Founded: 1993
Arena: Office Depot Center
Stanley Cup wins: 0
2008-09 Panthers Preview:
(See below for the team ranking from last season)
The Panthers are a reminder of the old maxim that potential is just a nice way of saying you haven't done anything yet. Florida is always the young team with potential, promise, a bright future, and a whole bunch of other nice qualities that have so far added up to nothing.
Olli Jokinen, one-time franchise centerman, is gone. Jay Bouwmeetser, current franchise defenseman, could follow next summer. Is attendance poor because people in Mimai don't want hockey? Or is this team simply not worth supporting? You can only sell "potential" for so long.
Jokinen was shipped to Phoenix for good defensemen - Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton. An exchange of defensemen with Toronto landed them Bryan McCabe for Mike van Ryn. Defense first is the new mantra in Florida. Add Buowmeester, and the blue line looks much better than last year’s porous group. (Though Bouwmeester's pending free agency in 2009 looms over the team.) Tomas Vokoun can match up with any goalie in the NHL. So all signs point to an improvement in goal prevention.
Up front, where young guys like David Booth, Nathan Horton, and Stephen Weiss have to take on bigger roles. But turning young promise into veteran production is where the Panthers falter, year after year. Jokinen's departure leaves a big hole at center ice. Weiss, who scored 42 points last season, looks to be the number-one guy, with rookie Shawn Matthias possibly slotting in behind him.
Florida's most important addition might be the new coach, Peter DeBoer. He arrives from junior hockey with a reputation for shaping kids into solid pros. Current NHLers who apprenticed under him include Mike Richards, Derek Roy, David Clarkson, Matt Lashoff,and Gregory Campbell.
If it’s left up to the veteran scorers like Cory Stillman, Richard Zednik and Radek Dvorak to hold this team together, the Panthers are going nowhere. But another good season from Vokoun and a breakout year by one or two young players could vault Florida into the thick of the playoff race.
What the Florida Panthers did in 2007-08
11th in Eastern Conference
22th in NHL
