Florida Panthers

Road to nowhere!

The trade deadline has passed and I don’t know if I should be relieved that Olli Jokinen wasn’t traded, or that we were able to “bulk up” and acquire some toughness. Trading Olli would have been a serious publicity blunder number one, and number two it would almost say that the Panthers woes are tied to him, which wouldn’t be fair. Olli suffers from the fact that he does not have a very good supporting cast, i.e. linemates that are worthy of top line ice time.
The only time recently that he had solid linemates was when he was with Gary Roberts and Nathan Horton or Josef Stumpl. He has since had a revolving door of left and right wingers.
He still gets his goals and points, but his line does not produce as it should and his point totals should be and could be better. As long as Uncle Jack keeps putting 3rd liners with him, his production won’t ever get much better than 70 to 80 points. Too bad, he deserves better.

If we analyze the players that the Panthers picked up I think that most would agree that they are at best role players (Belak & Kilger) and a #5 defenseman.
Let’s look a minute at who the received:

Wade Belak:a big lumbering wing/defenseman who recently went more than 100 games without scoring a goal and has 8 in his career. He was acquired for his toughness and size and because he is apparently a good guy in the dressing room. Well, who is he protecting, and is his good nature going to be used to help diffuse the tension from the late in the game losing that his new mates seem to suffer from? Also, the Panthers sure can use another guy that spends alot of time in the penatly box. Belak averages about 100 minutes per year, and this is based on about 60 games per year. Perfect, more pressure for the pk unit.

Chad Kilger: A former first round draft choice 4th overall in 1995 who has never reached his potential. He is aggressive, works the corners, hits most anything in his way and has one of the hardest yet most inaccurate shots in the league. While on most teams he would be a 3rd liner at best, Uncle Jack already has him pegged for top line duty especially with the injuries that the Panthers have. Yikes! I like Chad, I think he is a nice role player, but first liner? If this is what the Panthers are aspiring to then they are worse off than I thought.
Thanks to the Leafs for a couple of re-treads!

Karlis Skrastins: A slow footed, gritty stay at home defenseman, who makes about $700,000 less than Ruslan Salei, yet will be lucky to get 15 points in any given year. So yep, that’s worth 2.4 mil to me! Also did I mention that he is another foreigner, most of which I don’t have too much use for who will speak probably the 6th or 7th different language in the Panthers dressing room. Perfect, the lack of communication continues!

Little deals like these, coupled with the minor free agent signings that the Panthers have done will continue to be the death of this team. I am not a GM and have no real idea of how difficult it is to make trades and sign free agents, but I think even I can do better than Uncle Jack. While I would not have been looking at Hossa (he’s hurt already), there could have been other deals to make. Seems as though the Panthers are stressing defense. Great we will continue to lose games 3-2, 4-3, because there is no scoring. Yes, the Panthers need some grit, but can’t you find it with someone who can put the puck in the net? If you’re going to get grit on defense can you find someone that is taller than 6′1″? A couple years ago the Panthers almost traded Jay B. for Chris Pronger! I would take that deal in a heartbeat. I don’t think that Jay is long for this organization. While the Panthers say they want to sign him, I feel that he will be lost via an offer sheet from another team that the Panthers won’t match, or end up having to trade him to get some value. Is he worth Dion Phanuef money? More on that another time.

So, the saga continues and as bad as the Panthers have been it’s a surprise that they could have been in first place in the Southleast division had they been able to hang on to those 3rd period leads, and finish off their opponents. Tonights game against Minnesota is not going to be an easy one. The Panthers need all the victories they can get and all the points that they can get. I will be attending tonights game, and as has happened in the last 5 I have been to they will probably go to overtime and either lose that way, or in the shootout after having the lead with less than 10 minutes to play. At least they’ll get a point right? I despise that type of thinking.

Is it the players? Or is it the coaching? Is it both? I have amy opinion, but I will save it for later. Let’s see how these mentally incompetents respond tonight. I am even toying with the idea of not wearing my Panthers sweater that I so proudly wear to each game to act as my individual protest to what we are watching. Or maybe I should wear it, and then take it of or lose it (get it) with about 10 minutes left to play!

Thanks for reading.