Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

Having had a holiday from hockey I now feel ready to dig in to and continue this hockey blog about the Florida Panthers. It’s been a busy time for the Cats and the Assistant General Manager Randy Sexton. After Jacques Martin skipped the ship, to take up the Head Coaching job with the Habs, Sexton has been left with a real tangled mess to try to sort out. So let’s sum up and take a look at what moves he has done so far:

May 29th: Panthers sign G Alexander Sálak

Before Jacques signed off with the Panthers he made a move for, and signed, goalie prospect Alexander Sálak from TPS Turku of the Finnish League. The 22-year old goalie was signed to an entry level contract. The previously undrafted prospect played 53 games last season for TPS, posting a 2.40 GAA and .923 save percentage.

June: Panthers Development Camp in Toronto

One of Randy Sexton’s first priorities, when stepping in to Martin’s shoes, was to talk to the agents of restricted and unrestricted free agents Bouwmeester and Booth. While those attempts may have stolen most of the pundits’ attention, Randy also took time to visit the Panthers’ Development Camp – held in Toronto, Canada. He was quoted as expressing himself as very impressed with a trio of youngsters: Michal Repik, Keaton Ellerby and Michael Frolik. Whilst Frolik has already burst through the NHL scene, Sexton’s comments could also be seen as foreboding the imminent breakthrough of Repik and Ellerby on the big scene as well. Later Sexton also mentioned that D Jason Garrison could be ready to push for a place in the Panthers’ squad.

June 19th: Steven Reinprecht signed to 3-year deal

Randy Sexton’s first major move was for pending UFA Steven Reinprecht of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Panthers gave away the rights to Stefan Meyer, who was one of the leading scorers in Florida’s Rochester farm team last season, and in return received the exclusive negotiating rights to the veteran center Reinprecht. Steven was then quickly tied to a 3-year deal. The 33-year old will bring a wealth of Stanley Cup experience after having tasted glory with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. To the Panthers he also adds some competition for the center slots of the team. Described as a high character (was assistant captain in Phoenix) and hard working player, Sexton will be hoping that Steven can help the Cats win a few more face-offs while also injecting some speed into the team.

June 26th: NHL Entry Draft in Montreal; Day One

With the spectacle that is the Entry Draft underway in Montreal last Friday, people were expecting plenty of pending moves to be announced. However, with the notable exception of the blockbuster move of Chris Pronger to Philadelphia from Anaheim, it turned out to be a quiet occasion. Not even Jay Bouwmeester’s name was read by the commissioner – to most people’s surprise.

NY Islanders sealed John Tavares with their top pick and Tampa Bay sealed much needed blueline talent in the form of the giant puck moving Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman with the #2 pick. Matt Duchene went third; to his favorite team the Colorado Avalanche. These were of course the “Big Three” names of the draft and the selection of them went pretty much the way everyone had expected.

Expected to go higher in the draft was the talented puck moving Russian defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (Ranked #11). Many analysts projected him to go among the top ten and it must have come as quite a surprise to Randy Sexton that the talented defenseman was still around when it was time for the Panthers to pick at #14. Teams had been scared off Dmitry due to the “Russian factor”, that is the fear that a Russian player might leave for the KHL without compensation – now or in the future, but Sexton and chief scout Scott Luce knew a steal when they saw one and selected the defenseman with their first round pick (14th overall).

Scott’s verdict of Kulikov was summed up in four words: “Smart, driven, determined and passionate”. In addition to this, the player himself has been said his lifelong dream was to play in the NHL, and for a Russian to come to Florida to live and work – it surely is a dream move in more than one way. In fact, he might even be plying his trade here in South Florida this coming autumn already. Scott Luce at least seems to think he has that kind of immediate upside. At the very least he’ll be given a fair chance to make an immediate impact this coming season.

