Florida Panthers

Injury Bug Hits Panthers

Starting this season the Florida Panthers seemed to have too many defensemen in training camp leaving everyone to wonder what would happen. Was it to help ramp up the competition, or was there really another motive. Well as it has happened the “glut” of extra rearguards has turned out to be beneficial with the recent injuries that are plaguing the blueline.

It started out with Bryan Allen coming to camp recovering from off season knee surgery. He ended up missing a good portion of pre season games and by the time he was ready, he did not appear to be 100%. After playing a few games to start the season it appears that he may need more surgery and will be out indefinitely, and possibly for the year. Not good.

Bryan McCabe went down in the opening game with what was thought to initially be a very serious back injury which has thankfully been reduced to a strained back. While McCabe has missed the last 7 games his return is expected soon and has started practicing as of today. This is a huge relief from what could have been a much longer term injury.

Cory Murphy the third defenseman of the young season to go down with an injury could be out for sometime as well. Cory missed a good portion of last year with a shoulder problem that looks like is what is hampering him now.

With all of these issues the Panthers signed veteran defenseman Jassen Cullimore earlier this week to a one year deal. Jassen was one of the best Panther players last year playing about 18 minutes per game and ended up with a very solid plus 21 for the year. While Cullimore will be 36 shortly, if he plays anywhere close to last year, this could provide a huge dose of relief to the aching blue line corps as well as add a veteran prescence.

I must say though that I am extremely curious about the Cullimore situation especially as it relates to Cory Murphy. Seeing that Cullimore played in 65 games last year, and very well I must repeat, Cory Murphy missed almost 30 games with the mysterious shoulder problem last year, it was Murphy who was kept and Cullimore was left on the outside looking in waiting for a call from Uncle Jack. It’s ironic that Murphy then goes down with another shoulder problem and Cullimore is signed as his replacement.
Oh, let’s not forget that Murphy was placed on and cleared waivers prior to the start of the season, giving this entire situation a strange outcome. As well as Cullimore played last year, it was quite questionnable why he wasn’t re-signed and why Murphy wasn’t let go, or sent to Rochester. Now we must wait for Cullimore to clear up his visa and work permit issues and more than likely won’t have him available until the weekend. It was reported that Wade Belak could be used on defense tonight against Ottawa if necessary. Yikes! I’d rather dress for the game than see that!

Also injured are penalty kill specialist Gregory Campbell and my favorite whipping boy Little Stevie Weiss. Campbell is out with a hip injury of some sort which according to the media hasn’t been specifically diagnosed and with the new rules about injury information we may not know anything further either. As for Stevie, well he’s out with a “nagging” groin pull. Neither Weiss or Campbell are supposed to play tonight. With Weiss already missing time this preseason for the same thing, he is continuing to prove to me that his place on this team is becoming more and more unbearable.
Weiss was allegedly to be in the best shape of his young(?) career (it’s been 6 years already), and for my 2 cents, I am getting sick and tired of our local media saying how good this guy is.
He is a fragile, overrated figment of every reporter’s imagination. At best he’s a third line center for us and anyone else. Maybe, and I mean maybe he would be better on a different team, and if he doesn’t explode this year, it’s time to move him somewhere else.

The Panthers take on the Ottawa Senators tonight with Alex Auld projected to be the starter in net for Ottawa. I wish Alex nothing but the best. I think he got a bit of a raw deal here in Florida and while I never expected him to be the “savior”, he’s shown that he can be a capable goalie. In the season prior to his trade to Florida he played 67 games for the Vancouver Canuck winning 33 of them. His knee injury that he suffered while he was here may not have been fully healed when he was put back in the lineup and caused him to perform rather inconsistently. It was a shame that he wan’t given another chance by the Panthers, even though we have Tomas Vokoun in his place which I know is an upgrade.
Good luck Alex, I hope you’ve found a home in Ottawa.

Thanks for reading.