Florida Panthers

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For the animal species by this name, see Florida panther.

Florida Panthers
Conference	Eastern
Division	Southeast
Founded	1993
History	Florida Panthers 1993-present
Arena	BankAtlantic Center
City	Sunrise, Florida
Local Media Affiliates	FSN Florida WQAM (560 AM)
Team Colors	Red, Navy, and Gold
Owner	Alan Cohen Bernie Kosar
General Manager	Jacques Martin
Head Coach	Jacques Martin
Captain	Olli Jokinen
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 who play in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida/Miami, Florida suburb of Sunrise. They began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a 1993 expansion team.

Contents 1 Franchise history 2 Season-by-season record 3 Notable players 3.1 Current roster 3.2 Team captains 3.3 Hall of Famers 3.4 Retired numbers 3.5 First-round draft picks 3.6 Franchise scoring leaders 4 NHL awards and trophies 5 Franchise individual records 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Franchise history

Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for his native Miami in 1992. 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. They had one of the most successful first seasons of any expansion team, finishing one point below .500 and narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

After missing another close brush with the playoffs in 1995, coach Roger Neilson was fired and replaced by Doug MacLean. They then acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks on the trade deadline in 1996 and they looked towards the playoffs for the first time.

Also during that season, a very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami. On the night of the Panthers' '95-'96 home opener, a rat scurried across the Florida 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 a freak coincidence, 1996 was also year of the rat according to the Chinese Astrological Calendar.

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. Following the Panthers' two goals in the first period of game three, the Avs’ Patrick Roy spoke to his teammates, declaring there would be "no more rats." The Panthers did not score another goal, and Roy finished the series with a 1.00 goals against average.^[1]

The Panthers would begin the next season with a 17-game unbeaten streak, but due to injuries and a couple of questionable personnel moves^{[citation needed]} (the acquisition of Kirk Muller at the trade deadline as well as the earlier trade of popular center^{[citation needed]} Stu Barnes), Florida faded in the second half of the season, losing 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.^{[citation needed]} 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,^{[citation needed]} as Florida suffered a franchise-worst 24-43-15 record, including a 15-game winless streak. This season would also mark the end of Disneyworld for Vanbiesbrouck, 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 offseason as a free agent.

The Panthers moved into the 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 on the 2002 trading deadline.

The Cats started coveting defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who was widely tipped to be picked first overall in 2002, around then. 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 secondly picking goalie Kari Lehtonen, announced that the Panthers had given them two picks to guarantee that Bouwmeester went to Miami. Bouwmeester was selected third overall. "We shouldn’t have done that ... Jay would have been number-one if we'd kept that pick,"^[2] said Keenan.

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 Thrash winger Dany Heatley, who took home MVP honors in his first All-Star Game.

On June 23, 2006, Florida was again involved in a blockbuster trade with Vancouver, sending Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek, and a sixth-round draft pick in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld, and Bryan Allen.

[edit] Season-by-season record

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 December 5, 2006. ^[3]

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1993-94	84	33	34	17	—	83	233	233	1620	5th, Atlantic	Did not qualify
1994-951	48	20	22	6	—	46	115	127	770	5th, Atlantic	Did not qualify
1995-96	82	41	31	10	—	92	254	234	1494	3rd, Atlantic	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Bruins) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-2 (Flyers) Won in Conference Finals, 4-3 (Penguins) Lost in Finals, 0-4 (Avalanche)
1996-97	82	35	28	19	—	89	221	201	1628	3rd, Atlantic	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Rangers)
1997-98	82	24	43	15	—	63	203	256	1676	6th, Atlantic	Did not qualify
1998-99	82	30	34	18	—	78	210	228	1522	2nd, Southeast	Did not qualify
1999-00	82	43	27	6	6	98	244	209	1329	2nd, Southeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Devils)
2000-01	82	22	38	13	9	66	200	246	1509	3rd, Southeast	Did not qualify
2001-02	82	22	44	10	6	60	180	250	1994	4th, Southeast	Did not qualify
2002-03	82	24	36	13	9	70	176	237	1127	4th, Southeast	Did not qualify
2003-04	82	28	35	15	4	75	188	221	1192	4th, Southeast	Did not qualify
2004-052	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005-063	82	37	34	—	11	85	240	257	1255	4th, Southeast	Did not qualify
2006-07	29	9	15	—	5	23	72	98	471
Totals	952	359	406	142	45	905	2464	2699	17116	—	—

