Roblogg’s Panthers Portal

Dmitry Kulikov has been given the chance to stay with the Panthers and continue his development on the big stage. He impressed during his initial nine game tryout with the team—and now get’s to celebrate his 19th birthday in Dallas; whilst preparing for his eleventh match tonight in the NHL.

Not bad for someone recently picked 14th in this summer’s draft…

And well, hopefully the young man will get more than the salad for his birthday—when the guys take him out to celebrate in Texas. But, no Vodka obviously, which I presume would have been the main course in Russia for such a salute.

Dmitry is continuing to live his expressed dream by playing in the NHL with the Cats. Hopefully he’ll do that for a long time yet.

Kulikov is an exciting prospect that is likely to only get better with time. He’s already quite competent however and is regularly clocking 18 to 19 minutes of game time. In addition he’s already on the first powerplay unit and clearly has the ability to become something quite special for Florida.

 

 

A couple of other young players getting a chance to shine; is the recent call-ups of Kenndal McArdle and Michal Repik.

Both played well, albeit not for very long in the last match against the Senators. McArdle in particular has earned his coaches praise for the abundance of energy, speed and grit he provided. Not to mention the fight.

Whilst clocking only a paltry 4+ minutes, thus he sat more in the penalty box than he saw action on the ice, Kenndal can be expected to see some more opportunities to impress against the Stars tonight.

 

 

To add to Repik and McArdle, the Panthers have also recalled C Jeff Taffe from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. The reason is that Dominic Moore will require nasal surgery to repair that broken nose of his that the Flyers gave him.

Having impressed for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate last season, Taffe has started equally well in Rochester this term. In nine games he has 7 points (4 goals + 3 assists) and also has a team high of 27 shots on goal for the Amerks.

It’s going to be a tough game tonight against a Dallas team—that has gotten off to a good start this season. However, things must start bouncing our way sooner or later, right?

If the Cats can limit those turnovers out of the zone, play hard and shoot more frequently: then this could be an interesting game.

Maybe a couple of tricky away games might be exactly what the doctored ordered to turn things around.

After some whining of late, I’m trying to stay positive, OK, so pass me that salad and let’s stuff it to those Texan’s tonight!

The natural response to the eventual defeat that the Cats suffered yesterday at Pittsburgh is one of incredulity. The Panthers played so well for 40 minutes and then in the third period it all falls apart…

Yes, we all know that picture all too well. How often has not a Panthers fan seen that happen over the years?

Yet, as natural as that thought process may be, we must also lift our heads to see past that concluding disappointment and see the strides forward that were actually made in this game.

Who among us actually thought the Cats would get anything from this game at all?

With a red-hot Pittsburgh team, that was continuing to tear apart opposing teams in the early part of the season, one might be excused for fearing the worst: that Florida might be ripped to the bone and be left embarrassed—as against Buffalo on Wednesday.

But that did not happen.

Rather, the Panthers found their collective growl and did to the Penguins what the Sabres did to us in that recent first period. Obviously we weren’t going to get five goals like Buffalo did, but two important goals nonetheless. Both scored by Steven Reinprecht.

Reinprecht has found his footing in Florida and is now starting to contribute well to the team. With a three goal scoring streak going, he added a brace of nitty-gritty goals to his tally. Both were created by Steven crashing the crease and mopping up loose pucks to stick away.

In other words: just the kind of goals the Cats need to start scoring to be successful.

Indeed, whatever the coaches and players had been practicing, talking about, and doing to get focused for this game—it worked a charm. The Panthers of yesterday was a different team from what we saw on Wednesday or almost any other game of the season.

They worked so hard that many players seemed to have in progress began blowing fuses in the third period. Some sloppy play and bad decision became the result. It gave the Penguins a way back into the match and they grabbed it with both flippers.

Sidney Crosby showed why he’s regarded so highly by claiming both goals that drew Pittsburgh level late in the third period. The Panthers meanwhile showed why they still need to hone their special teams: the first goal was a powerplay tally and the second a shorthanded one.

