I am watching the last period of Florida Panthers hockey this season.  For the 9th straight year the Panthers aren’t making the playoffs.  This was the best Panthers season since 1999-2000.  For once the reason the Panthers didn’t make the playoffs because of inconsistent effort and a lack of talent.  This year the Panthers had good effort but did not have enough talent to make the playoffs.  Two areas where talent can win a team games is the power play and the shootout.  The Panthers had the 24th best power play in the league and they went 3-8 in the shootout.  If the Panthers were just a little better in the shootout or the power play then they would have made the playoffs.

The Panthers simply weren’t good enough.  The Panthers had to play their A game every night to make the playoffs.  It is impossible over an 82 game season for everybody on a NHL team to play their A game every night.  I don’t want to continue going over what went wrong with the season.  There were two stretches that killed the team, the first 13 games of the season and the 10 games a couple of weeks ago when the team lost 8 of 10.  So enough with that and let’s see who is staying and who is going?

The team’s unrestricted free agents are:

Jay Bouwmeester – It’s pretty much accepted around the hockey world that Jay Bouwmeester is leaving the Panthers this summer.  I would have been okay with this if he had played better in the 10 games after the deadline when the Panthers fell apart.  This was not Jay’s best year.  He did not play well for very long stretches of the season while in other games he was a world class defenceman.  I don’t know if he is worth $7 million a year for 6 or 7 years.  I think he would me more effective if he played 24-25 minutes instead of 27 minutes a game.  I can’t blame the guy for leaving though.  He hasn’t played in a NHL playoff game.  I hope he signs with a Western Conference team.

Nick Boynton – Since Steve Eminger is in the lineup tonight and Boynton was suspended by the team for arguing with Peter DeBoer.  Boynton played fine when he was on the ice for the team but I think the trade for Eminger and the return of Bryan Allen next year means that he won’t be back.

Karlis Skrastins – Skrastins was prone to defensive miscues, especially around his own net but he was a solid player otherwise and was excellent at blocking shots.  I can see Jacques Martin trying to re-sign Karlis but I’m not sure if he will be willing to spend much more than the $2.4 million that he made this season.

Jassen Cullimore – Cullimore played this year mainly because Allen was hurt early in the year and the Panthers did not trust Noah Welch to be the 6th defenceman.  Cullimore gave the Panthers what they expected but wore down as the year went on and showed that he doesn’t have any puck skills and doesn’t play well in space.  I don’t think he will be back with the Panthers.

Richard Zednik – Zednik was a great story this year coming back from a life threatening neck injury to play a full season except for one stint on the injured list in December.  He gave the Panthers what you would expect from him with 17 goals.  I don’t think Zednik will be back because he’s not really a third or fourth line player in that he’s not that effective of a defensive player.  The Panthers are also hoping that Olesz and Frolik and maybe Michael Repik will take over a top 6 role.  I hope he does catch on somewhere else though and plays well.

Radek Dvorak – I thought Radek played really well this year as a third line forward.  He was very good on the PK and gave the Panthers what you would want from a third line winger.  I think the Panthers are going to try and keep their third line together and will re-sign Dvorak and Peltonen to play with Campbell.  This third line was one of the better third lines in the league this past year.

Ville Peltonen – Ville was a tough player for the Panthers this year, playing through injuries throughout the year.  As with Dvorak I think the Panthers bring Ville back for one year at a reasonable number so the Panthers can keep the third line together.

Craig Anderson – This is an interesting case.  I can’t see Craig Anderson coming back this summer.  Why would he come back when he will probably have a better chance of being a starting goalie elsewhere.  I don’t think the Panthers will trade Vokoun this summer becuase of his contract and the fact Vokoun has a no-trade clause.  Anderson at his best could be a solid #1 goalie and at worst would be a great part of a two goalie system.  If I’m the LA Kings I’m offering a contract to Craig Anderson.

