Tag Archives: Panthers

Jagr Became Second All Time In Points Last Night

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What an achievement. This whole season I’ve been contemplating what the legacy of Jagr should be. After his slow start here I thought he should call it after this season. It feels like the Panthers keep him around just for some media and fan service. Everyday becomes some new achievement just because of his tenure playing how ever many games he’s had and where that places him, but when he finally closes the book on his career he’s probably going to be remembered as a Penguin, not a Panther. But now things kinda changed. Obviously over the past week he’s proves he could still contribute with 4 points in the past 2 games alone (yes I get its a very very tiny sample size), but now he moves into second all time in NHL points. The only one above him being Gretzky’s point total which definitely will never be touched. So now it’s almost as if Jagr is at the very top in NHL lore. He’s a guy that played through the eras and achieved such an insurmountable point total wearing a Panther jersey. Maybe he will be remembered only as a Penguin for winning those cups, but as of now he’s still playing, and as much as we seem to be running though quick sand, he’s not stopping. That alone is keeping the dream alive that we’ll one day soon, win the cup, and if Jagr’s name is engraved in the cup one more time, then his time as a Panther definitely will be a large part of his legacy.

P.s- Gretzky’s point total is so ridiculous. I have no idea when Jagr will stop, but if they legalize the use of HGH, then Jagr will break it one day.

The Panthers Fired Head Coach Gerard Gallant After Tonight’s 3-2 Lose to Carolina

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Shocking. No one saw this one coming besides everyone in the front office apparently. It doesn’t seem that crazy in perspective considering the record this season so far after coming off of a division title last season compared to whats happened this season. There are a litany of injuries that you could chalk up as the reason for the current record (11-10-1).  As of now, Tom Rowe, the guy who fired Gallant is taking his role as Interim Head Coach. Odd right? It’s a mess. We’re being called a laughing stock again and its making me hurt in a mental way. Vinnie Viola is getting torn to shreds for being a non hockey guy firing a hockey guy. Gallant by all accounts is a good guy according to everyone and my personal opinion included. I don’t hand those out all willy nilly. I seriously hope for the best for Gallant. Maybe he enjoys life as the 1st ever Head Coach of the Vegas Golden Knights? Lord knows according to a large large sentiment of Panthers and Hockey fans in general are hoping he “Coaches for Vegas and comes back and kicks Florida’s Ass!”Listen I liked the guy as HC too but I don’t share the exact same sentiment because i still want this team to win a cup so I’ll just hope he has a great season as the HC for Vegas and wins like a relatively large amount of cash playing the slots at Ceasars. The only other sentiment that’s being shared on the web is that the Islanders should fire Capuano to show accountability. It’s crazy because I have to have blind faith in an ex-military personnel to run a Hockey team but at some points during this season I have had moments thinking this team was just too damn talented to be where they were right now. Probably wont help immediately since the team liked Gallant and now there’s a growing sentiment that the players are disagreeing with management. So here’s to hoping we beat Chicago on Tuesday and some how trend upward and make a play off spot and hope these photos of Gerard Gallant waiting for a cab outside PNC won’t come back to haunt me Lane Kiffen style

Jaromir Jagr Commits To Another Year With The Panthers Plus Some Other Notes.