The last year Kulikov has been playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and won the Rookie of the Year Award after scoring 62 points (12 goals) for Drummondville. Drummondville’s assistant coach Danny Brooks said about Dmitry: “He could’ve made life easy and stayed in Yaroslavl Locomotiv and been a superstar in the KHL. But his dream is to play in the NHL and bring his family from Russia to North America….He’s a North American player who happens to have a Russian last name.”

June 27th: NHL Entry Draft in Montreal; Day Two

Jay Bouwmeester was finally put out of his misery here in South Florida and was traded to the Calgary Flames for their 3rd Round Pick in this year’s draft and the rights to pending UFA Jordan Leopold (D). Since then Bo has signed a 5-year deal with the Flames worth #6.68 million a year and he seems happy enough to be back in Alberta, Canada. The Cats has of yet, not been able to tie down Leopold to any deal, but are hoping Keith Ballard’s old collage buddy and golf partner – will want to partner Keith on the ice as well. We’ll see I guess…

As the actual day two of the draft got underway, the Panthers selected Drew Shore from the United States National Team Development Program. The 6-2, 200 pound center, was ranked at #28, and expected to go in the first round. But the Cats managed to nab him at #44 instead. The upside for Florida is that they get a solid, big center prospect; who also just happens to be American. This could be a very good steal by Sexton and Luce.

Thanks to the Bo trade the Cats also had a third round selection to make. With the #67 pick Florida grabbed C/RW Josh Birkholz from Fargo Force. The 6-1, 182 pound winger, is currently taking classes at the University of Minnesota and working out with Keith Ballard. It seems the Panthers may soon need to start paying Ballard some extra money for all the networking, on behalf of the organization, that he seems to be doing… Anyway, with Birkholz the Cats get another solid American prospect to swell to the current ranks.

Randy Sexton however felt the Panthers needed to further enlarge that contingent of prospects and moved to secure Los Angeles’ 4th (#107) and 5th (#138) Round selections in this year’s draft – in exchange for a 3rd Round pick in 2010.

With those picks the Panthers selected two more forwards; LW Garrett Wilson (#107), a gritty winger from Owen Sound, and C Wade Megan (#138), who’ll attend Boston University this spring – after graduating from a boarding school in Connecticut.

In between those picks, also in the fifth-round, the Cats selected C Corban Knight (#135), an offensive centerman that will attend the University of North Dakota this coming season – after having led all rookies in scoring in the Alberta Junior Hockey League this previous campaign.

Last, but not least, the Panthers selected 19-year old C Scott Timmins in the 6th Round (#165). Timmins is a player Coach Peter DeBoer knows well from his Kitchener days and scout Scott Luce believes the player is one to step up and turn pro immediately. Timmins is a good skater that won back-to-back Memorial Cups for Kitchener and Windsor.

June 30th: The Day before Free Agency

With the onset of free agency the Panthers organization, and Assistant (now inter-rim) GM Randy Sexton in particular, are by necessity going to be very active. It started on the 29th already as C Brett McLean was placed on unconditional waivers. Brett had a miserable season last year and his $1.7 million contract is now up in the air. Question is: If no one takes McLean on waivers; will his contract be bought out? In such case the Panthers would be on the hook for two-thirds of the remaining amount of the deal.

Janis Spukts, the Latvian center that played in Rochester last year, went public with his frustrations and has now been released to play in Europe instead. Other current Rochester players that were pending RFA’s and have not been handed any offers so far include: Drew Larman, Tanner Glass, Franklin MacDonald and David Shantz. Current Panthers player Steve Eminger, acquired on last trade deadline, hasn’t either been offered any qualifying deal.

Sexton however admits that he’d like to re-sign a couple of these players, including Glass and Eminger, but didn’t want to sign them before free agency. In Steve’s case it is due to the fact that he played so many games with the Lightning last season that his qualifying salary would be too juicy for Florida. Instead they are willing to take their chances with him as a pending free agent.

