Florida Panthers

He said it,so it must be true! Believe?!

As we continue to settle into the post Uncle Jack (Jacques Martin) era here in Florida, the wheels continue to spin. Or should I say the organization continues to put a spin on, “The Organization”. And for the most part some people continue to believe! I am going to show my age here, but there was a song back in the late 60’s (I was just a toddler), that was sung by Dionne Warwick called
“Promises, Promises”. It struck me today that is what we continue to hear, yet the result is still the same.

But wait, and now for something completely different, the Panthers, well, keep making the same Promise!

I do alot of reading of blogs, on line newspapers, etc. of the hockey world as it’s become quite a hobby, and relaxer at the end of the day for me. Including some of the forums where fans discuss their teams with other fans and display their knowledge, opinions etc and or lack of. I am by no means an expert myself, but my passion runs pretty deep for what I expect in a team.
What ceases to amaze me, is that there are Panthers fans that somehow think that the team assembled for the 2009-2010 season is prime to make another run at a playoff spot!

Now for my point to this madness. Yesterday (Tuesday) it was reported by Miami Herald beat writer George Richards that Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer told Assistant GM Randy Sexton that the roster is fine as it is. Don’t need to make any more moves, that there is still an upside to the current roster that we have. I am summarizing and not quoting exactly, but you get the drift.

This is how I see it. While there are still some players out there as free agents, Alex Tanguay, Petr Sykora, Mike Comrie, even Todd Bertuzzi, the Panthers apparently aren’t going to spend any more money, and don’t want to make any more moves unless they can steal a 35 yeard old journeyman who can’t sign anywhere else. So, let’s tell our fans that we like our team! And let’s have the coach say so because everyone likes DeBoer, so they will believe that he’s right. Remember we missed the playoffs last year by one point, so we only needed to make minor moves right? Egahds (pardon the spelling)! Are you trying to seduce me? If you are, you can forget it, or at least give me some more alcohol cause I’m not falling for it.

Let me add that DeBoer also commented that, and this I will quote: “There’s still room for improvement. We need Weiss, Frolik, Campbell, and Booth not to repeat what they did last year, but to add to it. I think they can. We’re not going to have the luxury of scoring depth so no can have off years.” OK there’s more but it’s kind of sickening to repeat. While David Booth is going into his third year, he is probably going to remain a 30 goal man at best just by the fact of who he plays with as linemates. As for the others, Frolik has room for improvement going into year two, but don’t expect more than 25 goals. The rest, well, everyone knows about my feelings for little Stevie, so no need to elaborate. Although, and if you caught it, you can see that DeBoer acknowledges that scoring is again going to be hard to come by, but he’s apparently insisting that hard work, and solid defense will compensate. And that he knows the roster better than last year, and everyone who is returning knows the system. Blah, Blah, Blah. Blah.

I think that Pete DeBoer, has potentially set a death wish on his coaching career with the Panthers should they not make the playoffs next year by putting his seal of approval on the roster as it stands today. Much more than that is the GM (interim) who says, I’m ok with that. Yikes! Now we have both of you looking through rose colored glasses.

I fail to see the improvement and will not fall hook, line and sinker for the rubbish that is spewing from our talking heads. I hope that I am proved wrong, but I am not confident. While the co-residents of my house are calling me a doubter and a defeatest (amongst other things), and that maybe I should stop attending the games in person, I have a good feeling about my feeling. This team is no better than they were last year, you cannot tell me they are, and you cannot keep telling me year after year, and for little Stevie I think it’s seven years, that they are going to improve!

