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Florida Panthers

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For the animal species by this name, see Florida panther. For the FIU intercollegiate sports teams, see FIU Golden Panthers.
Florida Panthers
2013–14 Florida Panthers season
File:Florida Panthers.svg
ConferenceEastern
DivisionDivision C
Founded1993
HistoryFlorida Panthers
1993–present
Home arenaBB&T Center
CitySunrise, Florida
File:ECS-Uniform-FLA.png
Team colorsRed, blue, gold, white        
MediaFS Panthers
WQAM Sports Radio (560 AM)
Owner(s)Sunrise Sports and Entertainment
(Cliff Viner, chairman)
General managerDale Tallon
Head coachKevin Dineen
CaptainEd Jovanovski
Minor league affiliatesSan Antonio Rampage (AHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
Stanley Cups0
Conference championships1 (1995–96)
Presidents' Trophy0
Division championships1 (2011–12)
Official websitepanthers.nhl.com

The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play their games at the BB&T Center in Sunrise and are the southernmost team in the NHL. They made one trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, getting swept by the Colorado Avalanche in four games.

The team advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 12 years in 2012,[1] but were eliminated in 7 games by the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.[2]

Franchise history

1990s

Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for Miami on December 10, 1992, the same day The Walt Disney Company earned the rights to start a team in Anaheim. At the time, Huizenga owned both the newly founded Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball and a share of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins. The entry fee was $50 million, but despite fellow Florida team Tampa Bay Lightning starting play the year before, the league did not consider to be any territory infringement. Huizenga announced the team would play at the Miami Arena, sharing the building with the NBA's Miami Heat, until a new arena was built.[3] Offices for the team were only established on June 1993. Vice president of business operations Dean Jordan declared that "none of the business people, myself included, knew anything about hockey."[4]

On April 20, 1993, a press conference in Fort Lauderdale announced that the team would be named Florida Panthers, with Bill Torrey as president and Bobby Clarke as general manager. The team is named for the Florida panther, an endangered species of large cat endemic to the nearby Everglades.[5] Once the logos and uniforms were unveiled on June 15, the team also announced its financial commitment to the panther preservation cause.[6] Huizenga held the Panthers trademark since 1991, when he purchased it from a group of Tampa investors who sought to create an MLB team on the Bay area.[7]

The new franchise would join the league in the 1993-94 NHL season along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Panthers' and Ducks' roster was filled up in the both an expansion draft and the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in June 1993, hosted by Quebec City;[8][9] that draft produced ten players who would be a part of the 1996 Eastern Conference championship team.[10]

Inaugural season 1993-94

The Panthers' first major stars were New York Rangers goaltender castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals.[4] Their first game was a 4-4 tie on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks. The first win in franchise history was a 2-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Thunderdome before a then-NHL 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.[11] 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.[12] While the team executives expected the audience to consist of mostly "snowbird" Canadians living in Florida, the Floridians soon embraced the Panthers.[4] Helped by Miami's other teams having middling performances, the club averaged 94% capacity at the 14,500-seat Miami Arena, and managed to 100 days sell 8,500 season tickets.[4]

In August 1994, Clarke left to work in the Calgary Flames, and Bryan Murray was brought in from the Detroit Red Wings.[13] After another close brush with the playoffs, finishing the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season again at ninth,[14] Neilson was fired following an argument with Murray regarding Ed Jovanovski, whom the Panthers chose as the top pick at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.[15] Doug MacLean, who had been the team's player development director, was promoted to coach. [16] The team then acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline and looked toward the playoffs for the first time.

Run to the Stanley Cup Finals

A very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami during the 1995–96 NHL season. 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. 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.[10]

In the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the fourth seed, the Panthers faced the Boston Bruins in the first round and won in five games. Bill Lindsay's famous series-clinching goal is still a trademark image for the incredible run the third-year franchise went on. The Panthers went on to upset the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six games and then the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven (with Tom Fitzgerald scoring what would end up being the game-winning goal) to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, against the Colorado Avalanche, another team on its first final.[10] The Avalanche swept the Panthers in four games.[17] Bryan Murray was honored as NHL Executive of the Year.[18]

Struggles

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

The team would plummet in the 1997–98 season. After a 7–12–4 start, the Panthers fired MacLean, replacing him for the season with general manager Bryan Murray. The change did not 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; in the midst of that streak, he 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.

File:FloridaPanthersAlternate.svg
Florida's alternate logo; a palm tree and a hockey stick crossing one another over a sun.

