Florida Panthers

Panthers hire new head coach

June 4, 2011

After missing the playoffs for the 10th straight season, the Florida Panthers decided that they would take a new route as they announced the hiring of new head coach, Kevin Dineen. Dineen was officially introduced Wednesday as the franchise’s 11th head coach. He will take over for Pete Deboer after he was fired back on April 10th, a day after the Panthers missed the playoffs once again - the third time under his ruling. Details were not released regarding the terms of the contract as per club policy. Just like Deboer, this will be Dineen’s first year as an NHL head coach. Dineen has spent the last six seasons as the head coach of the Portland Pirates of the AHL. He had a record...

Panthers make League History.

March 26, 2011

Adam Reid

3 Comments

With the 4-2 lost to the Buffalo Sabres Friday night, the Florida Panthers now own a league record, one which marks just how much this team has struggled in the last decade. The Panthers have become the first team in NHL to miss the playoffs for 10 straight seasons. When head coach Pete DeBoer was asked about the record, he said "It doesn't hurt anymore, we've been hurting for awhile. You just get numb to that pain." For many loyal Panthers fans, watching their team perform so bad is very depressing, and raises many questions about what happened to their fantastic new team that broke into the NHL in the early 1990's. The Panthers were granted a team for the 1993-94 season, and ...

Gameday: Panthers - Sabres

March 25, 2011

Adam Reid

0 Comments

With not much more to play for other than pride, the Florida Panthers head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres, Friday night. Florida, who are on a three game losing steak are just two losses away from officially missing the playoffs. They hope to play spoiler against the Sabres who are just three points up on the Carolina Hurricanes for 8th spot in the East. This will be the final meeting between the two clubs for the season. Florida currently leafs the series with a 2-0-1 record. Florida won a pair of games prior to the Christmas break, while Buffalo won a game back on February 10th, 3-2 in overtime. Florida has not been able to find the score sheet in more than 131 minutes, as they...

Panthers trade McCabe to Rangers

February 26, 2011

Adam Reid

4 Comments

The Florida Panthers will have a new captain come next season, as they announced Saturday that they have traded current captain Bryan McCabe to the New York Rangers for forward Tim Kennedy and a third-round draft pick. The 35-year old St. Catharines native, McCabe has spent 14 seasons in the NHL with the Islanders, Canucks, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, and Panthers. McCabe was drafted 40th overall in the 1993 NHL draft, and was most known for his 7-year stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was a massive part of their blueline, along with teammate Tomas Kaberle. In 2006, McCabe played with team Canada at the winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. In 1,116 career NHL games, McCabe has...

Panthers ship Stillman back to Carolina

February 24, 2011

Adam Reid

2 Comments

The Florida Panthers have said farewell to the veteran presence in their lineup as they announced Thursday evening that the club has shipped forward Cory Stillman to Carolina Hurricanes for forward Ryan Carter and a fifth round pick in 2011. The 37-year old, Peterborough native, Stillman is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, and had to agree to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through. The 27-year old Ryan has played 3 NHL seasons with the Hurricanes and Ducks combined, he has 12 goals and 32 points in 170 games. Since being signed by the Hurricanes back in 2006, Carter has totalled 163 penalty minutes and boats a minus-3 rating. Stillman was drafted...

Panthers top Sharks

February 13, 2011

Adam Reid

2 Comments

The Florida Panthers finally halted a five-game slide Sunday evening with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in beautiful Sunrise, Florida. Jason Garrison was the hero of the game as he blasted a shot from the point which beat Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stick side to break a 2-2 tie with 2:01 remaining in the game. Luckily enough it was Garrison’s third shot from the point on the shift, as Florida had the puck in the Sharks zone for almost a minute. “First shot got through, I think it hit him in the chest or something, the next one was tipped wide and the third one got in,” Garrison said. “You just want to maintain pressure and you want to get loose pucks and get pucks...

Gudbranson; A falling star?

January 31, 2011

Adam Reid

10 Comments

Every year, at the ripe old age of 18, junior hockey players push themselves as hard as they can for one sole purpose, to get drafted into the NHL. A player’s main goal is to get drafted either first, second or third so that he may get a chance to play right away in the NHL to help a struggling team. Every year the first, second and third overall drafted players do in fact play in the big leagues right away. But, as we look at 2010, this has changed. Both Hall and Seguin impressed in camp, but third overall Erik Gudbranson, who was picked by the struggling Florida Panthers, did not make the move to the NHL, despite making the team out of training camp. Reasoning behind this? He felt...

Trade Rumour: Canadiens and Panthers swap centers

January 27, 2011

Adam Reid

9 Comments

Ah, yes. As we draw closer to the trade deadline we continue to hear more and more rumours unfold which spark our interest. Faster and faster the rumour mill turns as it gives us insight on possibilities of trades which may give our teams that extra boost to make it into to playoffs. Most rumours turn out to be complete hogwash, but every now and then a rumour comes along that makes sense for both sides. Last night I come across a rumour which makes sense for both teams involved, the Montreal Canadiens and my Florida Panthers, so I thought I’d share it with you. To Montreal: C-Stephen Weiss 3.1M UFA 2013 For To Florida: C-Scott Gomez 7.357M UFA 2014 This trade makes sense f...

Game Day: Panthers-Bruins; Battle of the Goaltenders

January 26, 2011

Adam Reid

0 Comments

The Florida Panthers look to get a second crucial win in back-to-back nights as they head to TD Garden, to take on the Boston Bruins. This will be the last game before the all star break for both teams. The Panthers currently sit 6 points back of 8th spot in the East. They managed to secure a massive 4-3 victory Tuesday night, as Mike Weaver scored a rare goal late in the third for the victory, the Panthers relinquished a 3-1 lead before Weavers goal, which ironically was the only shot by the Panthers in the third. Tomas Vokoun preserved the victory as he turned faced 35 shots, turning away 32, while the Panthers only tested Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist a mere 17 times. Tonig...