The game thus went to the dreaded shootout and there Sidney once again made himself the home crowd’s darling with a nice deke and penalty score. It was the only one and hence the Penguins took the additional point.

One could argue that it was a fair result considering how dominant the Penguins were in the third and thus showed they had the cutting edge when it really mattered.

But, on the other hand, one could equally argue that for the first 40 minutes of the game the Panthers had been the better team and should have had a bigger lead than the two goals they had when entering the third.

Indeed, Panthers Caoch Peter DeBoer made that last point after the game, saying:
"We couldn’t get a third goal. We had opportunities, I thought maybe four or five tonight; some 2-on-1s, some chances around the net, but we have to find a way to get more goals."

Especially left winger David Booth was a constant thorn in the Penguins’ side, getting himself in 1-on-1 situations and into the scoring areas over and over again. Shame only he couldn’t find the target any of those times…

Booth seems to be in that place right now were nothing goes in no matter how hard he tries. But, sooner or later that vacuum will be released and hopefully David will then burst on to the scoring charts the way we want to see.

Other special mentioning’s go to Tomas Vokoun who was stellar in goal. One brilliant save after another in that third period; he single-handedly kept our hopes of winning the game alive.

The defenders as a collective also deserve plenty of praise. They did very well moving the puck to the forwards in the opening 40 minutes, as well as pinching-in to help the offense whenever possible.

The forwards also had their collectively best game of the year, possibly competing with the Philadelphia contest, working tirelessly and fore-checking hard. Only poor Rostislav Olesz looked out of shape in this game and was unfortunately involved in both Penguins’ goals.

His demotion to the fourth line, despite being perhaps the Cats’ best player to that point in time, obviously didn’t go down too well with him.

Rosti seems to have a fragile confidence and his downgrading apparently knocked it around a bit.

With the blip that the demotion of Olesz caused, Coach DeBoer’s line-juggling otherwise seemed to pay-off pretty well.

Nathan Horton took his relegation to the second line maturely and battled hard throughout the game. Dominic Moore looked lively centering the third and Michael Frolik worked hard on the top line.

Overall this was a good team performance from Florida. They picked up an unexpected point in Pittsburgh and can now go to Philadelphia with some renewed confidence.

It just goes to show that all is not lost yet, it is early in the season, and the Cats are finding some inner pluckiness and fortitude to try and guide them past these early trials.

On paper the game versus the tough hitting Philadelphia Flyers looked like an intimidating opponent for the Florida Panthers; who had lost 4 straight games coming in to last night’s contest.

However, the Cats soon found their growl and outworked and outmuscled a rather timid looking visitor’s side. That means that the Floridian felines now finally seem to be back on par after the Helsinki excursion.

Perhaps too much focus and energy were put in to those couple of games as the Panthers have since struggled:

A whipping by the Hurricanes, a home opener marred by a sound outshooting to the Devils, a cruel third period crush by the Lightning: It certainly was not adding up to the best of starts for the Cats thus far.

With the recent history of the Panthers, many fans started to fear it would be “another of those seasons” ahead…

Seeing a Pronger fuelled Flyers team coming to visit was another ominous sign it seemed.

Florida desperately needed to steady the ship, whether it was only five games in to the season or not, the South Floridians were nonetheless sinking fast…

Head Coach Peter DeBoer has never been one to dread changing things up if they don’t work and his patience was already running thin. He wanted desperation hockey and got it versus the Flyers after some shuffleboard changes to the crew and a stern telling off after a poor first period showing.

Prior to the game he had sent C Shawn Matthias back down to Rochester in the AHL. This because he finally got new signing C Dominic Moore to be able to suit up after Visa issues had detained his arrival on the ice; until finally yesterday when Moore could make his much vaunted debut.

Rostislav Olesz was also promoted to second line wing, whilst veteran Cory Stillman was demoted to the third line. Scott Clemmensen meanwhile was given his first start in goal; instead of Tomas Vokoun.

