It’s hard to believe, but the Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers combined for more goals (17) in their game Thursday night than the the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns were able to combine for points (9) during their matchup last Sunday.
In a game that had to be an absolute nightmare for Winnipeg head coach Claude Noel and Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette, the Jets twice surrendered four-goal leads in the final two periods, but Andrew Ladd’s goal with 1:06 in regulation gave them a 9-8 victory in the highest-scoring NHL game in 15 years.
Coming off of the busiest offseason in franchise history, one that saw them acquire 11 new players via trade and free agency, Tallon has continued to tweak with his ever-changing roster.
With his latest shakeup, the Panthers sent left wing David Booth, center Steve Reinprecht and a third-round pick in 2013 to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in exchange for veteran forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm.
This is a pretty big trade considering we are only two weeks into the season, but Tallon wasn’t too happy with his team’s back-to-back shutout losses.
You know things aren’t going well for your franchise when people around the NHL refer to you as “that other team in Florida.”
It probably didn’t help that last season the Tampa Bay Lightning, under first-year GM Steve Yzerman, put together such a spectacular season.
But this is the stigma that has been attached to the Florida Panthers, a team that has made the playoffs just three times in their 17 seasons, and hasn’t reached the postseason since 2000, the longest drought in League history.
After more than a decade of playoff-less hockey, general manager Dale Tallon has had enough.
With as many teams as there were participating in Friday’s free-agent frenzy, it’s hard to keep track of where everyone went, let alone pick a team that stood out among the rest. And while a lot of people are talking about the Philadelphia Flyers and their signing of Jaromir Jagr or the New York Rangers and their potential signing of Brad Richards, the Florida Panthers—yes, the other team in Florida—were the organization that made the most noise.
With the Philadelphia Flyers signing of Ilya Bryzgalov to a huge nine-year, $51 million contract, it’s important to keep in mind that there are still plenty of talented goaltenders available on the free-agent market. Here are the top five.
1. Tomas Vokoun
It’s no secret that Vokoun wants out of Florida. The 35-year-old netminder is nearing the end of his career and he seems pretty hellbent on only playing for a contender. He has already been offered a deal from Avangard Omsk of the KHL over in Russia, so unless a Cup contender comes to the table (ahem, the Washington Capitals), we may have seen the last of Vokoun in the NHL.
In a continued effort to rebuild a franchise that hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2000 (the longest current drought in the League), Florida Panthers Executive Vice President and General Manager Dale Tallon announced on Wednesday that Kevin Dineen would be the new head coach of the team.
“For the last several years, Kevin has been regarded as one of the top head coaches in the American Hockey League, leading the Portland Pirates to the AHL postseason five out of six years as the club’s coach,” Tallon Said. “He is a player’s coach who understands our team’s philosophy and direction and someone who will guide the Panthers to future success.”
I am happy to announce a new promotion here at Hockey Tickets Online. Beginning in October 2011, we will giving away way two tickets each month to a regular season NHL game.
To enter, simply leave your name and email address below. Once you are entered into the contest, your will be eligible to win tickets every month.
Congratulations to Eric who is our October ticket winner. Eric gets two tickets to the Panthers v Penguins game in November.
It’s a bad time to be the coach of an NHL team that failed to make the playoffs this season.
The first two victims happened to be coaching against each other in the final game of the regular season. After the Minnesota Wild crushed the Dallas Stars’ playoff hopes with a 5-3 victory on Sunday, the Wild decided to parts ways with head coach Todd Richards after failing to make the playoffs for the second straight year under his tenure. Just two days later, the Stars gave head coach Marc Crawford the boot following a two-year playoff-less stint of their own.
With Sidney Crosby’s return still uncertain and Evgeni Malkin gone for the rest of the season because of a knee injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins continued the remodeling of their offensive corps to get ready for the postseason.
Following the acquisition of Dallas Stars forward James Neal, Pens GM Ray Shero has gone out and picked up sniper Alex Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators. The 38-year-old spent parts of five seasons with the Penguins, and had his most productive season (44 goals, 95 points in 2000-01) while a member of the Penguins.
