Florida Panthers

[ross10019]

Very interesting perspective Key, thanks for sharing the thoughts.

I really hope you're wrong though LOL...hopefully a change of scenery will give Booth an opportunity to get his career back on track. After so many seasons of losing its easy for players to become stagnant in their surroundings, regardless of how happy they are to be there. Now that he's going to a team that knows how to win and seeing as he and Kesler have played together before it could be a great opportunity for him.

Or you could be right lol.

I too loved the analysis, thanks keytolife.

B0ndon, the one thing that I have not heard mentioned in the forum (it's irrelevant to this thread as it is primarily a Canuck issue) is the impact of Samuelsson leaving on the Swedish leaders on the Canucks. I just noticed a Tweet from Angus on this, that it caught the Sedins and Salo by surprise, I wonder about that from a team / locker room perspective.

[ross10019]

I too loved the analysis, thanks keytolife.

B0ndon, the one thing that I have not heard mentioned in the forum (it's irrelevant to this thread as it is primarily a Canuck issue) is the impact of Samuelsson leaving on the Swedish leaders on the Canucks. I just noticed a Tweet from Angus on this, that it caught the Sedins and Salo by surprise, I wonder about that from a team / locker room perspective.

I guess one possibility here is that Gillis' intention (and maybe he shared it with Samuelsson and/or the relevant teammates) is to reacquire Samuelsson once he hits free agency in the off-season, and that's what he'll say to appease the Sedins/Salo, but I doubt it as it still means Samy is gone for this season and the playoff run.

[ross10019]

Thanks Carcillo for pointing out the obvious brainfart re Salo = Swede! Don't know what I was thinking there.

[keytolife]

Thanks for the analysis. You might be right about Booth. Just having a look at his career stats his college career was sporadic. Played great as a freshman but then struggled as a sophomore and it wasn't until his senoir year that he reached a point per game average again. Was his freshman year a fluke?

Then at the AHL level, as a 22yr old, he didn't excel(~0.5ppg) but still managed to jump to the NHL that same year despite his postulated defensive deficiencies.

His 30g season you could attribute to just getting a ton of playing time, which can happen when average players play on terrible teams (they have to put someone on the #1 PP unit). But at the same time he did outscore a few guys (Horton, Frolik, Stillman) that you could argue are more talented than him, so he's not just some joe average who got lucky he must have some talent. That and he was in the USND program as a teen so he has some sort of pedigree.

So, what should Canucks fans expect? A 30g season? Probably not, he's not talented enough to produce that well without getting top line minutes. He won't be playing top PP unit but should get time on the 2nd unit which is an uninspiring Higgins, Hodgson and a Sedin-less Burrows. I think he could hit Mason Raymond-like numbers, 25g, 50pts. But more importantly he adds a speed+size combo that the 2nd line wasn't getting from Raymond/Samuelsson/Hansen/Hodgson.

keytolife, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on Higgins as a Panther. You could argue that based on his play last year that the Canucks shouldn't have expected much, but he turned (back) into a pretty effective player. Hoping maybe lightning could strike twice with Booth. (I'm just hoping so, I just dropped Gionta for Booth ;-) I'm 55% confident it was a good call).

Nice input sir.

About Higgins, no he wasn´t liked very much in Florida, he couldn´t hit a soccer goal without a goalie during his time arround here. But there is one diffrence, Higgins always tried, his shots bounced out 99 times out of 100. It was such bad luck involved and he couldn´t find his way out, but he never was disliked cause he didn´t tried. Once he found the goal more than one time he was out of this circle of the devil his work paid off. He was quite responsible on the defensive end as well.

Booth is diffrent before the concussion he was a fearless guy that made up his talent with tons of risky and flashy plays. He doesn´t do that very often anymore. Plus he never was a twoway player like the front page of dobber mentionend.

I wish him all the best and think he might have a nice streak at the beginning but in the long run i´m very safe to say that he will never be a 30 goals scorer again.

[keytolife]

Arguably the best game so far for the Panthers vs. the Habs despite the low scoring.

The great:

Jacob Markstrom : I´m not really able to describe how good the guy looks and what a great feeling it leaves in the heart of Panthers fans, knowing that he will lead this team for years to come. Hell we´ll forget about Vokoun pretty soon.

The good:
Jack Skille: If the guy finally finds his way on the scoreboard. Oh wait what. I don´t care if he does, he is the glue to this team the pain in the other teams ass. Not one bad game so far.


Shawn Matthias: Looked great out there tonight as well, i hope that play continues cause he finally works hard and trys every shift.

Scottie Upshall dished out a ton of hits and scored finally. He had his best game as Panther last night and it would be his best even without his goal.