The team’s restricted free agents of note are:

David Booth – The Panthers have to keep David Booth.  If he leaves because the Panthers do not match an offer sheet then the team should trade each and every one of their veterans and start from scratch.  Booth scored 31 goals in 72 games this year which was 8 goals more than anyone else on the team.  He will be back and will probably take up most of the cap room saved from Bouwmeester leaving.

Anthony Stewart – I loved Anthony Stewart’s work ethic this year.  He will eventually be an effective third line winger.  I am not sure if he will realize this future in Florida though.  The Panthers will have Campbell, Tarnasky, Kreps, Matthias and maybe Dvorak and Peltonen to play on the third and fourth lines.  Brett McLean may be back as well so it might be best for Anthony to get a shot with another organization.

Steve Eminger – Eminger scored his first goal as a Panther tonight.  As long as his salary demands are not unreasonable I think he will be back as the Panthers sixth defenceman next year.  Hopefully he will take a step forward like Campbell and Weiss who also played for DeBoer as a junior.

The only potential buy-out I could see is Brett McLean who did not have a strong season.

So if who I think is staying and leaving is right then the 2009-2010 Panthers lineup will look like:

Forwards:

Stillman – Weiss – Frolik

Booth – Horton – Olesz

Peltonen – Campbell – Dvorak

Repik/Matthias/McLean/Tarnasky/Kreps

Defence:

Ballard – McCabe

Allen – Skrastins

Eminger/Ellerby/Garrison

Goalies

Vokoun – ? (Shantz, Plante?)

Does this team make the playoffs next year?  I don’t know.  Frolik/Olesz and maybe one of the other young forwards will have to continue to develop.  A real key to next year will be Nathan Horton.  He has to produce more than 22 goals next year.  The Panthers will have to find a backup goaltender and probably one more depth defenceman in case Ellerby or Garrison isn’t ready.

This is going to be an interesting offseason to say the least.  The Panthers could either take a big step forward and make the playoffs next year and even cause some damage in the playoffs or they could take a step back and fall behind Buffalo, Toronto, Tampa and even Atlanta for playoff contention.

We will see.  One more reason that sports suck is the fact that the Indians haven’t won yet this year.  You can’t win a playoff spot in April but you can sure as heck lose one.  Let’s hope that the Indians pitching staff steps it up so they don’t fall too far behind in the AL Central.

Thanks for reading.

The Thrashers have just scored and the Rangers are up 1-0 on the Flyers so this hasn’t started well.  It’s been a roller coaster of a season hasn’t it?

The Panthers have come out too aggressive and did a good job killing off the 5 on 3 to begin with but couldn’t stop the Atlanta power play after another penalty by Olesz.  They are on the PP now so hopefully they will get the win back.

And now the Rangers have scored again and are up 2-0.  The Panthers have no one to blame but themselves.  They have blown a number of 3rd period leads in the last month or so.

Okay with the Indians losing their first 3 games while giving up 82 runs and the Panthers down I’m going to come back later when I can be a  bit more positive.  This will be an interesting offseason no matter how the Panthers finish.  Everyone knows Bouwmeester is gone so we will see what happens.

The Panthers won their first game of the season on Saturday when David Booth scored in OT against the Thrashers.  Once again the Panthers played an aggressive game and deserved to win.  If they can keep this pace up then I think we will have a shot at a playoff spot.  I was happy that Frolik and Stewart were in the lineup.  Hopefully they play tonight as well.  I would like Kreps to play instead of Peltonen so that the young guys can continue to develop. 

Game 3 is tonight at home vs. Minnesota, a team that has had the Panthers’ number over the years.  It will be interesting to see how the Panthers uptempo game will do against the Wild’s trapping style of play.  Here’s hoping the Panthers can push through the trap and can keep the Wild out of their zone.  McCabe likely won’t be in the lineup tonight but at least his back is not broken as initially reported by TSN.  Skrastins may play tonight as well which will be good for the team since Bouwmeester, Allen, Ballard and Boynton have put in a lot of ice time in the first two games. 

