Tanking

Image sources:
https://www.nhl.com/coyotes/news/pre-game-capsule-coyotes-vs-sabres/c-292539750
https://www.rosterresource.com/tag/cleveland-browns-2017/

Tanking... If you are a big fan of either NFL football, NBA basketball or NHL hockey you know exactly what I am talking about.

There are certain teams in major North American sports leagues that are continually at the bottom of their respective standings. In the past 5 years or so, in the NHL it has been the Buffalo Sabres and the Arizona Coyotes. Tonight they will battle it out for the crown of the worst team in the NHL standings.

Over the past 10 years or so, until the Oilers drafted Connor McDavid first overall you could say that the Oilers unintentionally tanked. It is often the result of hiring poor General Managers and sub par coaches and you end up looking at minor league style rosters iced or fielded and wonder 'how did they get there.'

I personally have embraced the tank over the past 4 or so years with the Vancouver Canucks. It is funny how their General Manager Jim Benning has negotiated some horrible overpaid buy-out worthy contracts (Loui Eriksson being a prime example). And he tried to be 'competetive' by overpaying veteran NHL players when they had apparently 'committed' to a rebuild. His incompetence somehow awarded him a 3 or so year extension in the past month.

Though it feels wrong, us fans often beg our GMs to tank or 'rebuild' because we know with the type of talent our team has, they will forever be just missing the playoffs and will end up with a wasted season and the 10th - 15th overall pick and we know unless our team tanks, we will forever be stuck in that bubble. Teams tend to deliberately do so when there is a prized player available. This year in the NHL it is Rasmus Dahlin. A Swedish forward being said to be something like a combination of an Erik Karlsson and Viktor Hedman. I heard a Vancouver radio host say he is like the defenceman's version of Connor McDavid.

In the NBA, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks admitted in the last month or so that he wants his team to tank.

We can debate what can be done to prevent tanking but tanking seems to be here to stay. Most professional teams in North America had to be terrible at one point to land a top 3-5 pick to win a Championship or make the Finals. Look at what LeBron James had done to the Cavaliers shortly after his rookie season. Look at what the Chicago Blackhawks did in drafting Jonathan Toews 3rd overall in 2006 and Patrick Kane first overall in 2007. They are the closest thing to being a modern day NHL dynasty winning 3 Stanley cups in a about a 5 or so year span.

What are your thoughts on tanking. Have you ever embraced the tank?