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SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers Executive Vice President and General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the Panthers have agreed to terms with forward Jaromir Jagr on a one-year contract. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. “Jaromir is a Hall of Fame player and had an excellent season playing alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau,” Tallon said. “His track record speaks for itself, ranking third all-time in points and goals. He has been a great fit with our organization and we are excited to have him back for next season.” “Jaromir has had a tremendous influence on our younger players and has been a key offensive contributor on our team,” Panthers Head Coach Gerard Gallant said. “We are happy to have him back as we look to build off this year’s playoff appearance.” The 44-year old Jagr led Florida with 66 points (27-39-66) in 79 games this season, while recording two assists in six Stanley Cup Playoff games. During the 2015-16 season, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound native of Kladno, Czech Republic passed Gordie Howe (1,850) to claim third all-time in points and passed Brett Hull (741) to claim third all-time in goals, while also becoming only the sixth player in NHL history to reach 1,100 assists, the fifth player to reach 200 postseason points and 10th player to reach 1,600 NHL games.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers Executive Vice President and General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the Panthers have agreed to terms with forward Jaromir Jagr on a one-year contract. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“Jaromir is a Hall of Fame player and had an excellent season playing alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau,” Tallon said. “His track record speaks for itself, ranking third all-time in points and goals. He has been a great fit with our organization and we are excited to have him back for next season.”
“Jaromir has had a tremendous influence on our younger players and has been a key offensive contributor on our team,” Panthers Head Coach Gerard Gallant said. “We are happy to have him back as we look to build off this year’s playoff appearance.”
The 44-year old Jagr led Florida with 66 points (27-39-66) in 79 games this season, while recording two assists in six Stanley Cup Playoff games. During the 2015-16 season, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound native of Kladno, Czech Republic passed Gordie Howe (1,850) to claim third all-time in points and passed Brett Hull (741) to claim third all-time in goals, while also becoming only the sixth player in NHL history to reach 1,100 assists, the fifth player to reach 200 postseason points and 10th player to reach 1,600 NHL games.

Well Jagr fans, time to add another 68 Jagr sweater to your collections because our ageless wonder has committed another year with the Cats. There has to be some people out there who thinks this season was a disappointment with The Panthers getting bounced in the 1st round. 2012 all over again. Some people are still on the edge of their seat probably waiting for Jagr to score a post season goal which hasn’t happened since he was a Flyer and because he wasn’t a major contributor in the 6 playoff games this year ( 0 goals, 2 assist) that maybe we should look past him. Well guess what, The Czech Mullet is here to stay, and i strongly believe end his NHL career here.

A lot of discussion of what to do in the off season now and I have seen a lot of questions about the top line of Huberdeau/ Barkov/ Jagr. Barkov was never really in question but for some absurd reason i saw people saying maybe trade Huberdeau because he can bring in alot. Maybe for a guy like Malkin because Malkin is more seasoned and bring in some other pieces and saw some don’t resign Jagr because Huberdeau and Barkov alone is good enough for that line. Wrong. Im not a big stat guy mainly because i get confused as fuck how to read them and the whole corsi/Fenwick chart nonsense makes my brain hurt but what i do know is 5 on 5 by the end of the season that top line was 2nd in production in the entire NHL only behind the Kane/Anisimov/Panarin line. Does it suck that they couldn’t get get much going in the playoffs? Absolutely. But there are still 82 games to play before the playoffs and at some point that line is going to get cooking. They couldn’t get it going when they needed to in the playoff with over turned goals and what not, but solely waiting for that day when you see the smile on Jagr’s face when he nets one in the post season is worth his 4 million dollar contract alone. So for about 1.5 million dollar difference between the line Kane/Anisimov/Panarin line and our top line, its worth it to keep the guy around for similar production at a discounted price.

OTHER NOTES:

New Logos:

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The new logo/jersey/sweaters. So far not an over whelming popular look but fuck it, I Like it. And people hating on it borderline makes me want to love it. Some people say its too boring or too much like a soccer team. I never hated the older iterations of the logo with the leaping cat, but i never fully loved them. There was so much going on with it. It was loud and brash, which some people like, but it was never a selling point for me. I like this new look. Its simple, bright, clean, has some basis of a military patch which is Vinny Violas thing hence always doing some sort of military relationship building foundation before the season starts. Its somewhat classic like the Canadiens sweater with the horizontal stripes and i always love the laces. The old logo just screamed 90’s Expansion team to me, which isn’t a bad thing, but I just like that this one is just different. Expansion teams for the most part are usually some animated Animal logo. Sharks, Ducks, Preds, Thrashers, wild. They were all some sort of fierce looking animal but id rather a more muted logo and have the players do all the talking by winning. This panther looks somewhat regal or noble and id like to think that makes all our players seem more skilled. Then again, this is just a somewhat of a leaked drawing and nothing official from Panthers front office. Back when George Richards tweeted discriptions of it, there was suppose to be teeth on it and who now with Jerseys going to addidas we really wont know till we see them but fuck it. New Year, new look, more skilled and experienced. Thats what we’re looking forward to next year.