Two pending RFA players that have been offered qualifying offers are Panthers star David Booth and prospect David Brine. Booth will be up for a considerable pay-rise and has expressed his willingness to sign a long-term deal with the organization. And since the departure of Bouwmeester; he is now set to be the face of the franchise and a deal should be able to be sorted out before long.

Of the pending UFA’s Richard Zednik has already signed a deal that will take him to Russia’s KHL next season, whilst Nick Boynton is set to be released. Nick has a big contract and since his falling-out with Coach DeBoer has not been seen as a player with a future within the organization.

Of the other free agents that Sexton has expressed an interest in re-signing, we find veterans such as Karlis Skrastins, Ville Peltonen and Radek Dvorak. Whether or not this trio of players will be re-signed for next season – will largely come down to what their wage demands will be. It will perhaps also depend on whether the Panthers are able to compete for the signatures of any quality free agents available elsewhere. Likely is that one or two of these players will return to the fold next season; seeing as they all have been instrumental in Florida’s largely successful penalty-kill unit this previous campaign and seem settled in the area.

A couple of other players that will be UFA’s are Anthony Stewart, after he was not handed any qualifying offer and Craig Anderson. It seems unlikely either will re-sign with the Panthers, but it’s still a possibility for both. Anthony didn’t develop in the way the organization had hoped and may need to find pastures new for the coming campaign. In Craig’s case the opposite is true and he now feels ready for a starting gig in net and with Vokoun still with the Cats – he won’t get that here. If he fails to land that move however; then he may consider re-signing for Florida, but it seems very unlikely at the moment.

It will be an interesting next few days and much of the suspense will be to see what Randy Sexton and the Panthers do about their free agents and whether or not they can compete on the market for the plentiful plethora of skilled free agents available. It also remains to be seen if Randy is given the confidence to be take the reigns full time as GM – or if a new face will be brought in for the job. What happens over the next week is likely to settle both those questions…

The Panthers have had a bad habit of starting slow sometimes in the first period and once again this came to haunt them. Perhaps the many comebacks by the Cats have caused a failure amongst the players to highlight the importance of getting a good start in games. Maybe there is a chirpy sense of non-urgency within the Florida ranks from game to game; an attitude of “we’ll ware them down eventually” looming in the locker room. Well, that may work against a Toronto team, currently in rebuilding mode, but against the top teams of the league it backfires every time; it’s practically guaranteed.

And make no doubt; the Chicago Blackhawks is one of the best teams in the NHL. They have all the qualities and attributes to be successful. They are hungry and ambitious, skilful, speedy, tough and resilient. It’s a youthful side that plays with fervor and raw enthusiasm; they have two excellent goaltenders, but perhaps lack a little veteran leadership to truly be a contender – already this season that is. But experience will soon start adding up and this Hawks team is back at the top to stay.

Florida got the opportunity to witness Chicago’s skill and speed first hand yesterday; as the Blackhawks stripped down the Panthers with four unanswered goals. It wasn’t however, a one-sided affair from start to finish. The Hawks got the jump on the game and took the lead mere minutes in to the contest as Andrew Ladd was left alone in the crease to jab at Tomas Vokoun and score the opening goal after 3 minutes of play.

Tomas Vokoun coming up big against Troy Brouwers power-play screen.

The Panthers started to get its wobbly legs skating after half the period played and especially the energy line of McLean – Kreps – Stewart created some good goalscoring opportunities. However, someone needs to take the time to teach Anthony Stewart how to shoot. He plays with tremendous speed and power, but while he fashions several opportunities for himself every game – he just can’t put them away (Stewart has 2 goals in 48 games so far).

Cristobal Huet in the visiting mesh moreover looked composed from the get-go and denied any-and-all attempts from the Florida shooters. Tomas Vokoun meanwhile, was having a stellar night too; keeping the Panthers in the game when they perhaps should have been a couple of goals down.

Ville Peltonen tries to find a way past Cristobal Huet in the Chicago Blackhawks goal.

