Author Archive

”It's like turning around the Titanic and not a rowboat.” - Panthers GM Randy Sexton. When your General Manager uses Titanic references to describe the team that he is responsible for putting together; then you know something is horribly wrong. Once again in 2009/10 the Florida Panthers has been at the wrong end of the table and the butt of many hockey fans’ jokes. This latest setback makes it ten years now ...
First off: I don’t mean to insult Disney or their first rate entertainment business by comparing them to possibly the worst run sports franchise in North America, the Florida Panthers. But, quite frankly, it’s hard not to make the link—if only on a tongue-in-cheek, derisive level. Whilst there might be a couple of other strong contenders for the dubious honor of being the worst sports franchise in North America, hidden among the ...

Road Warriors: The Florida Panthers Enjoy Out of Town Successes

Posted: 15th December 2009 by Robert Young in NHL
Yesterday’s incredible Christmas time blowout of the NY lslanders—by the Florida Panthers believe it or not—was as comprehensive as it was unexpected. Where did that one come from? Just last Friday I, and most Panthers fans in general (come on admit it!), had this season pegged as a rebuilding season. Perhaps it would be better to just throw in the towel and admit we won’t make the playoffs this time either; for ...

The Florida Panthers’ Top 10 All-Time Greatest Players

Posted: 4th December 2009 by Robert Young in NHL
The Florida Panthers have a short but colorful history with some real characters that have graced the artificial ice in the Sunshine State. The club was formed in 1993 and participated in that yearÆs expansion draft (in Quebec) together with fellow newcomers Anaheim. The Panthers drafted successfully in that expansion draft and set the platform for a string of early triumphsùfor the team that was based in Miami at that ...
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and especially to Ville Koistinen that just cleared waivers... Despite being waived, he’s going to be spending Thanksgiving here in South Florida rather than in Rochester of the AHL, for the time being anyway. However, the question is if the Panthers won’t be putting him on re-entry waivers soon—so that another NHL team can pick him up on a Black Friday sale perhaps. Poor Ville... You have to feel sorry for ...

Highway Robbery at Sunrise: Florida Panthers Mugged by Penguin Ref

Posted: 24th November 2009 by Robert Young in NHL
You would think the defending Stanley Cup Champions would not need any breaks and dodgy calls to beat the upstart Florida Panthers. However, apparently the refs thought otherwise and handed the victory to the Penguins on a silver platter. Words do not suffice to express the outrage and utter disbelief—of the highway robbery on ice—that Panthers’ fans are feeling. In a shocking turn of events, the Florida Panthers lost another two-goal lead ...
The Los Angeles Kings made a rare stop in South Florida and handed the Panthers an equally rare shootout loss Monday evening, defeating the Cats 4-3 in the end. However, this is not what created most of the buzz in Panthers-land on this particular night. The murmur in Sunrise was more surrounding the reshuffling of the Florida ownership than the game against the Kings. Stu Siegel and Cliff Viner will now replace Alan ...

Beleaguered Florida Panthers Fans Deserves Better From Their Team

Posted: 12th November 2009 by Robert Young in NHL
The Florida Panthers have been known to start seasons slowly and then come on strong toward the end, just to fall wide of the postseason mark. It appears as if this season has all those characteristics as well. Whether or not the Cats can reignite their season and make a credible playoff push remains to be seen, but the beginning is thus far following familiar patterns. ôLetÆs cut off the first 15 games ...
The Panthers came in to the home-and-home header versus Southeastern rivals Washington, high on confidence, but left with team morale in tatters. Having won three straight games, playing the best hockey so far of the season, fans and players alike felt that the Caps looked ripe for the picking. The Capitals were without inspirational sniper Alex Ovechkin and had, up to that point, not done very well without him. Early in the first ...
No one was going to break the stalemate. It was obvious. These opposing forces were never going to find a way to smash the deadlock that had descended upon Sunrise. The Hurricanes of Carolina huffed and puffed, but could not blow down the Floridian fortification amid the swamps. No less than 21 shots were hurled at the fort and it seemed that the gates would crash any minute under the sheer ...