If the Panthers make the playoffs it will be because 2 or 3 teams fall completely flat on their face. Not gonna happen. We cannot attract the big free agent because the organization has a culture of mismanagement. Not to re-hash, but let’s look at some of the blunders and they didn’t happen in this order but are listed as they come to mind:

Fire Jacques Martin as coach, yet let him stay on as GM even though he has NO GM experience.
Go into the draft and free agency without a permanent GM. Foolish!
Hold on to Jay Bouwmeester 18 months too long when he has said he doesn’t know if he wants to stay, and continues to turn down long term deals for significant money.
Piss off (can I say that) Gary Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk, Martin Gelinas, guys that have Stanley Cup Rings, with a boring style of hockey that they get so frustrated they want out.
Fire your Stanley Cup finalist coach Doug MacLean a year after they go to the finals becuase why, they go on a bit of a losing streak? Yes all of a sudden Doug got stupid I guess.

The Loungo trade was a mistake you say? Why, cause he’s such a world class goalie? He too didn’t accept any long term deals. And yes his poor feelings were hurt when Keenan was coach and he was pulled a few times. Look Alex Auld had a heck of a year for Vancouver the year before he came to Florida. But Uncle Jack brought him back from injury too soon and ruined his confidence. Todd Bertuzzi bad back and all wasn’t given a chance after he recovered to show if he had any value left, so we traded him for a promising yet faltering youngster. Bryan Allen had a good year, then hurt his knee last year, hopefully he repsonds well. But EVERYONE signed off on this trade. EVeryone.
At least Keenan had the guts to make it.
Oh, and by the way has anyone noticed Luongo’s playoff performances the last two years? Pathetic.
Keenan was quoted once as saying to Luongo something along the lines of: You want how much? What have you won lately?

I can go on and on, but it won’t accomplish anything more than just remind us of the debauchery that continues. Sometimes I think a bunch of drunken sailors can do a better job, but that would probably make sense.

The boredom of summerless hockey is setting in and with the knowledge that the roster could be set is making me think that this is going to be a tough season to bear. In the 10, now 11 years that I have been a season ticket holder the Panthers have had 2, that’s right 2 playoff games, and they lost both. And that was 9 years ago. Anyone else wanna tell me why I shouldn’t be negative?

Promises, Promises. I’m all through with promises, promises now.

Thanks for reading!

Offseason Evalutaion… So Far

As each day of summer passes we seem to be getting further and further away from obtaining Alex Tanguay via free agency. While I am not here to debate or comment on my opinion of him joining the Panthers, I will say that signing him for anything more than 4 million would be too much. In addition the Panthers have enough soft players that look to pass before they shoot anyway.

In looking at the offseason so far I wanted to evaluate and give the team an overall grade for how things have gone based on the changes that have happened. One of the things that this organIzation has been preaching over the last couple years is consistency. Well with free agency, that pretty much goes out the window. In addition if you want to improve your team and it’s chances of challenging for the Stanley Cup, then you need to make changes. Significant ones. Someday the Panthers will get the hint.

Let’s look at what they have lost so far: Goaltending: Craig Anderson. Forwards: Brett McLean, Anthony Stewart, Ville Peltonen, and Richard Zednik. Defense: Jay Bouwmeester, Karlis Skrastins, Nick Boynton, Steve Emminger, and Jassen Cullimore. A total of 10 players.

What’s been added: Goaltending: Scott Clemmensen. Forwards: Steven Reinpricht, with a couple open sopts to be filled by the likes of Michael Repik or Shawn Matthias, or heaven forbid Jeff Taffe.
Defense: Jordan Leopold, Ville Koistenen (need to have a Ville on the team), and Bryan Allen returning from injury. A total of 5-7 players. Quite a change between the departed and the added.
The real question then becomes, will or are the Panthers any better right now then they were last year, and what is the grade that can be give to these offseason moves?

I will start with the grade first. A solid C-! The goaltending is going to be the most difficult to predict on many levels. First, Craig Anderson was pretty solid as when he filled in, however in my opinion he is not a number one goalie. Did Scott Clemmensen play over his head last year? Is he really that good? Or was he just the benefactor of a good defensive system? We will see.

The forwards? UGH! Pretty much a wash. The only move was acquiring third line center Steven Reinpricht, who will be asked to play second line minutes, while Stevie Weiss will be shoved down our throats as the number one center. No improvement here at all! Other than that the only other major change is moving Nathan Horton back to wing where he belongs and continue to play his lazy style, that for some reason the Panthers continue to put up with.