I will be watching the first couple of periods tonight since I have to leave after 9 to go play in my pick up hockey game.  Hopefully I survive my game to write a review tomorrow.  As George Richards from the Miami Herald points out, this would be a big win tonight since the next game is Saturday against the Islanders.  Win these next two and the Panthers are in okay shape going into a stretch of 8 out of 10 games on the road. 

This was a quick post since I’m on my lunch hour but I want to be back sometime tomorrow or Saturday with a Game 3 review and preview against the Islanders.  Thanks for reading.

Game 1:  Loss at Carolina 6-4

The Good

The forwards played very well, especially Booth and Horton.  Moving Horton to centre looks like it will pay off since the team has two lines that can score between Horton-Stillman-Olesz and Booth-Weiss-Zednik. 

David Booth’s first goal.  It was a beauty and if he plays all year like he did last night then he should score 30 this year. 

Seeing Richard Zednik back on the ice.  He looked fine out there and that is awesome.

Jay Bouwmeester played an excellent game, setting up the Booth goal and making 2 or 3 excellent outlet passes that led to Panthers breaks during the game.  He is playing with a confidence that we haven’t seen from him and getting him away from Martin’s suffocating system is a plus.

The system the Panthers played.  It was so much fun to watch the Panthers attack for once.  They have some adjustments to make in their own end but their forecheck and speed off the rush was excellent.  It seemed like the Panthers had more puck possession time than in past years.  This is a good thing and I think the Panthers can only improve from this point on.

The Bad

Tomas Vokoun.  He was a slow starter last year too but this team needs all of the points it can get and the team can’t afford bad goals against.  I’m sure Tomas knows this and will get stronger as the year goes on.

The defence at times was a little unorganized.  This is expected since the full team did not play much together in the preseason and guys are getting used to new partners.  Boynton seemed a bit lost out there and Ballard loves delivering the big hit but skated himself out of position a couple of times.  McCabe looked like McCabe for his time on the ice and did alright.  Allen had his good shifts and bad shifts which is a usual night for him.  Murphy played okay but not well in his own end which has been a problem for him ever since he joined the league.  Bouwmeester played great tonight and was the bright spot of the D.  I’m sure they will adjust and play better as the year goes on.

The McCabe injury stinks.  The media says it is a back injury.  Shades of Bertuzzi?  Probably not.  Hopefully it’s a minor thing and McCabe is back on the ice soon.  Well guess what?  I just checked on tsn.ca and he may have broken his back.  I can’t see a guy coming back soon after breaking his freaking back can you?

I want to give DeBoer the benefit of the doubt especially since it was his first game.  But I don’t understand why Frolik, Stewart and Welch watched this game from the press box.  Frolik is one of the team’s top prospects and should either be playing with the Panthers or in Rochester playing top minutes with Matthias.  Stewart was the team’s best forward in the preseason and did everything the Panthers asked him to do over the summer and they reward him with a press box seat?  The Panthers know what they are going to get from Ville Peltonen and Wade Belak.  Let’s see what they can get from Anthony Stewart for once.  I want the team to give him 20 games where they tell him “if you have a bad game you are staying in the NHL”.  I want to see how he can play without looking over his shoulder after every shift.  As for Noah Welch, he will play tonight since McCabe probably isn’t playing with a broken back.  I thought he should have played instead of Murphy last night.  He missed most of last year with the shoulder injury and like Stewart the Panthers need to see what they have in him.  Is the result last night different if DeBoer makes those lineup changes?  Probably not.  But these are choices that will pay off 30 and 40 games from now.  Here’s hoping the forwards are in the lineup with Welch tonight.

Game 2!

