Monthly Archives: March 2013
Florida Panthers’ Easter Eggs
Happy Easter hockey fans! While many of you will find Easter baskets filled with chocolate and scratch off lottery tickets waiting for your this morning, we here at Panther Parkway decided to give you a new kind of Easter Egg. For this special holiday, we have put together a list of fun Florida Panthers’ Easter Eggs for you to enjoy. Everything from fun stats to interesting facts about the Panthers’ season are listed below, enjoy!
*Statistics shown are correct as of March 30, 2013.
- Between Stephen Weiss, Sean Bergenheim, Ed Jovanovski, Kris Versteeg, and Jose Theodore, the Panthers currently have $15,875,000 worth of salary out for the remainder of the 2013 season.
- The Florida Panthers are heading towards being the first Southeast Division champion to miss the playoffs the following year since the Atlanta Thrashers failed to reach the playoffs during the 2007-2008 season.
- Panthers’ rookie forward Drew Shore and Head Coach Kevin Dineen both played college hockey for the University of Denver.
- Forward George Parros needs just 21 PIM’s to reach 1000 for his career.
- Read the rest of this entry
Late Heroics Lift Cats Over Devils
For the Florida Panthers, overtime against the New Jersey Devils hasn’t been a pleasant experience of late. In last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Devils won games 6 and 7 in overtime to rally down from a 3-2 series deficit. Saturday night, the Panthers finally got it right as Dmitry Kulikov’s slap shot from the right face off dot gave them a 3-2 come-from-behind win in front of 18,138 at the BB&T Center.
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Panther Parkway Noon Headlines: Crosby, Mr. Hockey, Brandon Saad, Taylor Hall.
While you’re having Sunday Brunch catch up on all of last night’s amazing NHL action that you may have missed! Here are the top stories and videos from all of yesterday’s action around the NHL, starting off with Coach’s Corner:
* The Three Stars from Saturday Night. Puck Daddy.
* Gordie Howe, “Mr. HOckey” turns 85 yearls old today. NHL.com.
* Edmonton Oiler Taylor Hall breaks a Wayne Gretzy Record. Sportsnet.ca.
Please Read the rest of this entry
Game Day Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. Florida Panthers.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS: 15-11-8 (38 PTS.) vs. FLORIDA PANTHERS: 10-19-6 (26 PTS.)
GAME DAY SONG: OUTLAW PETE
When the New Jersey Devils last came to Sunrise it was for game seven of the opening round of the playoffs last April. The Devils eliminated the Florida Panthers in double overtime in what was an entertaining and well fought battle, in what was the first playoff appearance by the Panthers in over a decade. Tonight the Florida Panthers will take on the New Jersey Devils and Pete DeBoer, for the second time in a week with the Devils riding a two game losing streak continued by their shootout loss to Tampa last night. In that game New Jersey held a two goal lead going into the third period with the tying goal coming with 15.1 seconds remaining in regulation. Coach Deboer’s comments are all too familiar to Panther fans:
“It’s disappointing when you’re 15 seconds away from getting two (points), but at the same time we’ve got to put points in the bank and keep moving forward,” coach Peter DeBoer said.
The Devils seem to be struggling as of late with a three game losing streak last week, coupled with this current two gamer, and now find themselves only three points ahead of both the New York Rangers and New York Islanders who are both tied for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils are 4-3-3 in their last 1o games, and are 5-6-6 on the road. Part of the Devils recent inconsistency could be attributed to the loss of forward and resident sniper Ilya Kovalchuk who hurt in shoulder in the Panther game last Saturday. At the time Kovalchuk had 10 goals and 17 assists, and his skill set could have made a difference in last night’s loss to Tampa.
Panther Parkway Noon Headlines: Iginla, NCAA, DeKeyeser, Top Goalies.
What better way to spend your lunch break than catching up on all of last night’s amazing NHL action that you may have missed! Here are the top stories and videos from the all of yesterday’s action around the NHL.
* First up watch the Jarome Iginla video tribute from the Calgary Flames.
* I think the announcer was pretty certain this was a clean hit. (video). I don’t think it was.
* The Three Stars for Friday night from Puck Daddy.
* Here’s a great way to decide on who to cheer for in the NCAA’s Hockey Tournament.
Jonathan Huberdeau Ends Goal Drought - Back In The Calder Hunt
After his shootout goal sealed the Montreal Canadiens’ amazing 6-5 comeback victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, forward Brendan Gallagher took control of the Calder Trophy race. Sadly for Brendan, his reign atop the Calder Trophy mountain was short lived.
Less than 24 hours later, the previously dormant Jonathan Huberdeau was reawakened in South Florida, and once again showed the hockey world that the Calder Trophy was his to lose this year.
Although he was one of the Calder Trophy frontrunners for the majority this season, Jonathan Huberdeau found himself in the midst of a 9 game goal drought heading into Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. During his recent struggles, many in the hockey community had been wondering if Huberdeau had fallen out of the spotlight, but after his exploits on Thursday night, I would wager that Huberdeau’s doubters may be re-thinking their stance.
When the Panthers looked as if they were headed toward another heartbreaking loss, Huberdeau netted a game tying powerplay goal that eventually prove to be enough to get the team to overtime and eventually a shootout.
“It was an important goal in the third to tie the game. The team had a great effort tonight. We were up 2-0 and we came back two times in this game. We want to work and we want to get wins.”
Once in the shootout, Huberdeau showed fans another one of his dazzling 1 on 1 moves that he keeps in his seemingly endless bag of tricks. However, Huberdeau’s fantastic goal on Ryan Miller was not without drama. After the referees initially ruled that Huberdeau’s goal never fully crossed the goal line, the game was put on hold as the goal was put under further review.