Defense? Well the loss of Jay is going to hurt if only from the minutes that he provided and the offense that he was capable of. He may do better in Calgary surrounded by much better players, but here too much was expected of him and I still feel he is highly overrated. Losing Skrastins is going to hurt, as he was a solid defenseman that blocked shots, and logged some tough minutes.Adding Jordan Leopold is not, I repeat not going to make anyone forget Jay, or even Skrastins. Leopold is a nice defenseman, but he is probably a number 4 or 5 on many playoff teams, and here he’ll be asked to play as a 2 or 3. Bryan Allen returns from a knee injury, and we will not know how he responds for at least the first month.

So when looking at all the movement, and the replacements that have come in, with still 8 weeks remaining before camp opens, my evaluation of the Panthers would have to be that they are worse off now than they were last year. Why? They lost some significant defenseman. 3 players that were very solid in many areas. They were not all studs by any means, but were pretty good guys for the most part. I would like to add that the grit that Boynton provided will be missed. The forwards lines have not improved. I don’t think that Reinpricht is an upgrade over anyone that we lost, plus he’s the typical player that the Panthers have been signing lately. A guy on the way down, who at best is very average. Last year it was Cory Stillman, the year before it was the three musketeers of Radek Dvorak, Brett McLean and Ville Pentonen.

The Panthers will again struggle to score. I have been asking, begging and praying for a goal scorer forever. I know they are hard to get, but my goodness, enough is enough. Defensively, if we thought that the shots against were high, they will be only higher this year with the potential unit we’ll be suiting up. All the other teams in the Panthers division have done something to vastly improve, while the Panthers have only tweaked their roster. I am not saying go out and sign someone to an enourmous contract just to make waves, but this team has not been to the playoffs now for 8 bloody seasons! Oh, and did I mention that we went into the draft and free agency without a fulltime GM? Only here in the land of sunshine could an NHL team get away with that. Does anyone think that a team like Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, New Jersey, Detroit, Boston could get away with that? Hardly.

It’s going to be a long season folks. Mark my words. Last year was exciting up to the finish. They missed the playoffs by one point! A result of some lost leads late in the game, problem made worse by the loss of defenseman, lack of scoring from a true goal scorer, which was not addressed. And a horrible record in shootouts, which that problem was not addressed either. Could have picked up Jussi Jokinen last year off waivers! As I mentioned in a previous post, on the Panthers TV special, Panthers Summer Sizzle, which should have been renamed fizzle, the comment was, let’s improive by one point!
That would mean getting an extra point in a shooutout, something that was difficult last year.
Don’t get crazy with the improvement suggestions. Our new motto–One More Point?!

If there’s a hockey god, please spread alittle goodness on this team soon!

Thanks for reading.

Help is on the way…For Rochester

Big news in South Florida today as the Florida Panthers signed 30 year old RW Graham Mink to a two year deal! The Panthers last three signings now include, Clay Wilson, Jeff Taffe and the above mentioned Mink. I honestly would feel better if these three names were a law firm: Mink, Taffe and Wilson P.A. Mink has 7 NHL games to his credit, yet has won the Calder Cup twice, which apparently has some value..? I guess if we can’t get any Stanley Cup winners to sign with us, we might as well sign guys who have won minor league championships since most of our roster is made up of them anyway.

Yes, as you can tell I am getting a bit sour on this franchise and am running out of patience. They make one call to Saku Koivu’s agent, and obviously don’t sign him, so in an effort to make some noise we go and get a career minor leaguer (another one). I am surprised we didn’t make a run at Jay McKee who has signed with Pittsburgh. I think I could have been happy about that even though he’s a defenseman. I am not sure what is going on, and how the Panthers think that they are helping themselves, but maybe they plan on having a bunch of injuries and want some experience for call ups.
While that is always good to have, it is becoming increasingly more frustrating as each day passes while other teams continue to improve.