My Playoff Eulogy:

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I never had time to formally post my thoughts on how the playoffs went down for the cats because I’ve been working elsewhere so im saying this now. Plz when you read this, read this in a Liev Schriber voice/ come up with better words because im not as eloquent as him in 24/7. The playoffs were a disappointment. I said from the get go that I started becoming nervous when I saw everyone picking the Panthers to win that series. Everyone loves an upset until its your team and unfortunately that is what happened for me and how ever many hundred thousand Panther fans here in south Florida.

I picked the Panthers to win in 5. It was very presumptuous of me. I said that i loved the fact that The Islanders were with out their starting goalie. Well i underestimated Greiss to the largest extent possible. The guy was a revelation. I feel like we’re getting into a trend where back ups come in towards the end and show up in the biggest way possible these past 2 playoffs. We saw it last year with Scott Darling who stepped in when Crawford needed it. This year we have Greiss of the Islanders and Matt Murray for the Penguins being an brick wall with the focus of a Buddhist monk in net. The Panthers just couldn’t get one pass Greiss when we needed it.That was by far the most unexpected factor in the series, another factor being John Tavares. I said from the jump that Tavares can single handedly carry a game on his own. I thought that was just going to be game one but it turns out i was wrong. Guy can carry his team a lot against a fresh young team like the Panthers. Then of course there was Luongo.

During the hot streak in December i knew from there on that Luongo was the MVP of the team. The players even agreed that Lu was their rock and with his numbers in the regular season that was never in question. But that was the regular season and this is the playoffs. There was always a stigma around Lu since Vancouver. Every time Boston comes around and im at the game I’ll always hear comments about Lu and Game 7 of the Stanley cup Finals in 2011. I even hear it from some Blackhawk fans when Lu was still a Canuck. I know there were lapses on defense in Game 1 and I know i can’t reasonably expect an aging Goaltender to play at his peak in Double OT. But for some reason I still have Luongo winning a gold medal for Team Canada in the Olympics and somethings tells me he can show up in biggest moment possible when the pressure is on his shoulders, but it wasn’t this year, and its a big of a question mark as “where is the G spot?” heading into the future.

I recall back to a game in the regular season where I knew if some issues were going to carry over into the playoffs that would be their demise, it would be that they couldn’t shut out this one game when they were leading 2-0 for 50 minutes and some how the team came back and beat them, that team of course being The New York Islanders. We took leads in the series as early as 2 minutes into Game 1 but from there Greiss and The Islanders as a whole adapted came out the victor. This time around in the Playoffs, as bad as it was, it was a result I was willing to accept. A lot of relationships between the 2 teams. Bill Torrey being our first GM who also built the Islanders dynasty, Their dynasty team’s Captain being our commentator, and even down to the fact that Roberto Luongo was drafted by the Islanders being told he was the future there before getting traded here for his first and memorable stint with the Cats. The Islanders took 20 years to get over the hump of being a 1st round exit, and finally they got it. Watching these two teams go at it was one of the most underrated playoff series so far, and I loved every second of it right down to the handshake, especially because from watching them go, you just know in your bones, its not going to take 20 years like the islanders for the Panthers to get over the hump.

Until next season or if i find any other Panther related thing worth blogging.

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The Cats Are Back Baby! Panthers Win Back To Back Against Last Years Stanley Cup Winner And Finalist

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We’re back baby! Not gonna lie, I was getting nervous for a second. The 12 game win streak needed to end. We were getting out played and out shot towards the tail end of the streak and just won by taking advantage of some lucky opportunities. Once Ekblad got boarded hard in Edmonton my heart sank. That was the moment the streak was gonna end. Win one more and grab a point in OT in Vancouver. Next thing you know we got shut out hard with a 0-6 loss to Calgary. Fall 1-3 to cross town rivals the Lightning while they were on the hottest streak they’ve been on all season climbing their way towards the top of the standings. Edmonton got revenge with a 4-2 win on our own home turf. Luckily with a 3 day resting period in between and a healthy Ekblad back in the line up, we were back. Just peppered Darling with shots in a 4-0 win over defending Stanley Cup champs the Chicago Blackhawks and getting Lu another shut out. Less than 24 hours later Lu strapped on the pads for a night normally meant for Monty but stepped up for a big statement game letting the Atlantic know we’re fighting off any one threatening to take our top spot in the division. We followed the game plan that made us successful, just become offensive monsters getting goals early and never letting up.