Game 2 is the home opener tonight against Atlanta.  It’s Canadian Thanksgiving and I’m going to the parents for turkey so hopefully I will get home to watch the last two periods of the game.  The Thrashers beat the Capitals 7-4 last night so hopefully this will be a let down game for them.  Kovalchuk always plays well against us so the Panthers need to contain him.  I don’t think Atlanta makes the playoffs this year but their goaltending, if Lehtonen is healthy, is solid and their D is going to be above average this year.  This will make them a team that is hard to play against.  Not that the Panthers make anything easier for themselves. 

Thanks for reading.

Let’s try a new title since posting every 3 months doesn’t work for You Heard it Here First.  The Panthers start the 2008-09 season tomorrow in Carolina.  The opening day roster is per www.nhl.com:

Forwards

The forwards on the roster are:  David Booth, Gregory Campbell, Radek Dvorak, Michael Frolik, Nathan Horton, Kamil Kreps, Brett McLean, Rostislav Olesz, Ville Peltonen, Anthony Stewart, Cory Stillman, Stephen Weiss and Richard Zednik.

It will be interesting to see how fast the team cna develop chemistry up front since there were a lot of nagging injuries with Weiss and Booth in particular missing some time.  They both should be in the lineup tomorrow night so that is good.  I am a fan of trying Horton at centre since the Panthers aren’t as strong down the middle as other teams in the league.  There are 13 forwards (14 if you count Belak as a forward).  It will be interesting to see if Frolik or Stewart will play.  Stewart was one of their best players in the preseason and I think the Panthers should give him 20 games of solid minutes so they can finally see if he can fit in and be a good NHL player or if he needs even more time in Rochester.  I think Frolik has to play because it hurts his development to watch games in the press box when he could be on the top line in the AHL.  Matthias was sent down today and I am fine with that.  He will play a lot in Rochester and will be ready to join the team sooner rather than later.

Defencemen

The defencemen on the roster are:  Bryan Allen, Keith Ballard, Wade Belak, Jay Bouwmeester, Nick Boynton, Bryan McCabe, Cory Murphy, Noah Welch, Karlis Skrastins (on injured reserve).

I think Murphy (who cleared waivers yesterday) and Belak will be in the press box tommorrow.  I hope Welch plays so that he can get himself back into game shape after missing so much time last year.  It sounds like Ballard and Boynton are going to play together.  We will see if Bouwmeester plays with McCabe or with Allen.  Allen on the third pairing is better for the team as he can be a solid 16-18 minute defenceman.  He gets a little overexposed when he’s out there for too long.  This might be the best defence corps in the Panthers history.  This should be a strength of the team and not a weakness for the first time since the late 1990’s.

Goaltenders

The goalies on the roster are Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson.  This is the backbone of the team.  Anderson’s emergence as a solid backup should allow Vokoun to stay fresh throughout the year as he tired around the all star break.  These two should be one of the best pairings in the league this year.

Coaching

This is the one part of the team that I am the most excited about.  Peter DeBoer is going to implement a much more aggressive game which will benefit this group of forwards who have good speed.  Hopefully the adjustment period to the NHL doesn’t take too long for DeBoer and hopefully Jacques Martin gives him space and lets him grow without suffocating him with pressure or expectations. 

All in all I’m excited about the Panthers this year.  I think we have a chance at winning the Southeast.  I don’t think any of the experts have the Panthers making the playoffs but I think they have a chance.  Other than 3 or 4 teams the East is wide open and 7-8 teams will be fighting for 4 spots.  Carolina has a couple of injuries up front in Williams and Walker so hopefully the Panthers can take advantage of this and beat the Hurricanes.  Game 2 is the home opener against Atlanta and the Panthers need to win that game for both the home crowd and for the team’s confidence. 

I will try to update more as the season progresses.  Thanks for reading.

Sorry.  I have been too busy lately.  Besides the Panthers and Indians have had me so angry it’s probably for the best I have disappeared.  The Indians stink.  Their starting pitching has been awesome for the most part but the offence and the bullpen need a major overhaul and I don’t think this is their year.  The next three series against Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago will show how their season is going to play out and whether they will trade C.C. or not.