There are still some interesting names out there that I wonder if the Panthers are even considering.
Alex Tanguay, Brendan Morrison, Petr Sykora, Dennis Seidenburg. They probably aren’t even considering them, although Assistant GM Randy Sexton has mentioned that they have had talks with Tanguay. I just can’t imagine Tanguay playing here. At this point I would settle for Tom Kostopoulos, he’s greek, so am I, and at least he hustles every nite.

How about doing something bold and getting some restricted free agent to sign an offer sheet????
That would be bold now wouldn’t it? Something the Panthers have never done. At least it could appear that they are making an effort. But they will probably end up signing someone like Mike Sillinger, or Mark Parrish, both ex Panthers.

Speaking of ex-Panthers, how about going after Todd Bertuzzi? Let’s face it, in 7 games for the Panthers he had 7 points until he hurt his back and missed almost the rest of the season after the Luongo trade. Why Todd you say? Well, for one, he’s a big power forward (yes his 30 goal days are over) he has probably some of the softest hands you will ever find, and has a very keen eye for making nifty passes. I watched alot of Calgary games last year, and he can make some nice passes, and can be a difficult body to move around. He could probably be signed for less than 2 million per year and for 2 years, I would take a chance on him. If he didn’t hurt his back and played the full season here in Florida, he could have put up a very respectable 50 points or so.
He got a bad rap because of the injury and because he was part of the Luongo deal, but honestly, I think the Panthers should take a chance on him. It probably goes against everything that I am looking for because of his age, and some nites it looks like he’s meandering around the ice, but it does not appear that any high or even mid profile player is coming here, so why not give it a shot?
Everyone deserves a second chance, so why not Todd?

So there you have it, my two suggestions and then the Panthers can be done. Come on down Todd you deserve a chance to redeem yourself here, and you too Tom Kostopoulos. We have some great greek restaurants here and need the greek community to embrace the Panthers. Or at least it might be a way to attract some new fans!

Thanks for reading!

Cheaper Ticket Prices!!!

Whoo hooo! Now we are making progress! The Florida Panthers announced yesterday that they have lowered season ticket prices in 11 of 14 areas for the 2009-2010 season. In an effort to attract more fans and make the tickets more affordable due to the economy this measure was brought about by a marketing “scheme” by sports agent Drew Rosenhaus, a prominent sports agent in the South Florida area. Drew however focuses mainly on football, and has had very little exposure to hockey. Thus his excellent negotiating yielded a pretty nominal effect.

How will this affect the coming season you ask? Well you can you purchase a season ticket for $7.00. Probably in row 97 in the upper balconey, but hey, you are in the building. The most expensive seat is going to cost you $207, and that is right on the glass!!! Great, $207 to watch an AHL version of an NHL team. My math and research of this public relations bonanza can best be desrbied as follows:

Cheaper ticket prices = Cheaper product on the ice!

We are not seeing a version of anything resembling a true NHL caliber playoff team here. When the Panthers make a big announcement that they have signed free agent forward Jeff Taffe to bolster their minor league affiliate, that isn’t news that I can get excited about. Especially when we are told, that he can be expected to step in and help the “big club” at some point this season. Yikes! Jeff Taffe!!

Let’s face it, the econmoy in Florida, like many places is suffering. Lowering ticket prices and signing third line and minor league players is not going to help get more people in the seats. There is an awful lot of money here in Florida. People are living here that can afford to pay for tickets. But you are not going to fill the building if you aren’t doing the one thing that the Panthers management keep missing, and that is WIN. Just win baby! That’s all it will take to fill the seats.

Not the silly gimmicks like “coming to your first game, give us your florida driver’s license number and we’ll give you two free tickets”. Or order 2 large pizza’s from our sponser and we’ll give you two free tickets. Those ideas dilute the product and just make us, your season ticket holders upset.

In order to put more people in the seats you need to get some players that are going to make this franchise a winner. Stop throwing money at unproven players. Stop giving unproven players six year contracts because you “think” they will blossom. The Panthers have shown over the last two or three years that they have overpayed for most of their roster, especially for the return on their investment.