These changes seemed to do the trick and finally the Panthers started to click on the ice, work as a team and play the only way they can to be successful: with a large degree of desperation.

Signs of this pending revival had been seen on Monday as the South Floridians almost stole the show against their Western Coast counterparts; the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It was an even game that was decided late in the third period in one sequence where the Cats missed a one-on-one and then immediately were punished at the other end with the deflating 3-2 goal. To say it was a bolt out of the blue would be rather trite, but nonetheless accurate.

Despite the defeat the Cats showed some burgeoning confidence on the ice and the players looked like they finally were getting their act together.

Thus, the win against the Philadelphia Flyers was not a one-off performance and the fans can take some heart from this victory. There is no reason to think the Panthers won’t continue to grow together as a team and continue to improve with the season.

However, some caution is to be advised.

The Philadelphia Flyers looked sluggish in this game and were easily overpowered in the second and third periods. They have an awkward schedule with a lot of blanks in it at the moment and their skaters could be expected to be a bit off their stride – which they clearly also were.

Tampa Bay Lightning is similarly still trying to find an identity and is playing some haphazard hockey at the moment.

That they still won the game against the Panthers is in itself a worrying fact. Antero Niittymaki was stellar in goal, but equally, the Cats were rather off the bat in their shooting.

Indeed, whether the Panthers do find some much desired improvement or not in the upcoming games, I still think they may need to address the fundamental flaws that exist in the team at one point or another; in order to make a concerted effort to reach the postseason.

As I have previously mentioned in my articles, the Florida Panthers don’t really have the top names in the forward compartment to make any opposing defenders frightfully jingle-jangle in their skates. Our top line of Booth – Weiss – Horton may be a promising one; but hardly a line that will dominate many games.

Moreover, the second line looks a bit fragile; whether it’s Olesz or Stillman teaming up with Reinprecht or Moore and Frolik on the opposite wing: it still doesn’t amount to an offensive juggernaut of unstoppable proportions.

The checking third and fourth lines however, look very competitive within their limited field of play. They should be well equipped to provide energy and power to get the Panthers up the ice.

As for the defense…

I have previously covered the blueline in an extensive article of analysis, but the key deficiencies can be seen as its apparent lack of size, grit and raw power. Focusing rather on mobility and speed, the Panthers defenders can be caught out and also outmuscled in the defensive zone by an aggressive and determined opponent.

A point which was clearly demonstrated in both comprehensive defeats to Chicago (0-4) and Carolina (2-7).

Yesterday however, versus the Philadelphia Flyers in that memorable 4-2 victory in Sunrise, none of these potential deficiencies reared their ugly heads. Nonetheless, this does not mean we have overcome them quite yet…

One win does not make a season and I fear we will again see these shortcomings up close in South Florida.

Getting a win onboard for the continued continental journey is nevertheless very valuable for morale and confidence. All this will be needed the coming Wednesday when facing a strapping Buffalo Sabres team that has started the season in impressive fashion.

Hockey fans in South Florida will still be fretting the future after the discomfited start to the season by the Panthers, but the victory over the Flyers does bring some much needed hope and belief back to the B.A.C.

Perhaps this win can be the catalyst needed to jump start the Florida Panthers season?

We will see about that. But hopefully that win will at least mean that the Florida players have finally put Helsinki firmly behind them and that they’ve now found their hockey feet back in the NHL proper: and will start playing with a much added sense of urgency henceforth.

Yes, the Panthers have been around. Christopher Columbus would have been proud and impressed.

Winger David Booth recently designed a T-shirt that has been circling the locker room; to commemorate a flying preseason for the Cats.

It features a rock ’n’ roll style Panther on the front. And on the back side can be read: “Florida Panthers – World Tour 2009”.

