Why?
March 13th, 2008 by The Iceman
My apologies for sounding like a downer, and not appearing as though I want the Panthers to win. I do, but I have to admit, I get a bit tired of getting my hopes up every spring by this team. Why is it, and someone out there please help me with this…Why is it that the Panthers can’t play like this all year? If it happened once I could deal with it better, but three years in a row? Come on now. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you, fool me three times… you know the rest.
Is it a character issue? Is it a maturity issue? Is it the coaching? (Yes that is part of it). It just seems to me that when this teams’ back is against the wall they seem to be able to put together a string of wins, or get on a hot streak and we get all excited only to be let down in the end. I cannot count how many times the Panthers were 1 or 2 points away from leading the division, or within a the 8th spot earlier in the year. Remember, I grew up in Chicago and still love the Cubs, so you have to understand where I’m coming from with regards to getting my hopes up.
That being said, it frustrates me to no end, but if you look at the roster of players, maybe they are just playing over their heads right now. You don’t really think that this group of 3rd and 4th liners could do any damage if they made the playoffs do you?
First line: Brett McLean, Olli Jokinen, Ville Peltonen. Only Jokinen belongs on this line. His numbers would be much better if he had real #1 linemates. McLean is a nice player, but let’s face it, he belongs on the 3rd line in a checking mode. Peltonen is showing why he spent so much time in Europe. He’s soft, and fairly useless, and has no business on this line either.
Second line: Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, and David Booth. David Booth has been an wonderful surprise and hopefully he will have a long career here in South Florida. He skates hard every shift, forechecks, backchecks, and is not afraid to go to the net. Nathan Horton, one of the most inconsistent players the Panthers have. He needs to be constantly pushed and his lazy habits are getting a bit frustrating. Stephen Weiss… I will save my commments for later. All I will say for now is that alot of people like him. I watch him closely. Are we watching the same player?
Third line: Radek Dvorak, Kamil Kreps and Steve Montador. Dvorak is where he should be. Kreps is a youngster and he’s trying to find his game. Montador is a natural defenseman playing as a 3rd line winger, or sometimes on the 4th line. I know that injuries have caused this move, but let’s be real. He’s a #5, or #6 defenseman on most teams, what are we thinking by having him on this line for so many games? Isn’t there someone in our system who can play on the third line. Or make a trade for someone. Oh yea, we did. But he’s missing in action.
Finally the fourth line: Gregory Campbell, Rostislav Olesz, and Wade Belak. A couple of these players will shift from the third line so these last 2 lines are really interchangeable for most nights. Point being is that of these 6 players, at least 4 of them are true 4th liners. Enough said.
As for the defense Jay B and is the pride and joy of the Panthers defenseman. Jassen Cullimore has been very serviceable. Bryan Allen has not played as well as he did the second half of last year, and many nights is inconsistent. His toughness that he showed last year has been missing. Maybe it’s the longterm deal he signed in the offseason. He looks like he’s coasting many nights. Cory Murphy is well…small. He can’t play against the best offensive players because he’s…small. No offense, he’s a nice guy, but he always be outmatched by any good offensive player. We don’t have enough skilled players on this team to be able to afford this type of player. We are not the New Jersey Devils with Brian Rafalski, or now the Detroit Red Wings who have Rafalski. He was supposed to help the power play, but the Panthers need help at even strength. As for the rest of the defenseman, they would have a hard time making most any other roster.
Now I know the Panthers have lost alot of players due to injuries and the Richard Zednik accident was traumatic, but they were sputtering long before that happened. Every team has injuries. It’s part of the game. Look at Colorado. Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth have missed significant time, and now they are fighting for first place in their division. Look at the Penguins. They lost Sidney Crosby and haven’t lost a beat. Finally look at Carolina. They lost Rod Brindamour, and have one of the worst group of d-men in the league and they still are probably going to win the division. My point behind this is that we haven’t lost any real superstar, and the slack was not really picked up by anyone, so injuries are just an excuse. A good team, a team that is well coached and is mature will find a way to overcome them.
So here we are with 10 games to go. 20 available points, and you’d have to think that the Panthers need at least 15 of them to even matter. They still have two teams ahead of them and the Leafs are right on their backs as well. My fear is that they won’t make the Playoffs and once again the organization will not get any playoff money for the 8th year in a row, no playoff experience for the players, and we’ll get a middle draft pick as well. Which I am sure our crackpot scouts should be able to screw up!
I am tired of being patient, and tired of the rebuilding process that has been going on. From everything I hear ownership is going to re-evaluate everything at the end of the season. If the history that has been happening with the Panthers the last three years was happening in most other NHL cities, I would think that the coaching staff would be on thin ice. They need a real motivator and a coach that will hold the players accountable, and the style of play must change. But here in South Florida, anything is possible. You never can say never, and you never know what could happen. While It wouldn’t surprise me, and I certainly would like it, at least Mike Keenan is under contract in Calgary, and most likely will be there next year, so he won’t be back.
But if that wasn’t the case, I would have to ask myself, what if?