For the love of god, can you please go out and get a 40 goal scorer and some nasty defenceman that will keep the opposition from standing in front of the net. Leave the ticket prices alone, win some games, and focus on putting together a winning hockey team. Otherwise these tickets can be free for all I care.

Oh…wait… sometimes they are!!!

Thanks for reading.

Tanks For the Memory Jacques!

I refuse to let former GM and coach of the Florida Panthers, Jacques Martin off the hook for his mishandling of the Jay Bouwmeester situation here in Florida. I don’t care how many of his other deals may have worked out or not, or what stability people think he may have added, this one particular situation will leave this franchise once again suffering through another season of not making the playoffs.

I have some real difficulty understanding how, when a player says to you, I am not signing a long -term deal, and gives you a list of teams that he would like to play for, does this 18 months ago, yet you still believe that you can persuade him to change his mind, he ends up leaving for next to nothing anyway.

Let’s face it, getting Jordan Leopold and a third round pick is nice, but no way is Leopold a replacement for Jay. Not that I think Jay is the next best thing since sliced bread, and I do believe he is highly overrated, but come on, get a hold of ourselves here. 18 months ago this guy should have been on a plane somewhere, anywhere, for some better talent and players that could have made a difference right now, this year. After trading Olli Jokinen last year for Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard, the defense was bolstered, and Jay could have been traded for some much needed scoring, a defenseman, and a draft choice, which could have been a number one pick in this years draft.

Yet Uncle Jack decided to sit on his hands and do nothing. If you all think that the Luongo deal brought back nothing, this deal brings back worse. Yes worse, only because of what the Panthers could have had. Names like Andrej Mezaros, Antoine Vermette, Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn, Claude Giroux, on and on. Hindsight is 20/20 as the phrase goes, but l don’t want players on my team who don’t want to commit, who don’t want to be here, and who won’t sign long-term deals because they would rather be somewhere else. But here in Florida, that’s what happens.

It’s amazing the lashing that Mike Keenan took for trading Luongo, and the apparent free pass that many are giving JM the GM for this Bouwmeester fiasco. Look, any of you who have read my previous posts know that I like Mike very, very much and can’t stand Jacques. However when you look at both situations, there really is no comparison. Also, let’s not forget that prior to the Luongo deal, the Panthers offered Jay to Edmonton for Chris Pronger, and that somehow fell through. Imagine if that would have happened. Maybe Luongo would still be here. Maybe Olli would still be here, and maybe the Panthers would have made the playoffs.

For all the fans that think that the Keenan era set the Panthers back, I think that this deal and Jacques’ stifling defensive system and his love for third and fourth liners is worse. The Panthers had a franschise type player, who played about 26-27 minutes a nite, and end up with a 2nd pair d-man who is probably on the downside of his career, who ended up signing a one year deal, only because there were no other offers, and he views this as a chance to resurrect his career. As for the draft choice, who knows how that ends up.

People, fans will always have their dislike for Iron Mike, and while some believe his best days are behind him as a coach, his judgement of players and his analysis of them is really top notch. When you hire him as your GM, you know or at least you better know that his philosphy is to win NOW! Not in 3-5 years. That’s what Panther fans forget. Keenan brought in alot of veterans who had playoff experience and could teach and work with the Panthers youth, which seemed to be on the right track. But JM’s coaching style pissed off alot of those players, and the power struggle began. Keenan left. Why? He knew this franchise was going noplace, and he wanted out before the situation got worse. Remember, everyone signed off on the Luongo deal, Martin included, yet Keenan is the only one who catches the flack.