Silent 1st period against the Bolts, but the second period was just Panthers feasting time with 4 goals from Huberdeau, Bjugstad, Reilly Smith on a PP, and Vinny Trocheck. All within an 8 minute span we ripped the life out of Tampa. Ballsy move from Quenneville pulling Darling with around 8 minutes left in the 3rd just to try to get some offensive scoring going, but only to be topped by Jon Cooper pulling Bishop with more than 10 minutes left in the 3rd. Cats got a little sloppy in the 3rd giving up a goal on the penalty kill, but good for Campbell who got goals on back to back nights taking the Empty Netter against Tampa. Not gonna lie, it’s nice when Ekblad isn’t the only guy on D to score. Night ended with another win for Lu and the Panthers winning 5-2, winning back to back nights against Stanley Cup finalist with both having sold out crowds, Snap the red hot Lightning’s 7 game win streak, and pushing the gap to 5 points between 1st and 2nd place in the Atlantic. Great weekend overall for Panther Fans.

Coming up next is a game against Toronto tomorrow, which i fully expect coming up with a win, and then we have the All star game break. Now I know Jagr has been pretty against the All star game but all accounts are that he is at least traveling to Nashville to appear. Who knows how much he’ll actually play but people are all whining calling him a cry baby about it. Listen, if you’re 43 years old, playing on a top line, scoring the most goals on a team and have the 2nd most points on a team that’s eagerly pushing to win a Stanley Cup final appearance, You can do whatever the fuck you want. He can tell me he’s gonna spit on me and have sex with my mom for all I care, what ever he needs to keep winning. If you’re 43 and doing as much as him then maybe you have the right to complain but you also don’t have a cup, so really you can’t. Hopefully he plays like 1 minute of 3-on-3 and thats it. Because coming up after the break is what I’ve been waiting for, The Washington Capitals.

I don’t know why or if i’ve ever said this on here but I kinda hate the Capitals. I see A LOT of Caps fans hate on the panthers because of the attendance blah blah blah but in the end, They’ve had a superstar for 10 years now with 0 cups to show for it. Ovechkin’s a monster but still no rings on his finger. Well this year they so far have been consistently the best team in the NHL going 35-8-3 with the league most 73 points. Holtby is 30-5 so far this season. Unbelievable. Last time we played Washington we won 4-1 but it was Gubauer in net for Washington. Well come February 2nd we’re on the road facing the number 1 team, Capitals on the national stage on NBCSN. Haven’t been back to NBC since 2014 where we lost to NJ. Well this is gonna be set to what should be the two top teams in the east battling it out. I need to see Holtby in net. I need the test to see how good we’ll fare and if we do well, hopefully that’s gonna be a look into the Eastern Conference Final because I don’t see Washington missing a step and I don’t think my heart can handle the Panthers not being there this year.

Small side note- A lot of talk about the future of Pirri on this team. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. Gallant scratched him for 3 straight games when the Panthers were on down slump going 0-23 on power plays. I don’t look into it much at all. We obviously have scoring going everywhere but Pirri just has to get hot and itll happen soon. Gallant did the same thing last year and then Pirri was back with 6 goals in 7 games. Towards the end he went on like a 22 point streak in like 25 games. It’ll come back. Don’t see Tallon giving up a guy like him.

