Florida Panthers

Florida Panthers
Conference Eastern
Division Southeast
Founded 1993
History Florida Panthers
1993-present
Home Arena BankAtlantic Center
City Sunrise, Florida
Colors Navy Blue, Red, Gold, White

                   
Media FSFLORIDA
WAXY (790 AM)
Owner(s) Flag of the United States Alan Cohen
Flag of the United States Bernie Kosar
General Manager Flag of Canada Jacques Martin
Head Coach Flag of Canada Peter DeBoer
Captain Vacant
Minor League Affiliates Rochester Americans (AHL)
Florida Everblades (ECHL)
Stanley Cups none
Conference Championships 1995–96
Division Championships none

The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise.

Contents

Franchise history

Blockbuster Video magnate H. Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for his native Miami on December 10, 1992. The Panthers were brought into the league with the Anaheim Ducks and took part in the 1993 expansion draft, which was hosted by Quebec. The draft produced 10 players that would be a part of the 1996 Eastern conference championship team. The team played at the Miami Arena, and its first major stars were New York Rangers goaltender castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals. Their first game was a 4-4 tie on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks. The first win in franchise history was against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Thunderdome before a record crowd of 27,227. The Panthers had one of the most successful first seasons of any expansion team (and the best first year of any NHL team), finishing one point below .500 and narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Their first-year success was attributed mainly to the "trap defense" that first-year coach Roger Neilson implemented. This conservative style was widely criticized by NHL teams; some even suggested that the Panthers were ruining the game at the time.

After missing another close brush with the playoffs in 1995, Neilson was fired and replaced by Doug MacLean. The team then acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline in 1996 and looked toward the playoffs for the first time.

Also during that season, a very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami. On the night of the Panthers' 1995-96 home opener, a rat scurried across the team's locker room. Mellanby reacted by "one-timing" the rat against the wall, killing it.[1] That night he scored two goals, which Vanbiesbrouck quipped was "a rat trick." Two nights later, as the story found its way into the world, a few fans threw rubber rats on the ice in celebration of a goal. The rubber rat count went from 16 for the third home game to over 2,000 during the playoffs.

In the 1996 playoffs, as the #4 seed, the Panthers beat the Boston Bruins in 5 games, then upset the top seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six, and then the second seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, swept the Panthers in four games. Uwe Krupp scored the winning goal for the Avalanche in the 3rd overtime to defeat the Panthers 1-0.

The Panthers would begin the next season with a 17–game unbeaten streak but faded in the second half of the season. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Wayne Gretzky-led Rangers in five games.

The 1997–98 season would be a return to mediocrity for the Panthers. After a 7–12–4 start, the Panthers fired coach Doug MacLean, replacing him for the season with General Manager Bryan Murray. The change didn't aid matters, as Florida suffered a franchise-worst 24–43–15 record, including a 15–game winless streak. This season would also mark the end of Vanbiesbrouck's time in Florida, who in the midst of that streak, was shelled by the Chicago Blackhawks and never played another game for the Panthers. He would sign with the Flyers that off-season as a free agent.

The Panthers moved into the brand new National Car Rental Center (now known as BankAtlantic Center) in 1998. In 1999, they acquired Pavel Bure (the "Russian Rocket"), in a blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks. They reached the playoffs again in 2000, losing in a first-round sweep to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils.

The team slumped in 2000–01. The following season, 2001–02, the Panthers had their worst record ever. Bure struggled despite being reunited with his brother Valeri, and was traded to the Rangers at the 2002 trading deadline.

The Cats then started coveting defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, who was widely tipped to be picked first overall in the 2002 draft. But controversial bench boss “Iron Mike” Keenan sent Florida's first pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who took winger Rick Nash. The Atlanta Thrashers, after picking goalie Kari Lehtonen second overall, announced that the Panthers had given them two draft picks to guarantee that Bouwmeester would still be available for Florida's selection. Bouwmeester was selected third overall by the Panthers. Said Keenan, "We shouldn’t have done that ... Jay would have been number-one if we'd kept that pick."[2]

In 2003, the Panthers hosted the NHL All-Star Weekend in which the Western Conference earned a 6–5 victory after the first OT shootout in All-Star history. The West overcame a four-goal outburst by Thrashers winger Dany Heatley, who took home MVP honors in his first All-Star Game.

On June 23, 2006, the Panthers were again involved in a blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks, sending Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek, and a sixth-round draft pick in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld, and Bryan Allen. This trade has been regarded by some as one of the worst trades in professional sports history. Luongo went on to be a success in Vancouver, challenging Martin Brodeur for the Vezina trophy each of the past two seasons. Bertuzzi only played a handful of games for the Cats before getting injured. He would be traded to Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline. Alex Auld ended up being a poor replacement for the Panthers former franchise goalie and was subsequently traded to the Boston Bruins after one season.

On June 22, 2007, the Florida Panthers were involved in yet another draft day deal involving a goalie. The Florida Panthers acquired Tomas Vokoun from the Nashville Predators in exchange for three draft picks, a 1st round pick in 2008, a second round pick in 2008, and a conditional second round pick that can be used in 2007 or 2008. The move would eventually pay off when Vokoun was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

On July 28, 2007 the Florida Panthers unveiled their new jerseys to over 11,000 fans at the BankAtlantic Center during the first intermission of the Panthers 1996 Reunion game. Star forwards Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss were both in full gear to help showcase the sweater changes.

As of 2008, the Florida Panthers are the only team in the NHL to have a lifetime winning percentage of .500 or better over the Montreal Canadiens, the winningest team in the NHL history with 24 Stanley Cup titles.

The 2008 season marked the seventh straight season that the Panthers have missed the playoffs.