Martin has left the Panthers to now get one of the most coveted jobs in Hockey. Coaching the Montreal Canadiens. How does that happen? I really thought that Gainey was smarter. The only qualification that I see Jacques, I mean Uncle Jack having, is he speaks French. Great for the media, but how many French players do the Canadiens have? Doesn’t matter, he doesn’t really communicate that well anyway. With sentences like” I tink we play solid game tonite and made few mistake”, he is going to bore you all to death, and give the impression that he knows what he’s doing. Sorry JM the game has passed you by. Habs fans I feel sorry for you. Frustration will hit sometime in November!!!

Panther fans, get a grip. This should upset all of you. There is no way that this season is going to be successful. How does a team go into the draft and free agency without a full time GM? Randy Sexton? Stop kidding yourselves.

My biggest regret is renewing my season tickets. Had I seen this happening early on, I would have given them up. It’s not like the building is full anyway.

Thanks for reading.

Panthers Done Shopping

According to interm GM Randy Sexton, the Florida Panthers are apparently done shopping for free agents, or at least any free agent that would come in and be a top six forward. What a shame to make such an announcement after only the first day of free agency.

Is this a smokescreen? Is this a ploy to make other teams “think” they are done? Or is it an actual reality? My bet is the latter. It has become very obvious in Panther history that whenever a high priced player leaves town and takes his big salary with him, the Florida Panthers NEVER replace him with one or two or even three players. With the departure of Jay Bouwmeester and his 4.75 million dollar salary, the Panthers have decided that they have enough players to round out the roster and make a go of it for the 2009-2010 season.

Too bad, as they quickly replace backup goalie Craig Anderson with Scott Clemmenson, resign hard working winger David Booth, resign the serviceable Radek Dvorak, and sign defenseman Ville Koistinen (who) from Nashville. Once again completely ignoring the fact that this team still does not have a number one center, and needs a top line scorer. Two things that I and many other Panther fans have been screaming for ever since Pavel Bure left town.

The big splash for a new addition is going to be center Steven Reinpricht, who at best is a third line center, but will be pushed as our second line center. We are told he’s fast, good on faceoffs, has won a stanely cup, and is a good guy in the room. Great attributes no doubt, however, we need scoring and better players.

In my mind the Panthers have taken a step back from last year. Everyone improves in the division and the Panthers continue to stay the same, just change the players. Once again putting on the ice a group of third and fourth liners.

Here’s your number one center everyone!!

Thanks for reading

Left Holding the Bag….Again

First of all Happy Canada Day!!!

Been awhile since I posted. My heart just hasn’t been in it, and quite frankly, I just wanted to wait to see how the days coming to July 1 were going to unfold. In true Florida Pantehr fashion, the Cats organIzation has lost another player for next to nothing. I am not going to rehash previous trades, or moves, but will make a brief comment on the loss of defenseman Jay Boumeester.

Everyone and their mother…grandmother for that matter knew that Jay was not going to stay here long term, and they knew this at least 12 monts ago, if not longer than that. The drama that surrounded this player has been quite theatrical and for what? In the end, a third round pick who may or may not see NHL ice, and the right to sign Jordan Leopold!!! Wow! I could have done that with my experience as an NHL GM from my sofa. Darryl Sutter is having the last laugh now as the Calgary Flames have signed Jay for 5 years for 33 million. More on all that later, or next time.

The problem with this whole situation that I find disturbing, is the Uncle Jack (JM the GM) could have and should have dealt Jay last year before the start of the season and received some valuable assets for him. Players that actually could have played during the season, and possibly a draft pick or two, not that our scouts know what to do with those. Yet, Jack, sat on his hands, and strongly felt that the Panthers could PROVE to Jay that they were changing, and that a winning culture was developing and that new head coach Pete DeBoer was going to point the club in the right direction. While DeBoer had a relatively positive impact on last season, Jay was never long for this team, and I read right through it, and was praying for a trade, even at the deadline.

How much better would the Panthers be now with up and coming player Claude Giroux from the Flyers, and whoever else was in that package? Or the Canucks proposed trade of Mason Raymond, and a draft pick? Nope, we couldn’t pull the trigger cause JM thought that the cats had a chance to make the playoffs and needed Jay to do so. Which then resulted in Jay folding like my mom’s old lawn chair, and playing some of the most passive hockey he has ever played.
On top of it, JM the GM is not here to answer for it. No, he’s in Montreal (god help them) with one of the most premier NHL jobs around, not having to answer for his managerial miscues.

