to convince fans that they are going to be improving. Many teams use the draft(draft party) to use as a ticket drive or sorts. By attempting to excite their fans into believing that they will be chock full of top prospects/exciting young players, folks will be more likely to plop down money to see these players in action the following fall

3) It seems that annually the same teams seem to be in this predicament. Toronto and Florida have both failed to make the playoffs the past 3 seasons and have also been well above the bottom 5. Good enough to not be a lottery team, but not good enough to make the playoffs. The problem is even more acute for the panthers who have failed to make the post season an astounding 8 years strait, yet have been above the bottom 5(lottery) the past 5 seasons. The result: mediocrity.