Around the NHL: March 29, 2013
What better way to spend your lunch break than catching up on all of last night’s amazing NHL action that you may have missed! Here are the top stories and videos from the all of yesterday’s action around the NHL.
- Check out Claude Giroux’s Datsyuk’ian shootout goal from last night.
- A look at the Penguins’ new potential lines….God help us all. [NHL Network]
- Ray Shero: King of the trade deadline. [Last World Sports]
- The Phoenix Coyotes scored 6 goals in the 1st period of their game against the Predators. [TSN]
- The Islanders proved last night why there needs to be some changes in the way shootouts are governed. [Puck Daddy]
- It’s risky business dealing for recent first-round picks. [Sporting News]
- A look back at Jarome Iginla’s best moments thus far. [The Hockey Writers]
- Watch Pavel Datsyuk embarrass Logan Couture [Puck Daddy]
Follow All Panther Parkway writers on Twitter: Me @JamesonCoop, Frank Rekas @FrankRekas, Josh Luecht @eyesonsunrise, Scott Mullin @GreatScottsman, Paige Lewis @PaigeLewisFL, Gabby Kiger @gabbykiger, Amanda Land @HockeyGirl2530 and David Lasseter @davidlasseter. Visit our Facebook fan page here and give us a like and share anything you wish with us.
Panthers Resilient In Beating Buffalo
If you’ve made your way out to the BB&T Center to see a Florida Panthers home game, you probably haven’t left too often with a smile on your face. Coming into Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, the Cats had only won four of 17 games in front of the home folks, the lowest in the National Hockey League. The 17,044 (announced) were treated to number five as the Panthers won a back-and-forth contest that ended with them winning 5-4 in a shootout.
If there’s a common theme in Panthers wins this season, few as they may be, it’s them getting the first goal and Thursday was no different. Shawn Matthias grabbed a rebound of a Tyson Strachan shot at the hashmarks, then used Buffalo defenseman Robyn Regehr as a screen before beating Ryan Miller high, stick side 3:28 into the game. Tomas Fleischmann converted a power play early in the second, converting a gorgeous no-look pass from Tomas Kopecky for a 2-0 lead.
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Ed Jovanovski to Have Season Ending Surgery
After much speculation over whether or not he may return this season, it has been announced that Panthers’ Captain Ed Jovanovski will have a season ending surgery to fix a nagging hip injury.
Jovanovski’s season came to an abrupt end on January 29th after a dirty hit from Lightning forward B.J. Crombeen took him out of the lineup indefinitely. Jovanovski attempted a comeback on March 16th against the New York Islanders, but sadly re-aggravated his hip injury and was shut down once again shortly thereafter.
After being named Captain prior to the start of the 2013 season, expectations were sky high not only for Jovanovski, but for the Panthers’ team as a whole. However, only a few games into the season it became clear that both the Panthers and Jovanovski would be in for a long season. When he was healthy, Jovanovski competed in 6 games while averaging 15:39 of ice time. While most defensive Captains around the NHL average just over 20 minutes of ice time, Jovonavski’s age and ability kept him from being that kind of player for the Panthers this season.
Although Jovanovski wasn’t dazzling on the score sheet, the value of his veteran leadership and experience cannot be understated. On a team filled with young talent like Jonathan Huberdeau and Drew Shore, Jovanovski’s presence in the dressing room would have been a great assest in helping the Panthers’ young talent stay focused and remain undiscouraged throughout this forgettable season.
While there is some speculation that this injury may be the beginning of the end of Jovanovski’s career, I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to that conclusion. At 36-years-old and set to make north of $8 million over the next two seasons, Jovanovski’s retirement is far from a guarantee. Considering the financial concerns, the Florida Panthers are most likely in no position to use one of their amnesty buyouts, so Jovanovski would have to leave by his own free will. While it’s hard to imagine any player walking away from $8 million, we can save the Jovanovski speculation for another day.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts on Ed Jovanovski’s future in the comments section below!
Follow All Panther Parkway writers on Twitter: Me @JamesonCoop, Frank Rekas @FrankRekas, Josh Luecht @eyesonsunrise, Scott Mullin @GreatScottsman, Paige Lewis @PaigeLewisFL, Gabby Kiger @gabbykiger, Amanda Land @HockeyGirl2530 and David Lasseter @davidlasseter. Visit our Facebook fan page here and give us a like and share anything you wish with us.
Game Day Preview: Buffalo Sabres vs. Florida Panthers. Times Got Hard
BUFFALO SABRES: 13-16-4 (30 PTS.) vs. FLORIDA PANTHERS: 9-19-6 (24 PTS.)
GAME DAY SONG: Downbound Train
After a five game road trip that started with so much promise, the Florida Panthers return home riding a three game losing streak to face the Buffalo Sabres for the third and final meeting of the season between the two teams. The month of March is likely one that the Florida Panthers would like to forget from a few fronts. Losing players more players to injury, and compiling a 3-10-1 record up to this point, March has been an evil month to the Panthers. The inconsistencies continue, and were evident on the road trip, and Florida won the first two games against Carolina and the New York Rangers, outscoring them 7-2, yet lost three in a row to New Jersey, the Islanders and Toronto and being outscored 8-3.
The Panthers did show some life in their final road game against the Leafs as they fired 42 shots at Ben Scrivens, but as has been the story all year, they were unable to “finish” and came out losers. The Panthers have also wasted two solid efforts by Jacob Markstrom as he stopped 62 of 66 shots in his last two starts.
“I thought we deserved a better outcome than this,” said Florida goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who has stopped 62 of 66 shots in the last two losses. “I thought we played a good game and we had a lot of shots on net. We’ve just got to continue to do that and good things will happen. It’s not fun to lose and let three goals in. I felt good but you don’t want to lose.”
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