I said I wasn’t going to compare any of the other trades, but to me this is worse than the Luongo deal.
True Bertuzzi got hurt, but had 7 points in his first 5 games, Alex Auld could have been a decent goaltender, but they rushed him back after his knee injury and he lost confidence, but we still have Bryan Allen, a more than capable defenseman who will be back this season after missing last year with a knee injury.

This all may sound like sour grapes, but I have to admit, this team is a circus. It gets harder and harder every year to cheer for them when I truly feel that they cannot get out of their own way, and make mistake upon mistake.

Jay, left the Panthers holding the bag, and there aren’t even any pucks in it!

Panthers Sold?

More drama as the world of the Florida Panthers turns. Just like a soap opera, or a bad dream, more news out of South Florida. It appears as though the deal to sell the Florida Panthers is about to happen. This could be good news, but I feel somehow it’s gonna be bad.

Sports Properties Acquisition Corporation is going to complete the purchase for approximately $240 million dollars. No word yet on anything else other than they appear to want to keep the team here in Florida. The building known as The Bank Atlantic Center is a big reason for the purchase. There are many concerts, and other activities that the building books on a fairly regular basis and it has been a major attraction for these big events.

Not really sure how this affects the team, and what the future plans are, but the organization that has been preaching stability over the last couple years, is at it once again, contradicting themselves.
I have not had a chance to do much research on this situation yet, but I must tell you I am becoming more and more frustrated with this fiasco of a team as the years go on. The constant changing of the guard, the constant lies and promises that are being made and the continuing rebuilding job that goes on and on, has made me quite honestly fed up. Nothing they do surprises me anymore, and to be perfectly blunt, I have trained myself to have absolutely no expectations for this team right now. This way I will not be upset when something negative happens.

The draft is coming, and no GM will be hired by then apparently, with Randy Sexton, Bill Torrey (remember him) and Scott Luce (head scout) working the draft. Word is that the next GM is going to come on board also with the blessing of head coach Peter DeBoer. Meaning that the GM is going to have to keep DeBoer on the job as well. Not that I want him fired, cause I don’t but it’s just another circus here, and I am becoming emarrassed to root for this team much longer.

My beloved Blackhawks have brought my passion of hockey back, and my feeling about the Panthers is slowly changing to complacency. If I had to make the decision today about renweing tickets, my answer would be no, but too late, I re-upped in March. If the Panthers do not make the playoffs this coming season, I am going to give serious consideration to not renewing and just go to games when I feel like it. A message needs to be sent, that if a winning product is not going to be put out on the ice, then we (fans) are not going to the games. That may result in the team moving, but in all honesty I’m tired and weary of this. I would rather take the money I am spending for Panthers tickets and fly to Chicago 3 times a year and see the Hawks play!

More to follow as this develops.

Thanks for reading.

Good Riddance!!!!

It has been reported that Florida Panthers General Manager Jacques Martin (Uncle Jack to you) will be announced as the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens at a press conference this afternoon that is scheduled for 2:00 pm.

YIKES! I mean what are the Canadiens thinking? If it is just because Jacques speaks french, there certainly are other candidates out there. The normally high flying Canadiens are now to become a defensive minded bore!

According to Sun Media’s Bruce Garrioch, Jacques has stepped down due to the financial instability of the Florida Panthers and that there is a possibility that the team may be sold.

Personally I think he does not want to stick around for the lambasting he’s going to get for losing Jay Bouwmeester for nothing, but who am I? Plus he must feel more comfortable as a head coach than a GM.

The only problem with this is that this decision/announcement has come one day too late. I think that Joe Nieuwendyk who just took the GM post with the Dallas Stars would have been perfect.
I have not heard, or seen yet as to who the candidates are for this position, however I can only hope that it is someone with experience who is going to at least let Peter DeBoer stay on as coach.