Eric Gudbranson same can be said about the rookie. It was his best game so far he was present all over the game.

Love the work ethic on that team and the Booth trade seems like a kick in the ass for the lazy farts so far.

[tgraveline]

I'm starting to think Markstrom is going to make it real hard for the club to send him back to the AHL.

[keytolife]

Short news:

Mike Santorelli is back! Yeaha!

Ryan Carter was waived and grabbed by the Devils. Good luck there. I guess he continue to suck on both ends of the ice there.

Rumor has it Jack Skille great play was the final part for the decision to do the Booth trade. He might end up on the top 6 soon.

[STONE.]

Read this on mynhltraderumors.com:

George Richards via twitter: Panthers GM Dale Tallon said a decision will by made Friday if Erik Gudbranson will remain with the team after his 9th game. Harvey Fialkov via twitter: Tallon said he’s leaning towards keeping him but they are not a 100% sure yet.

[STONE.]

Gudbranson is officially up for the year:

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports...k-in-nets.html

[keytolife]

Kittens lose 3-4 to Ottawa with some sloppy defensive play. Well growing pains still some bright spot.

Marky didn´t look bad but not spectacular tonight, but he forced a ton of shots.

Versteeg and Weiss are clicking like they never played without each other both with two point nights again.

Kulikov and Garrisson are continuing their offensive breakout. Garrison with his 3rd goal of the season and Dimi with two helpers.


The pairing of Guds and Jovo looked bad tonight again. Lots of easy mistakes.

Get Santorelli on that pathetic line two and get some help from there!

[keytolife]

Panthers win 3-2 beating a strong Buffalo team.

Both goalies totally stood on their head. I´m still suprised to say that but Theodore was a pretty good goalie for us so far.

The good:

Flash is getting better and better this one was maybe his best game. Watch out on that first line.

Jason Garrison continues to add to his points with another point and a helper. Would compare the guy to M-A Bergeron. He could end up a PP spe******t.

Brian Campbell. Or do i rather have Olesz? Still can´t believe that deal.

The bad:

Marco Sturm should get the hammer for his dirty hit on Leopold. Expect a suspension.



Kosov the 5th round pick of the Panthers got injured in a car accident in Rusia. Get well man!

[keytolife]

Ondrej Pavelec completly stole the game for the Trashers ähm Jets.

The Panthers completly dominated the game and looked like they wanted those two points badly. No blame at all.

Thomas FLeischmann continues to improve his play with a stellar performance and a three point night.

Jason Garrison continues to be hot. I hope this doens´t lead to a Olesz incident again by overpaying the guy. He will not continue this pace period.

Kulikov and Campbell are playing awesome adding point after point. The offense of our d-men is the most improved part of our game so far.

Jack Skille continues to be a pain in the ass for the other team. Love him.

Scottie Upshall will be Shannonbaned for his hit. Period. Jack Skilles hit to Enstrom will be revisted as well.

Here is hoping Samuelsson is coming in soon. That second line needs a playmaker badly.

[duballstar014]

Just curious...how has Mike Santorelli looked? I'd say he was just about guaranteed the #2 center job before training camp, but injuries always complicate things. I imagine it was Santorelli's return to the lineup that prompted the Carter waiving. It looks as though Santo has skated primarily with Skille and Sturm. I'd much rather see him skating with someone other than Sturm, but what can ya do....

[keytolife]

Just curious...how has Mike Santorelli looked? I'd say he was just about guaranteed the #2 center job before training camp, but injuries always complicate things. I imagine it was Santorelli's return to the lineup that prompted the Carter waiving. It looks as though Santo has skated primarily with Skille and Sturm. I'd much rather see him skating with someone other than Sturm, but what can ya do....

You catched the one part i havent´gotten so far. Mike should have that 2nd C role locked up, it lacks his creativity badly. And Skille as great as he is playing so far is no goal scorer, same goes for Sturm at this age. It´s only a matter of time to see him back where he belong IMO and hopefully going along the return of Samuelsson and maybe a call up of Dadonov. Neither Upshall,Goc nor Kopecky should be on that 2nd line.

[duballstar014]

You catched the one part i havent´gotten so far. Mike should have that 2nd C role locked up, it lacks his creativity badly. And Skille as great as he is playing so far is no goal scorer, same goes for Sturm at this age. It´s only a matter of time to see him back where he belong IMO and hopefully going along the return of Samuelsson and maybe a call up of Dadonov. Neither Upshall,Goc nor Kopecky should be on that 2nd line.

Kopecky being used as the 2nd line center is the only real competition that I can see, outside of Matthias who doesn't seem to be taking that role either. I gotta think that job is Santorelli's too. FLA is sure an interesting squad so far.