Things didn’t improve radically in the second period as the Panthers took unnecessary penalties and were on the ropes several times during the ensuing power-plays. Karlis Skrastin’s continued his sacrificing defensive play in this game and stopped a Troy Brower breakaway. The successful penalty kills did help the Cats regain some confidence and they ended up getting 11 shots on goal, compared to the Blackhawks’ 7 in the period (overall they were outshot 31 to 42). David Booth also had a glorious opportunity to tie the game up at one; but Huet would have none of that.

David Booth attacking the net only to be denied by the fantastic Cristobal Huet

In the first half of the third period, Tomas Vokoun kept the dream alive with a string of saves – all the while the Panthers weren’t given any breaks by the officials, who made some dubious calls to gift the Blackhawks the chance to bury this game one and for all on the man-advantage. The Hawks seemed to have done just that 8:32 in to the final period, when Ben Eager was presented with a bounce that gifted him some net to aim at – and he made no mistake.

The Cats landed on their feet however and Nathan Horton was soon off to the races and found himself alone with the netminder; only to be denied by Cristobal Huet – who made two highlight-reel saves on Horton’s goalward attempts – to keep the 2 goal cushion intact for the visitors.

The saves came to break the backs of the Panthers who seemed to give up hope of ever beating the amazing Cristobal. And when Head Coach Pete DeBoer made the frenzied call to pull the goaltender – with four minutes still left on the clock – Florida’s number was truly written on the wall. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews thanked DeBoer for the act of desperation and 10 seconds after the goalie withdrawal, calmly slotted home the Blackhawks third of the game.

Ben Eager then doubled his tally with a minute to go – beating Vokoun to the top shelf with a terrific wrist shot. The game finished 4-0, but by now most of the fans had already packed up and gone home.

So this is how fifth heaven looks like?

(Hey, if there is a seventh tier there must be a fifth – if logic were to prevail, right?)

We the southernmost hockey-fans in the land have not been spoiled rotten with hockey success, rather starved and left wanting, and so we will take all the more in pleasure in this triumph against our perennial rivals…

5-0! Say it again: Florida = a high flying five; Carolina = none, zip, zilch, zero, nil, nought, nothing – null and void *leave empty space here* not even one – shutout in their own house!!!!! Taste it, savor the flavor of sweet victory; and in Carolina nonetheless… If all Hurricanes were as friendly as the one we met in Raleigh yesterday… By all means, take me for a spin around the North Carolinian wilderness anytime – blow me away!

OK… exhale – take a few deep breaths – a moment of sanity is needed to recollect just how this stunning victory came about in the first place…

The game started in an open fashion with both teams circling around one-another looking for an opening. The Panthers were the first to find a gap in the first period as a joint two-way forecheck by Horton and Booth presented the puck to Ballard, who confidently stepped in from the slot, feigned the slapshot and fed the puck to Horton – who in turn was presented with an alluringly amount of empty net to aim at – and he made no mistake.

That was, believe it or not, the winning goal – after a mere 7 ½ minutes played of the game…

Minutes later a similar forechecking move by the same line presented Richard Zednik, stepping in un-marked from the line, with an excellent opportunity to give Florida a 2-0 lead. Cam Ward made the first save on Zednik’s shot, but Richard got the puck right back to him and jammed in home on the second time trying. Both goals were a real testament to coach Pete DeBoer’s tactics and how they can yield results if the forwards keep playing aggressively in the opponent’s zone; maintain high pressure on the defenders and in-so-doing create turnovers around the boards.

Yet, this was no walk-over. Carolina stood their ground well and over the course of the game had no less than 42 shots on goal. Several of those were qualified chances and a couple were open netters. The difference between the teams was first and foremost the goaltending.