Who would be a good person for this position? Well someone that comes in is going to have to know that this organization can be referred to as a circus, country club, tragic novel, or just a complete joke of the NHL. Not sure who is going to want to step into that.

Possible candidates? Rick Dudley (hope not), Randy Sextion (hope not), Jacques Lemaire, Doug McClean (hope not), Pierre McGuire (hope not).

It would be kind of ironic if Cohen brought back Mike Keenan who is available, but I seriously doubt that would happen. It is going to be curious to see who the candidates are and who ultimately gets the job.

The reality of it all is that the future of the Florida Panthers is probably riding on this decision.
Which brings me to close by saying, I’d be happy to take the position at a discount. Plus I live 10 minutes from the Bank Atlantic Center!

Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

P.S.Uncle Jack, if you need help cleaning out your office, and getting a ride to the airport I will gladly arrange my schedule and help you out! It’s the least I can do.

Eliminated. Again!

While it took 81 games to do so, the Florida Panthers have been eliminated from this seasons’ playoffs making it the 8th consecutive year. It has been twelve seasons since their last playoff win and thirteen seasons since their last playoff series win.

As far as I am concerned there is nothing to be happy about, nothing to be grateful for, and most of all I am not going to sit here and say what a bright future this organization has, even though we came close. There are alot of problems and issues here that need to be addressed. I will do so in the next post or two, but for this article I am just going to make some statements about the team that are my observations alone. Chime in as well if you have anything to add.

Stats: Offense 20th 2.8 GPG
Overtime: 27th 7-11
Shoutout: 29th 3-8
Shootout attempts: 30th 6-32
Could Jussi Jokineen have helped?

Little Stevie Weiss team leader in points. 14G 45A 59 points. Terrible for a team leader.
Nathan Horton while only playing 66 games has only 22 goals. Former first round pick, not worth it.
Cory Stillman while a useful supplementary player has 17 goals. This did not replace the 30 that Ollie had traditionally given.

This team needs to make some significant changes.
MUST GET A TOP LINE SNIPER. Each time this player takes a shot, it has a chance to go in.
Change the defensive system and if that means firing Mike Kitchen do it. Can’t continue to give up 35 shots every/most nights.
Work on the powerplay to become more creative. Although that would require players that are actually creative themselves.
Fire the conditioning staff. Mostly because DeBoer rolls 3 lines, they are out of gas by the third period.
Nathan Horton is a bust. He needs a change of scenery.

Please do not resign Jay. Let him walk if he can’t be traded. When the Panthers needed him most at the end, he disappeared. He has no playoff moxy. It’s obvious, he doesn’t want to be here.
Stop promising/relying on the development of our young players to carry the team.

Get some veteran leaders. Say what you want about Keenan, adding Roberts, Joe N, Gelinas, was a great idea. This team currently has no veteran to take that role. We have no captain.

Fire Jacques Martin, or let him explore other opportunities. He has done nothing in 4 years to address the lack of scoring power the team lacks. He has expected way too much from this group of players.
It’s apparent that he actually thought that a strong defense would actually cover up a weak offense.
The GM’s job is to build a roster of players that will realistically get you to the playoffs. His focus has been on defense. Granted he did get Vokoun to ultimately replace Luongo, but if you can’t score I don’t care if we have Martin Brodeur, we aren’t going to be any better.

Ownership needs to hire a President of Operations to actually run things, like Brian Burke in Toronto.
Then Alan Cohen can get the heck out of the way.

I will be attending Saturday’s home game, the season’s last. I am not happy about it, not going to be in a good mood for it and have no desire to hope for a win to end the season on a positive note.
I will be rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks during this years playoffs. The team I grew up loving and miss dearly since I moved to Florida. I am glad they have come back to respectability and are in the playoffs. I hope for a long run, but at least I know their future is bright.

Any comments or additions to this are welcome.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Olli Jokineen is in the playoffs!