Florida Panthers a year in review

[yave1964]

  2nd club on my list, a look back on the 2013-14 Florida Panthers

 

PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS

 

Not much was expected going into the season, it was hoped that kids such as Huberdeau and Barkov would draw fans in and at least show a spark and create fan interest.

 

FINAL RECORD 29-45-8 last in division 15th in conference.

 

HIGH POINT/LOW POINT OF THE SEASON

 

They won the opener 4-2 over Dallas as Tim Thomas shook off the rust of a year out of the game and Barkov scored his first goal in the NHL.

 The low point came right after as they immediately lost 15 of their next 17 games and began to make plans for the draft.

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT

 

 Roberto Luongo came home as the Canucks dealt him for Markstrom and a bag of pucks back to Florida where he seemed at ease and happy to be playing. Nick Bjugstad took a nice step forward and showed signs of being a power forward for years to come. Brad Boyes proved to be a nice free agent signing scoring 21 goals. Brandon Pirri, Dylan Olsen and Jimmy Hayes, donated from a deep Chicago roster proved that they can play when ice time is available. Brian Campbell was solid on defense and proved he still had one of the best first passes in the game. Vincent Trocheck looked okay in his first taste of the NHL, plenty of speed but was out of position a lot.

 

WHAT WENT WRONG

 

 Pretty much everything else. Veterans Kopecky, Fleischmann, Jovanovski and Bergenheim looked as if they had moved to Florida to retire, Kulikov showed flashes of offense but was wretched in the defensive zone, Markstrom was hideous before being dealt, same with Versteeg. The power play was a joke all year.

  But the worst was Huberdeau (9-19-28) and Barkov (8-16-24) were bad, neither giving any sign of why they were drafted so high by the Cats. Both may have a nice future but neither showed much this year.

 

MVP:  I was torn but finally chose Brian Campbell (7-30-37) over Brad Boyes (21-15-36) and center Nick Bjugstad (16-22-38). Believe it or not, these three were the clubs leading scorers, barely managing to outscore Sid the kid COMBINED.

 

STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR:

  It was a 3 way tie (Kulikov, Boyes and Bergenheim) for the leader in power play points with 3. That is right the leader in PPP had 3.

 

UFA for this offseason:

Tom Gilbert

Scott Gomez

Jesse Winchester

 

OFF SEASON QUESTIONS

 

Can the kids play? Are Huberdeau, Barkov and Kulikov ready to play up to their enormous potential or are they among the long list of Panther bad draft picks?

  Can they draw or is it time (past time) to find somewhere else to play? Talk is they will close the upper bowl other than special games next year and cover the seats with sheets. Really.

  Will a joyful Luongo help the club in the standings and in the stands?

 

  A really bad organization filled with throwaways from the Hawks, and underperforming kids. Do they stay the course or trade some kids to get a presence in the lineup now?

Edited April 13, 2014 by yave1964