Gary Bettman can spin all he wants about the economic health of the NHL. We'll let actions speak for themselves.

Yesterday, the Miami Herald reported that the Florida Panthers had laid off "at least 10" of their employees in the sales, charity and PR divisions. The club has also enacted a number of cost-saving measures, including banning all overnight/express mail. If employees want to courier something, they must first get approval. Meanwhile, just to rub it in, Bryan McCabe will continue to earn $5.75 million per year until 2010-11. His massive cheques, however, will no longer be sent via FedEx.

It's not just the Panthers that are feeling the crunch south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Try not to be shocked that the Atlanta Thrashers are playing in front of quite a few empty seats at Philips Arena.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Announced attendance for the first four home games averaged 13,943, down 1,342 per game from the first four games of last season. The Thrashers have announced two crowds of fewer than 12,000, the lowest attendance in more than four years. And the announced attendance, the number of tickets distributed, has been thousands higher than the number of people in the seats.

It doesn't help that the Thrashers are an awful hockey team with one high-priced star, Ilya Kovalchuk. "What about Dorn Mathieu Schneider?" - "Forget about Schneider - he's just high priced."

Other teams struggling at the gate include all the old favourites. According to ESPN's figures, the New York Islanders are averaging 13,348, the Columbus Blue Jackets are drawing 13,801, Nashville is at 14,279 and the New Jersey Devils (in a new building, no less) are bringing in 14,821.

One other team to keep an eye on is Tampa Bay. In 2006, still basking in the glow of the 2004 Stanley Cup, the Lightning averaged 20,509, second to only Montreal. In 2007, that number dropped to 19,876. In 2008, it was 18,692. This year, it's all the way down to 16,000.

Last Tuesday against Atlanta, there were only 13,922 on hand at the St. Pete Times Forum, and, no, the Rays did not play that night.

"What do you want me to do, dive for it?" (Roger Dorn video)