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

³ As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Current roster

As of December 6, 2006. [2]

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
20		Ed Belfour	L	2006	Carman, Manitoba
35		Alex Auld	L	2006	Thunder Bay, Ontario

Defensemen
#		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
2		Branislav Mezei	L	2002	Nitra, Czechoslovakia
4		Jay Bouwmeester	L	2002	Edmonton, Alberta
5		Bryan Allen	L	2006	Kingston, Ontario
7		Steve Montador	R	2005	Vancouver, British Columbia
8		Joel Kwiatkowski	L	2004	Kindersley, Saskatchewan
24		Ruslan Salei - A	L	2006	Minsk, U.S.S.R.
26		Mike Van Ryn	R	2003	London, Ontario
55		Ric Jackman	R	2006	Toronto, Ontario

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
9		Stephen Weiss	C	L	2001	Toronto, Ontario
10		Gary Roberts - A	LW	L	2005	North York, Ontario
11		Gregory Campbell	LW	L	2002	London, Ontario
12		Olli Jokinen - C	C	L	2000	Kuopio, Finland
13		Juraj Kolnik (Injured)	RW	R	2002	Nitra, Czechoslovakia
15		Jozef Stumpel	C	R	2005	Nitra, Czechoslovakia
16		Nathan Horton	RW	R	2003	Welland, Ontario
18		Ville Peltonen	LW	L	2006	Vantaa, Finland
23		Martin Gelinas - A	LW	L	2005	Shawinigan, Quebec
44		Todd Bertuzzi (IR)	RW	L	2006	Sudbury, Ontario
77		Chris Gratton - A	C	L	2005	Brantford, Ontario
85		Rostislav Olesz	LW	L	2004	Bilovec, Czechoslovakia

[edit] Team captains

• Brian Skrudland, 1993-97
• Scott Mellanby, 1997-2001
• Pavel Bure & Paul Laus, 2001-02 (co-captains)
• No captain, 2002-03
• Olli Jokinen, 2003- present

[edit] Hall of Famers

Builders

• Roger Neilson, Head coach, 1993-95, inducted 2002
• Bill Torrey, GM & President, 1993-2001, inducted 1995

[edit] Retired numbers

• 99 Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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
Scott Mellanby	RW	552	157	197	354	.64
Viktor Kozlov	C	414	101	190	291	.70
Robert Svehla	D	573	61	229	290	.51
Olli Jokinen*	C	432	127	158	285	.66
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	336	69	93	162	.48
Bill Lindsay	RW	506	63	98	161	.32
Gord Murphy	D	410	42	100	142	.35

[edit] NHL awards and trophies

Prince of Wales Trophy

• 1995-96

Rocket Richard Trophy

• Pavel Bure: 1999-00, 2000-01

[edit] Franchise individual records

• Most Goals in a season: Pavel Bure, 59 (2000-01)
• Most Assists in a season: Viktor Kozlov, 53 (1999-00)
• Most Points in a season: Pavel Bure, 94 (1999-00)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Peter Worrell, 354 (2001-02)
• Most Points in a season, defenseman: Robert Svehla, 57 (1995-96)
• Most Points in a season, rookie: Jesse Belanger, 50 (1993-94)
• Most Wins in a season: Roberto Luongo, 35 (2005-06)
• Most Shutouts in a season: Roberto Luongo, 7 (2003-04)
• All time leader in goals against average: John Vanbiesbrouck, 2.58
• All time leader in shuouts: Roberto Luongo , 26
• All time leader in games played by a goaltender: John Vanbiesbrouck, 268
• All time leader in wins by a goaltender: John Vanbiesbrouck, 106

[edit] References

1. ^ Classic Series: 1996 Stanley Cup Finals, NHL Network, viewed November 13, 2006
2. ^ {{{title}}}. | author=McDonell, Chris. | title=Hockey's Greatest Stars: Legends and Young Lions | publisher= Firefly Books | year=2005 | id=ISBN 1-55407-038-4 | pages=135
3. ^ Hockeydb.com, Florida Panthers season statistics and records.

[edit] See also

• List of Florida Panthers players
• Head Coaches of the Florida Panthers
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons

[edit] External links

• Official website of the Florida Panthers
• Official website of the Florida Panthers Booster Club

Florida Panthers Head Coaches
Neilson • MacLean • B. Murray • T. Murray • Sutter • Keenan • Dudley • Torchetti • Martin