Suppose you did not win the lottery, and I refer not to the genetic lottery, which the two Florida Panthers fans above failed to win, clearly, but the actual Florida Lottery.

Normally, that's sort of where your journey with those lottery tickets ends. You buy a scratch ticket. You scratch it. If you do not win, you throw the ticket away. It has no further value.

But not so fast! Just because your ticket is a losing ticket doesn't mean it can't still be a winning ticket! Why, in the world of Florida hockey, that bad boy is currency.

The Florida Panthers will accept $10 worth of used scratch-off tickets for in exchange for actual hockey tickets. From the Panthers' fan zone:

Fans who submit $10 or more of non-winning Florida Lottery Scratch-Off Ticket(s) at the BB&T Center Box Office will receive an upper level end zone ticket (valued at $20) for a Tuesday or Thursday regular season home game. Fans can redeem their game tickets at the BB&T Center Box Office from Monday-Friday 9am – 5pm or Day of Game. Game tickets will be valid only for Tuesday or Thursday games. Promotion ends on Mar. 29 game vs. Canadiens.

Again, that's non-winning. The Florida Panthers don't want your money. They want your trash.

In other words, as the first official rule of the promotion states, "no purchase necessary." You can basically get Florida Panthers tickets for pieces of scrap paper now. No word on whether they will also take buttons, feathers, shoelaces, hugs, or cut-up of bits of sponge.

Either way, Panthers fans are going to be way more experienced at the barter system when the world economy collapses.

As a hockey fan in Vancouver, where the cost of a ticket to see a once-great hockey team that can't score goals remains half your paycheque and your firstborn son, this is astounding.

Man. First the butt slide, then this? Florida fan has all the fun.

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Harrison Mooney is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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