The Panthers moved into the brand new National Car Rental Center (later Office Depot and BankAtlantic Center, now known as BB&T Center) in 1998. In 1998–99, they acquired Pavel Bure (the "Russian Rocket"), in a blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks. They reached the playoffs again in 1999–2000, losing in a first-round sweep to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils.

2000s

The team slumped in 2000–01. Afterward, Huizenga sold the panthers to an ownership group lead by Alan Cohen.[19] 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 Panthers then started coveting defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, who was widely tipped to be picked first overall in the 2002 draft. But then-General Manager Rick Dudley 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 then-head coach Mike Keenan, "We shouldn’t have done that ... Jay would have been number-one if we'd kept that pick."[20]

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 (Sergei Shirokov) 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 who was and still is at the prime of his career is one of the top goalies in the NHL. 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 for Shawn Matthias. Alex Auld ended up being a poor replacement for the Panthers former franchise goalie and was let go after one season.

File:Panthers.PNG
Various Panthers uniforms used between 1993 and 2007

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 first 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.

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

The Panthers finished the 2008–09 season with a strong 41-30-11 record and 93 points, their second best ever in franchise history. Despite this, however, the Panthers missed the playoffs for an eighth straight season, the current longest streak in the NHL.

In November 2009, Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel became the new majority owners.[21]

On November 23, 2009 the Panthers made their third jersey, ridding red from the alternate jersey, replacing it with powder blue.

The Florida Panthers missed the playoffs for the 9th consecutive time in the 2009–10 NHL season, making them the first team in NHL history to do so in one city. On March 25, 2011, the Panthers lost to the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 mathematically eliminating them from the postseason for an NHL record 10th consecutive season.

2010s

2010-11 - Out with the old

Panthers management hired Dale Tallon as the team's new general manager on May 17, 2010. Tallon rebuilt the team with 2010 draft picks Erik Gudbranson and Quinton Howden, acquired players Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner, Marty Reasoner, Ryan Carter, and Sergei Samsonov. Subsequently, all of the above mentioned players were traded at the 2011 trade deadline or released during the 2011 offseason. At the end of the 2011 season, only Stephen Weiss and David Booth remained from the pre-lockout era Panthers roster.

2011-13 - From Worst to First/Return to the Playoffs/From First To Worst Again

On June 1, 2011, Kevin Dineen, head coach of the AHL Portland Pirates, was named to be the 11th head coach of the Panthers. The team also rebranded their image, releasing a new home jersey, predominately red with navy blue sleeves, and eliminating the navy blue piping on the road jersey; this new jersey was a reflection of the original Panthers jersey.

The 2011 offseason saw the acquisitions of Scottie Upshall, Tomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim, Marcel Goc, Matt Bradley, Ed Jovanovski, Jose Theodore, Kris Versteeg, Tomas Kopecky and Brian Campbell.

After several more trades and over 300 man games lost to injury throughout the season, the Panthers were able to finish first in the Southeast Division, marking the end of their record-setting decade-long postseason drought. The Panthers won the first ever division title in franchise history with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on April 7, 2012. However, the Panthers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions New Jersey Devils, losing at home in double overtime of Game 7.

In the lockout shortened 2012-13 NHL Season, the Panthers had an abysmal season. Unable to regain their form from last season, the Panthers suffered key injuries and fell back down into the basement with the worst record in the league.

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 List of Florida Panthers seasons.

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

Records as of the end of the 2010-11 season.

Season GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs
2008–09 82 41 30 11 93 234 231 3rd, Southeast Did not qualify
2009–10 82 32 37 13 77 208 234 5th, Southeast Did not qualify
2010–11 82 30 40 12 72 195 229 5th, Southeast Did not qualify
2011–12 82 38 26 18 94 203 227 1st, Southeast Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Devils)
2012–13 48 15 27 6 36 112 171 5th, Southeast Did not qualify