In June 2008, the Panthers traded their captain Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes for a 2nd round draft pick and two defensemen, Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Panthers. For the full season-by-season history, see Florida Panthers seasons

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of February 6, 2007. [3]

Season GP W L T1 OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
2003–04 82 28 35 15 4 75 188 221 1192 4th, Southeast Did not qualify
2004–05 Season cancelled due to 2004–05 NHL lockout
2005–061 82 37 34 - 11 85 240 257 1255 4th, Southeast Did not qualify
2006–07 82 35 31 - 16 86 247 257 1059 4th, Southeast Did not qualify
2007–08 82 38 35 - 9 85 216 226 1002 3rd, Southeast Did not qualify
1 As of the 2005–06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current roster

Updated November 27, 2008.[1]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
5 Flag of Canada Allen, BryanBryan Allen (A) Injured Reserve D L 29 2006 Kingston, Ontario
31 Flag of the United States Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson G L 28 2006 Park Ridge, Illinois
2 Flag of the United States Ballard, KeithKeith Ballard D L 26 2008 Baudette, Minnesota
10 Flag of the United States Booth, DavidDavid Booth LW L 24 2004 Detroit, Michigan
4 Flag of Canada Bouwmeester, JayJay Bouwmeester D L 26 2002 Edmonton, Alberta
44 Flag of Canada Boynton, NickNick Boynton D R 30 2008 Nobleton, Ontario
11 Flag of Canada Campbell, GregoryGregory Campbell C L 25 2002 London, Ontario
22 Flag of Canada Cullimore, JassenJassen Cullimore D L 36 2007 Simcoe, Ontario
14 Flag of the Czech Republic Dvorak, RadekRadek Dvorak RW R 32 2007 Tabor, Czechoslovakia
67 Flag of the Czech Republic Frolik, MichaelMichael Frolik C L 21 2006 Kladno, Czechoslovakia
16 Flag of Canada Horton, NathanNathan Horton RW R 24 2003 Welland, Ontario
28 Flag of the Czech Republic Kreps, KamilKamil Kreps C R 24 2003 Litomerice, Czechoslovakia
24 Flag of Canada McCabe, BryanBryan McCabe D L 34 2008 St. Catharines, Ontario
53 Flag of Canada McLean, BrettBrett McLean C L 31 2007 Comox, British Columbia
21 Flag of Canada Murphy, CoryCory Murphy Injured Reserve D R 31 2007 Kanata, Ontario
85 Flag of the Czech Republic Olesz, RostislavRostislav Olesz LW L 24 2004 Bilovec, Czechoslovakia
18 Flag of Finland Peltonen, VilleVille Peltonen LW L 36 2006 Vantaa, Finland
3 Flag of Latvia Skrastins, KarlisKarlis Skrastins D L 35 2008 Riga, U.S.S.R.
57 Flag of Canada Stewart, AnthonyAnthony Stewart C R 24 2003 La Salle, Quebec
61 Flag of Canada Stillman, CoryCory Stillman (A) Injured Reserve LW L 35 2008 Peterborough, Ontario
74 Flag of Canada Tarnasky, NickNick Tarnasky C L 24 2008 Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
29 Flag of the Czech Republic Vokoun, TomasTomas Vokoun G R 33 2007 Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia
9 Flag of Canada Weiss, StephenStephen Weiss (A) C L 26 2001 Toronto, Ontario
7 Flag of the United States Welch, NoahNoah Welch D L 27 2007 Brighton, Massachusetts
20 Flag of Slovakia Zednik, RichardRichard Zednik Injured Reserve LW L 33 2007 Banska Bystrica, Czechoslovakia

Team captains

Honored Members

Players
Builders

First-round draft picks

  • 1993: Rob Niedermayer (5th overall)
  • 1994: Ed Jovanovski (1st overall)
  • 1995: Radek Dvorak (10th overall)
  • 1996: Marcus Nilson (20th overall)
  • 1997: Mike Brown (20th overall)
  • 1998: None
  • 1999: Denis Shvidki (12th overall)
  • 2000: None
  • 2001: Stephen Weiss (4th overall) & Lukas Krajicek (24th overall)
  • 2002: Jay Bouwmeester (3rd overall) & Petr Taticek (9th overall)
  • 2003: Nathan Horton (3rd overall) & Anthony Stewart (25th overall)
  • 2004: Rostislav Olesz (7th overall)
  • 2005: Kenndal McArdle (20th overall)
  • 2006: Michael Frolik (10th overall)
  • 2007: Keaton Ellerby (10th overall)
  • 2008: None

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Panthers player

Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Olli Jokinen C 567 188 231 419 .73
Scott Mellanby RW 552 157 197 354 .64
Viktor Kozlov C 414 101 190 291 .70
Robert Svehla D 573 61 229 290 .51
Rob Niedermayer C 518 101 165 266 .51
Pavel Bure RW 223 152 99 251 1.13
Ray Whitney LW 273 97 130 227 .83
Radek Dvorak* RW 390 78 107 185 .47
Nathan Horton* C 264 88 86 174 .66
Bill Lindsay RW 506 67 98 165 .33

NHL awards and trophies

Prince of Wales Trophy

Rocket Richard Trophy

Franchise individual records

References

  1. ↑ Florida Panthers FAQ Page
  2. ↑ McDonell, Chris. (2005). Hockey's Greatest Stars: Legends and Young Lions. Firefly Books. pp. 135. ISBN 1–55407–038–4. 
  3. ↑ Hockeydb.com, Florida Panthers season statistics and records.

See also

External links

Florida Panthers
Franchise • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Records • Draft picks
Miami Arena • BankAtlantic Center • Rochester Americans • Florida Everblades