Cam Ward was replaced by Michael Leighton half way through the contest after letting in four goals on thirteen shots. This while Tomas Vokoun continued his outstanding form by fending off any and every shot directed at him with poise and composure. He never looked rattled and the defenders were always there to dispose of any loose pucks around the crease. A special mentioning in that respect must go to Karlis Skrastins, who acts as the proverbial broom; sweeping up goal-bound shots and rebounds – as if he’s somehow magnetic and all pucks want nothing else then to come to the Latvian iron-man.

What really punctured Carolina and any lingering hopes of a comeback was however Anthony Stewart. He’s been playing with so much energy of late that you just couldn’t help but think a puck must finally bounce his way – and in goal. This, at long last, happened in the second period as two Carolina players collided; presenting Stewart with an open pond to skate in to – and to everyone’s collective surprise he scored a beautifully cheeky goal in Ward’s considerably wide five-hole. And you just knew that when Anthony scores it’s one of those days of Midas when everything you touch turns in to gold – and in this case – goals.

Prior to Stewart’s three-nothing goal, the Hurricanes had had a couple of power-play opportunities and were swirling around Vokoun’s net in search for a way back. The goal therefore came at a very opportune moment and you could see the Carolina players literally fold after Anthony’s rare moment of glory. The mental collapse was quickly exposed as the Panthers scored again – barely 12 seconds later. It was suitably the CPR line that put the game to bed after Gregory Campbell scored in rapid succession of Stewart’s deflating goal. A despondent Cam Ward was now withdrawn from the game in favor of back-up Michael Leighton.

Further gloss to the scoreline came only minutes later as Michael Frolik, who has been going through a dry spell of late, pounced on a ricochet from a rapid Kamil Kreps strike, which hit the cross-bar and bounced straight to Michael. Frolik had his stick on the ice and reacted quickly to put the puck away behind Leighton in goal.

After this 5-0 goal it was merely a question of waiting for the game to end for both teams. Carolina were frustrated and no one more than Eric Staal who took a couple of stupid penalties in the third. However, by this point any lingering hopes the home team may have had earlier in the game, of getting a share of the spoils, were long gone anyway.

While Vokoun was the obvious match-winner with his shutout, this was truly a team victory for the Panthers. The defenders ably dealt with any rebounds and kept the Hurricanes forwards at bay. The Florida forwards meanwhile, had a lot of success with its aggressive forecheck and especially the first line of Booth – Horton – Zednik showed how it can be used to full effect in those first two goals. The fourth line has been playing very well and with a lot of energy for quite some time now and has finally started to get rewarded for all that hard work. Frolik got out of his recent slump with a goal and the CPR-line (Peltonen – Campbell – Dvorak) can always be counted on; both for defensive solidity and forward production. The penalty kill was also of the highest order yet again.

If the Florida Panthers can keep their focus and play the way they did yesterday; making the playoffs doesn’t look all that intimidating anymore. However, it’s important we stay a bit grounded nonetheless – a very tough schedule is coming up with no less than 9 (!) consecutive games against teams currently above us in the standings. It will be a stern test of the Cats resolve coming up; starting later today with a home tie with the New York Rangers.

It’s dangerous to speculate or look forward too much, but imagine if we can beat the Rangers tonight… That would take us to within one point of NY – currently in fifth spot of the Eastern Conference. Now isn’t that a remarkable change of fortunes for a team that was dead last in the league just a couple of months ago!

It does put in to perspective just what head coach Pete DeBoer has actually managed to do with, what on paper looks like, a rather modest set of players and inherent skill within the squad. Yet, we can’t let up now. The Panthers need to dig even deeper to get through this upcoming set of games victoriously. And now it’s truly time for the people of South Florida to start rallying behind this club: The players are working their hearts out, but will need that seventh player more than ever as we enter a very tricky six game home stretch, starting today.

We can all make a difference and sound our support to the players on the ice doing the deeds. It’s time all South Floridians woke up and took notice of the heroics being done here; got in to the action laded thrills and spills of hockey and once again embraced the Panthers.

I for one will be at the Bank Atlantic Center tonight, cheering for the Cats in thick and thin: Where will you be?