Players, Coaches, and Front Office

Current roster

Updated December 9, 2024[22][23]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
26 Latvia Uvis Balinskis D L 28 2023 Ventspils, Latvia
16 Finland Aleksander Barkov (C) C L 29 2013 Tampere, Finland
9 Canada Sam Bennett C L 28 2021 East Gwillimbury, Ontario
72 Russia Sergei Bobrovsky G L 36 2019 Novokuznetsk, Soviet Union
34 Sweden Adam Boqvist D R 24 2024 Falun, Sweden
70 Sweden Jesper Boqvist C L 26 2024 Falun, Sweden
5 Canada Aaron Ekblad (A) D R 28 2014 Windsor, Ontario
42 Sweden Gustav Forsling D L 28 2021 Linköping, Sweden
12 Canada Jonah Gadjovich LW L 26 2023 Whitby, Ontario
10 Canada A. J. Greer LW L 28 2024 Joliette, Quebec
30 United States Spencer Knight G L 23 2019 Darien, Connecticut
7 Russia Dmitry Kulikov D L 34 2023 Lipetsk, Soviet Union
15 Finland Anton Lundell C L 23 2020 Espoo, Finland
27 Finland Eetu Luostarinen C L 26 2020 Siilinjärvi, Finland
77 Finland Niko Mikkola D L 28 2023 Kiiminki, Finland
92 Czech Republic Tomas Nosek LW L 32 2024 Pardubice, Czech Republic
13 Canada Sam Reinhart C R 29 2021 North Vancouver, British Columbia
17 Canada Evan Rodrigues C R 31 2023 Toronto, Ontario
25 United States Mackie Samoskevich RW R 22 2021 Newtown, Connecticut
88 United States Nate Schmidt D L 33 2024 St. Cloud, Minnesota
19 United States Matthew Tkachuk (A) LW L 27 2022 Scottsdale, Arizona
23 Canada Carter Verhaeghe C L 29 2020 Toronto, Ontario


Retired numbers

Florida Panthers retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
93 Bill Torrey President &
General Manager		 1993–2001 October 23, 2010
99 1 Wayne Gretzky C - February 6, 2000[24]
Notes:
  • 1 Gretzky never played for the franchise. His #99 was retired league-wide by the NHL.

Team captains

Head Coaches

See List of Florida Panthers head coaches.

General Managers

See List of Florida Panthers general managers.

NHL All-Star Game Selections

Players
Head Coaches

Hockey Hall of Fame members

Players
Builders

First-round draft picks

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

NHL awards and trophies

Prince of Wales Trophy

Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Calder Memorial Trophy

Franchise individual records

See also

References

  1. ^ Richards, George. "Florida Panthers in hockey heaven after ending playoff drought Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/08/2737116/florida-panthers-in-hockey-heaven". Miamiherald. Retrieved 27 April 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  2. ^ Richardson, Jordan. "New Jersey Devils Eliminate Florida Panthers". News Hockey Draft Ca. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  3. ^ NHL to add teams in Miami, Anaheim Huizenga, Disney high-profile owners, The New York Times
  4. ^ a b c d Farber, Michael (1996-11-09). "Above And Beyond". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2009-01-29. Cite error: The named reference "si" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ They`re Panthers, Torrey Is President Nhl Expansion Team`s New Boss Shaped Isles
  6. ^ Panthers Unveil Uniforms, Logo, Sun-Sentinel
  7. ^ Local Fans Give Huizenga 113,000 Votes Of Confidence, Sun-Sentinel
  8. ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-06-27/sports/9306270413_1_sharks-goaltender-ron-hextall
  9. ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-06-24/sports/9306240127_1_expansion-draft-tampa-bay-entry-draft
  10. ^ a b c Montville, Leigh (1996-06-10). "Rat Pack". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  11. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1994-07-27/sports/9407270532_1_panthers-tampa-bay-lone-home-game
  12. ^ Cut The Trap? Neilson Isn't Staying In Neutral Zone
  13. ^ http://articles.philly.com/1994-08-02/sports/25842215_1_terry-murray-new-flyers-coach-bryan-murray
  14. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1995-05-04/sports/9505040096_1_jagr-s-shot-john-vanbiesbrouck-panthers
  15. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1995-06-13/sports/9506120510_1_jovanovski-hockey-team-roger-neilson
  16. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/25/sports/sports-people-hockey-panthers-promote-from-within-by-hiring-maclean-as-coach.html
  17. ^ Ulman, Howard (1996-06-11). "No stopping the Avalanche — Colorado completes Cup sweep of Panthers with 3OT victory". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  18. ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1996-05-07/sports/9605060431_1_coach-doug-maclean-jason-podollan-voting
  19. ^ Panthers sold, will stay put
  20. ^ McDonell, Chris. (2005). Hockey's Greatest Stars: Legends and Young Lions. Firefly Books. p. 135. ISBN 1-55407-038-4.
  21. ^ Panthers announce new majority owners
  22. ^ "Florida Panthers Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  23. ^ "Florida Panthers Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  24. ^ "Gretzky's number retired before All-Star Game", Sports Illustrated, 7 February 2000
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