As for the Panthers…  I don’t know.  I can’t rationally speak about the Jokinen trade.  I hope Ballard becomes an all star because that is the only way the Panthers win this trade.  They have signed Olesz for 6 years at over $3 million a year.  I don’t understand this deal and Olesz is one of my favourite Panthers.  Was someone going to give him an offer sheet for this much?  I don’t think so especially when you consider his production and the inability to stay in the lineup.  If Olesz stays healthy and breaks out as expected then this is a good deal, otherwise it’s a deal where he could be bought out in 2 years.

I haven’t heard anything yet about Bouwmeester signing and that scares the hell out of me.  I hope the Panthers match any offers because if someone like Detroit uses their cap room on Bo I don’t want the 28th pick of the first round for the next four years.  I also am afraid of Bouwmeester signing his one year qualifying offer and either leaving as an unrestricted free agent after this season or forcing a trade at the deadline for draft picks.  Either way I do not expect the best.

I will try to get into a posting routine later this week.  I have a lot to complain about.  Thanks for reading.

Baseball is starting!  WHOOOOO!!  I love baseball.  I’m watching George Bush get booed out of his home park and throw a high hard one to Nationals manager Manny Acta.  It’s going to be a fun season I think because the Indians have a chance to make the playoffs and I think the front office knows what they are doing.  Unlike a certain hockey team I follow.  Okay, back to my tax questions.  I just wanted to post about how happy I am that baseball is starting.  I have the mlb.com audio pass so that is how I will follow the Tribe again this year. 

Thanks for reading.

It’s 2-1 Tampa with 6:30 left in the third.  Can the Panthers come back? They had a great 2nd period and just couldn’t convert which has been the story of the season.  I can see a little bit of desperation so that is good.  The Panthers played hard in the 1st and so far in the 3rd but they are playing dumb.  Jokinen almost scores and there is another chance!  5 minutes left and it’s a commercial. 

Have the Panthers gotten any help?  Ottawa finally helps them and comes back from being 3-1 down to beat Buffalo 6-3.  Washington and Carolina are getting at least a point because they are in OT.  Philly and the Rangers are tied 1-1 with 8 minutes left so hopefully the Rangers can win in regulation.  Boston is beating the Leafs 4-1 in the third so the Panthers have to win to stay alive.  3 minutes left and the Panthers are still down 2-1.  I didn’t get a chance to see the Saturday game but it sounds like they played hard but not well and Vokoun saved their bacon.  Ramo made a nice save on a Kreps wrist shot on the rush.  The Panthers have an offensive zone faceoff here with a time out taken with 2:18 left.  Nothing happens out of the faceoff.  For all of the effort the Panthers have shown their passing has straight out sucked tonight.  Very few passes have been tape to tape.  Tampa wins a draw with 1:30 left.  The goalie was pulled with a minute left.  Jokinen just made a really dumb mistake with a giveaway inside the Tampa line and Kuba skates up ice and scores an empty netter.  If there is an Achilles heel to Olli’s game it’s giveaways just inside the blue lines.  So with Boston winning it will take a miracle for the Panthers to make the playoffs.  They were closer this year but once again their good play came too late.  Besides when it’s the biggest game of the season and you lose to the worse team in the East you don’t deserve to make the playoffs.  At least they played hard.  How nice would it be if the Panthers hadn’t choked those 4 two goal leads in 6 games in February.  Now the offseason questions can start.  Here’s a few off the top of my head:

1.  Does Bouwmeester re-sign or does a team sign him to an offer sheet?

2.  Is Jacques Martin brought back?  (I think as a coach, no, as a GM, maybe).

3.  Do the Panthers make a real move in the free agent market or do they just shop from the bargain bin again?

There are more questions but #1 bothers me the most.  I think Bouwmeester can ask for Phaneuf money because I think he is just as good a player.  Will the Panthers give him $6 million a year?  I hope the Panthers get a top 6 forward somehow to play with Jokinen and Olesz next year.  This would mean Matthias, Kreps and Zednik can play on the third line and average to fringe NHL players like Dvorak, Peltonen, Campbell etc. will have to fight to make the fourth line.  I hope Frolik signs so they don’t lose him without any return.  I hope the Panthers win their last 5 games and get a lot of help and make the playoffs…