Thereafter follows a list of dates and “gigs” that many an aspiring rock band might drool jealously upon:

9-12 Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia
9-15 Halifax, Nova Scotia
9-16 Ottawa, Ontario
9-17 Montreal, Quebec
9-18 Edmonton, Alberta
9-20 Calgary Alberta
9-22 Dallas, Texas
9-23 Sunrise, Florida
9-30 Tampere, Finland
9-30 Helsinki, Finland
10-2 Helsinki, Finland
10-3 Helsinki, Finland

Since then three more gigs have been added to the schedule due to popular demand:

10-9 Raleigh, North Carolina
10-10 Sunrise, Florida
10-12 Tampa, Florida

Suiting enough, this mini-tour ends on Columbus Day: Here’s to the memory of you Christopher and your stunning feat of mal-navigation!

 

Vokoun the Workhorse

 

With the Finnish excursion now firmly put to the books, the Panthers need to find their feet quickly. They have 3 games in 4 days to look forward to.

Goalie Tomas Vokoun in particular will have his stamina and resiliency tested as he looks to be playing one consecutive game after another.

With recently acquired back-up goalie Scott Clemmensen on leave, due to family matters, youngster Alexander Salak will be with on this tour as well. When Scott will return is still unknown and head coach Peter DeBoer has already said that Vokoun will be playing in these games whether Clemmensen returns or not.

Tomas Vokoun is of course no stranger to playing hefty minutes. He has always done so in the past and there is no use in confusing him now. Last campaign he also played in the opening five games of the season.

Vokoun strikes me as the kind of goalie that produces his best when he gets a lot of action. He doesn’t like standing or sitting around idly. The more the merrier for Tomas it seems and he’s getting his Christmas wishes early this year.

 

Some Early Question Marks

 

Otherwise the lineup looks relatively intact from Helsinki.

Center Steven Reinprecht got a shot off the skate in practice the other day, but X-rays showed no sign of any fracture. He will thus play tonight.

Whether or not another centerman, new signing Dominic Moore, will feature in any of these games is still unknown. The reason behind his delay in linking up with the team is VISA issues. As soon as they are resolved he’ll join and likely be thrown straight in to the fray by Coach DeBoer.

If Moore does arrive before tonight’s game or any of the other two, it will likely mean that defenseman Ville Koistinen won’t be utilized as a makeshift forward on the fourth line. If he’ll return to the blueline or be made to sit out the game(s) is not yet clear.

It would likely be either Koistinen or rookie Dmitry Kulikov that would be made redundant for the time being when Dominic joins the lineup. But knowing DeBoer he’ll likely be shuffling things around as soon as results aren’t forthcoming; so it may be a very brief spell on the sidelines in that case.

It is also worth noting that the Panthers have announced the signing of 23 year old right winger Victor Oreskovich on a two-way deal.

Oreskovich is a player that Peter DeBoer knows well from the juniors and he’ll be assigned to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Victor was originally a third round draft pick by the Colorado Avalanche. This offseason he attended Florida’s training camp and also featured in four preseason games.

 

Boxed In at Carolina

 

Looking closer at that game in Carolina versus the Hurricanes it would seem that the Panthers are in for a tough matchup. The Cats may have won their last game in Raleigh 5-0, but that was in all honesty before the Canes got together as a team and started to click last campaign.

It is likely to be a much tighter affair this time around.

During the week the Panthers have been working hard on special teams and coverage assignments in the defensive zone. Both of which were Achilles heels in the opening head-to-head with Chicago. With a spanking new defensive corps these issues are predictable to occur in the early going.

The best way to minimize the threat of opposing man-advantages however is, as it always has been, to stay out of the box.

Carolina have a good enough team to punish Florida if the Cats again can’t play fair; as the Blackhawks did in game two.

And knowing your defensive assignments, well, that’s just basic hockey ABC. Give it a few games and some practice and that should not need to be a continued issue.

The Hurricanes meanwhile have also started the new season in a wobbly fashion: Losing 0-2 and 2-7 to the Flyers and Bruins respectively. They then rallied to trump the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 shootout victory on Tuesday.

