Hockey: Panther Ponderings
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Ugh. My NHL team, the Florida Panthers, are on track for another below par (or should that be above par considering below par is the goal in golf?) season. They've finished fourth out of five in their division the last three seasons and that's where they're sitting now. They're 7 points adrift of the last playoff berth and sitting 13th of 15 in the Eastern Conference. And it gets worse. Worse than my current overuse of parentheses.
Our two best players, captain Olli Jokinen and All-Star goalie Roberto Luongo are both refusing to sign new long-term contracts until the end of the season. They both know they're playing for a crummy franchise and are holding out for (a form of) free agency or at least a genuine shot at the playoffs next season. Trading them off anything less than All-Stars would infuriate the fans, myself included. This sort of wait-and-see pseudo-blackmail to get our general manager Mike Keenan to sign some star players (or at least a defenseman) frustrates me, but also gives me hope.
Keenan's offered good money contracts to these guys and has virtually been told to sign better players (or we somehow magically make the playoffs). If not, they'll leave for nothing via free agency and the Panthers will be left with very few good players. Keenan has no choice but to be active in the trade market (as we near the trade deadline of March 9) and improve the lineup, so I desperately hope he'll land some signings, boost the team and win Jokinen and Luongo over.
Traditionally, teams out of the playoff race by trade deadline tend to trade off their veterans for draft picks and end up weaker as the playoff bound teams strengthen their chances with proven players. I can only hope we're still in it. After missing four consecutive playoff series, it feels like our lineup gets pillaged annually.
Keenan made some solid veteran signings in the off season (including my old NHL99 favourite Joe Nieuwendyk) but failed to get one of the many genuine stars that were available. With the introduction of the salary cap, I expected the budget/profit-conscious owner to allow the Panthers to be more competitive with their spending. Very little materialised.
And so continues the frustrations of supporting a mediocre team...
9 comments to this post
*ahem*
I revoke your right to complain. As a Penguins fan, whose GM signed Recchi, Palffy, Gonchar and Leclair for this season, I feel that you have no right to complain.
Instead of having a solid veteran core surrounded by young talent, we have shit, soaked in piss, garnished with vomit, squeezed in to 23 uniforms for each match. We also have Sidney Crosby.
So yeah, just cut your ties to the cats, pat - they ain't goin nowheres.
Hmmm...
Recchi + Palffy + Gonchar + Leclair + Odelein vs Nieuwendyk + Roberts + Gelinas + Stumpel + Gratton. Brad, can you decide who did better?
Also I believe: Number of seasons I've supported the Panthers > numbers of seasons you've solely supported the Penguins (not taking into account how many of those were winning seasons).
I also forgot that your GM didn't take your best player to salary arbitration.
Ahh Pat, you misunderstand me once again.
After signing all those names, the Penguins should be playing well above their current station - perhaps vying for 8th spot in the East?
Instead, the veterans decided to put 10% effort in and - lets face it - forget about playing defense at all.
My point was that your GM never really made an effort. I don't think Florida are placing anywhere except where they are expected to place. The Penguins on the other hand, have been the biggest dissappointment this season.
fixT?
So you think a season's disappointment has caused you more frustration than five years of incompetent management has caused me frustration?
I DISAGREE!
The Pens have been shit for a long time as well, but this year is more frustrating because everyone and their mother picked them as a genuine playoff contender and they've underachieved horribly. Lemieux, Crosby, Recchi, LeClair and to a lesser extent Palffy are all (or WERE all) incredibly gifted players, so the Pens should be comfortably inside the top eight right now. It's hard to know what's going wrong without being able to regularly watch a game (damn you ESPN!) but the easy thing to do is blame the coaching staff.
And Florida won the "who recruited the worst veterans" contest by a street - Stumpel is shocking, Gratton was never a player, and the others are patchy at best. I love Nieuwendyk, but man he sucks this season.
Pat, your team just spanked the Capitals with Luongo turning away 44 shots for another shutout and Sim scoring a hat-trick. It's not hard to beat the Caps, but you've gotta be happy with the win.
(And what I said in my last comment came back to bite me - Gratton had three assists and Nieuwendyk scored. It's always the way!)
I know, I've been listening over the internet!
Keep in mind it's Washington, but a shutout away win does make me very pleased indeed.
Thanks for the backup Brad. You're alright... want to cuddle? No? I was gonna ask jokingly at first and gauge your reaction... and if you were cool with it, well you know...
I was gonna suggest we eat the kids, but that's a much better idea.
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