Do you notice how often I say “hope” with the Panthers?  It’s because they are a “if” team.  The Indians are going to be playoff contenders in baseball because they are a well built team, especially with their budget.  The Panthers are built on the premise that the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.  I’m sorry but if the parts are guys like Peltonen and Dvorak and Cullimore and Johanssen you are going to be 10th or 11th in the East.  Even if Zednik was healthy I can’t see them playing that much better.  Mainly because outside of two or three weeks Zednik was a third liner playing on the first line.  Oh well.  It’s the way things are I guess.  I know in a day or two this will really hit me and I will start swearing in my head knowing that after 5 games the next Panthers game to mean anything will be in October.  Again.  Crap.

Thanks for reading.

Work has been really busy and I’m going to try my best to post but I doubt I will be able to post more than once or twice a week until May.  That is just how this time of year goes for an accountant. 

The Panthers won again tonight, beating Tampa 4-2.  I’m happy they came back strong from the Carolina game.  They played okay against Carolina but not quite good enough outside of the second period.  They need to score more than 1 goal to win games.  The Panthers are 3 points behind Philadelphia and Boston.  The problem is they need some help because Boston, Philly and Buffalo (who are tied with the Panthers) have a game in hand.  The frustrating part of this winning streak is that on the whole the teams from 7th to 12th have played well in the last 10 games.  The Bruins aren’t playing that well but they are getting games to OT and getting the loser point.  I think the Panthers have to win 5 of their last 6 to have a chance.  I had said with 15 games left that the Panthers would have had to go 11-4.  They have gone 8-0-1 so far.  And it might not be enough.  The winning has been fun.  This has been different than the last couple of years when the Panthers had strong months of March.  Those teams were never really in the playoff chase.  It feels different this year.  This team is a little better than those teams and have had a better effort level.  Other than the soft first goal against Carolina it seems like Vokoun has found his game after a bit of a slump.  Hopefully the Panthers can make the playoffs and use the momentum to re-sign Bouwmeester and sign one more top winger to play with Jokinen. 

The next game is the 25th in Tampa.  Go Panthers!  I’m confident they can win the next two because Tampa and Atlanta are playing out the string.  I hope they don’t play the spoiler role. 

Thanks for reading.

The Panthers should never change their calendars from the month of March.  It’s the only month each year where they play good hockey.  They beat the Rangers who hadn’t lost in regulation in 13 games 3-2 last night.  Olesz and McLean have played really well with Jokinen on this winning streak.  The Panthers have a shot at the playoffs.  Especially if they can win tomorrow against Atlanta and Carolina can lose a game or two before the Panthers play the Hurricanes on Thursday. 

I’m on the bandwagon even though I have spent all hockey season telling myself not to get on the bandwagon.  I’m just happy they are winning and are playing hard.  If they make the playoffs I will be thrilled.  I haven’t seen my hockey team in the playoffs since 2000 and the Panthers haven’t won a playoff game since 1997.  I think the crowd would surprise people if they make the playoffs, especially with the state of the other Miami area teams.

The Panthers have their next three games at home, Atlanta tomorrow, Carolina Thursday and Tampa on Saturday.  I think they can win all three.  They have to win 7 or 8 of their last 9 to have a shot.  Can they be the hockey equivalent of the Colorado Rockies?  Why not?  Hopefully Boston or Philly struggles down the stretch and the Panthers sneak in.  They could be dangerous in the first round.  I’m getting ahead of myself.  I am realistic.  The Panthers are probably not going to make it but I’m going to enjoy them winning and at least keeping the season interesting for one more day.

Thanks for reading.