Both teams should be rested and well prepared for this game, having not played in the last 3 and 6 days respectively. That does however also make the game a highly unpredictable one. It’s hard to see which team will show up with the greater hunger and will to win.

I think this will be a tense game that will go down to the buzzer.

With both teams likely to have stressed defense in practice, due to both having a hard time to keep opposing forwards out of their zone, I’m sure that emphasis will shine through in the game as well.

However, with Carolina having a record of 15-2-0 at home against Florida since Feb. 16, 2004; they must be seen as the favorites to clinch the points in the end analysis.

 

Selling Out

 

The next day the Panthers go home to play their first home game. Outside of Finland that is…

The New Jersey Devils continue their three game road trip and make a visit. Tickets have been selling fast and the Bank Atlantic Center is expected to be a complete sellout.

After having lost their initial two home games of the season, the Devils travelled to Tampa and made an astonishing last second push in regulation to tie the game and eventually win the contest. Again the Lightning lost in a shootout.

It would seem the shootout curse has now switched over to Florida’s west coast. Good riddance!

The New Jersey Devils is as always a tricky customer. With Martin Brodeur between the pipes you can never be assured to score. The Panthers players are also likely to arrive with tired legs in this contest; after having played in North Carolina the previous evening.

Nonetheless, with the B.A.C. packed with hopeful fans there can be no excuses.

The Cats need to display some sharp claws and dig deep for a memorable performance. With the fragile fanbase that exists here; every big crowd turnout is a new chance to redeem the club and gain some new followers in the process.

The importance of this game for Florida can hence not be stressed enough.

 

“Tampa Bay Lightning is a Box of Chocolates; you never know what you’ll get”

 

I don’t think it was Columbus that uttered those words, but it is to him we now return.

For the Panthers he’ll make an appearance in Tampa Bay this coming Monday, on Columbus Day. It will be a symbolic way to end the long preseason tour and early campaign as the Panthers thereafter get some rest (until next Friday’s game versus the Flyers) and then return to the regular season grind.

With five regular games under the belt we should be in a much better position to judge what this year’s reincarnation of the Cats hold in store.

Before we come to that point however we have the Floridian derby against the Lightning, a game that will be contested by fierce cross state rivals. Although prior to the game against the Panthers, the Bolts have a chance to redeem their early season woes against Carolina on Saturday.

So far, after three games, it is fair to say that the Tampa Bay Lightning have not got off to the start they were hoping for.

Much was expected of Tampa Bay for this season in terms of overall on-ice improvement. This has yet to come to fruition and they remain winless to this point.

To me it seems that the Bolts last season put all their efforts into their forward compartment; with the end result of the team becoming unbalanced. This summer therefore, the management focused solely of the upgrade of the defensive corps.

However, the rising evidence seems to suggest this has only led to a new imbalance; with 9 defenders battling for icetime.

It is hard to understand this logic. But we all know the Tampa Bay Lightning organization work in strange ways. Who am I to question their reasoning?

I’m probably too conservative. I like the idea of balancing the team, whilst at the same time I detest the idea of letting players sit on the bench rolling their thumbs without playing any competitive games. But hey, I’m sure they know what they are doing… Right?

Anyway, the Panthers often find the Bolts to be a tricky opponent to unlock. And it being a derby game; one never knows how things will unfold.

This could go either way.

Nonetheless, I do dare wager that the Lightning will struggle this season if they do not address the glaring issue of imbalance. A couple of trades are likely necessary to rectify the problem: The sooner the better for the team and its fans in western Florida.

As for the Panthers, we will not get anything for free this season. Yet, the team is being slowly molded into Coach Peter DeBoer’s own image. And if the players can display his level of competitiveness, never-say-die attitude and directness, we should be fine.

It is a long road to travel however, and while the Florida Panthers players may feel like they’ve already circumvented the Earth a couple of times; truth is that the real journey starts today…