 

Ekblad And Jagr CRUSHING The Hair Game This Season

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Make sure to check out the winter issue of @VeniceMagFTL to see @Ekblad5FLA! pic.twitter.com/7bE7JXCU3Z

Make sure to check out the winter issue of @VeniceMagFTL to see @Ekblad5FLA! pic.twitter.com/7bE7JXCU3Z

OMG. Florida Winter Casual has never looked better on a kid from Canada. Ekblad started off his Pro career with the hair coiffed upwards. Made a strong stance. Now that he’s had a full season under his belt he’s gonna go with the relaxed look. Got all the nervous jitters out last season, time to man handle this season with his hair coming in second to Jagrs.

Thanks Lu. Looks like we got great hair on Forwards and on D. Playoff bubble? More like 3rd seed going the distance.

 

Ekblad Sniping Targets In Military Camo Gets Me Going…..

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When Xerxes offered to spare the lives of Leonidas, his 300 personal bodyguards and a handful of Thebans and others who volunteered to defend their country, if they would lay down their arms, Leonidas shouted these two words back. Molon Labe!

When Xerxes offered to spare the lives of Leonidas, his 300 personal bodyguards and a handful of Thebans and others who volunteered to defend their country, if they would lay down their arms, Leonidas shouted these two words back.
Molon Labe!

I don’t know why i have a full blown infatuation with the guy but as I view his life vicariously through the glimpses of interviews, games, and social media i think i know now why that is. At first i thought it was a sexual thing. Like Holy shit, ed, you’ve been masturbating to women all these years and out of no where this kid from Ontario is making you go gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you’re 25 soon so you better figure out whats the deal. But that wasn’t it at all. Guy might be one of the youngest guys on the roster but he was born to lead and im almost sure that’s what draws me to him. Just a stern leader who leaves it all on the ice. the number 5 jersey from Lidstrom, also that being his favorite player, the Camo Panthers gear with Leonidas quotes. Picking out targets 100 ft away whether its with cold sniper bullet or a puck as he rips through an offense in the neutral zone. Guys just born to lead and inspire. Thats why im drawn to him. It has nothing to do with his Grizzled manly beard and jaw line or his cool head of hair. Or his probably large dick size that i think about from time to time…….

Come and Get Them indeed

Come and Get Them indeed

Little Panthers Update Heading Into Training Camp

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God i hope this is true. Its absolutely frustrating watching the Panthers play at the pace they play sometimes. Don’t get me wrong they skate their balls off every night. But after the playoffs you see teams like Tampa, Chicago, Anaheim just bring so much speed and brutality and skill. Just things that make it a real physical challenge for the other team. One thing I hate the most is that the fans and maybe play style is too soft. We obviously get no respect as it is being an ice hockey team located next to the god damn everglades but its also in the fans too i think. They’re just to complacent. When I see the crowd its all like older women and maybe its just who i follow on social media but its all women who are like “oh they’re good/ I like so and so player/ omg i can’t believe they didn’t call that!/ we lost but good job!” I want it to be hard nosed. I want Panther fans to be like “fuck you, we’re gonna win.” I need everything to be hard nose and apply pressure every damn game. No more being soft.

In other news Huberdeau has resigned for 2 years. Gonna be fun to see them resign him and Ekblad in 2017 but Im almost sure they’ll find a way to keep these young guys especially these two Calder winners. Hopefully Huberdeau has a great year which I’m expecting playing on the same line as Jagr and Barkov.

So far it seems the only spots left open for people to compete for are RW on the 3rd with Jokinen and Bolland and wings for the fourth centered by MacKenzie. Trocheck I’m kind of expecting to make the roster just because he’s proven to through 50 games with the cats notching 22 points last season. The others that are in the fight are Rocco Grimaldi, who’s a close 2nd for me because i see him as a tiny mousey scrappy player and i just like that kind of guy. Quinton Howden I haven’t heard much or seen much form him at al along with Connor Brickley because they haven’t had any NHL time. As For Lawson Crouse I don’t think he’ll make the roster just yet this year maybe we’ll have him called up a few games but I’m not expecting him to really make the team just yet. As for David Booth, he definitely dropped in production over the years from his glory days as a Panther so im leaning towards not expecting him to make the cut but he is a hard worker so maybe put him with a young team can revitalize and maybe put that work ethic to good use.

Expectation this year- Playoff bubble.