Lucky #13 For Florida

By Adam W Parks

Friday, November 20, 2009, Panthers 2 @ Red Wings 1 OT

It's huntin' season in Michigan and I'm wondering about a permit for panthers. Florida broke into the NHL in 1993 brandishing a few great players including rookie Rob Niedermayer, Scott Mellanby, and goaltender John "The Racial Slur" Vanbiesbrouck. "I used the 'N' word instead of calling him Trevor," said Coach Vanbiesbrouck about the captain of da Greyhounds in da Soo, eh? Anyway, just a few years after their inception the Panthers represented the Eastern Conference in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to some stupid team that moved from Winnipeg to Denver. But since that early success, the Panthers have slid backwards and have only made the playoffs once in the past twelve seasons: a first round sweep delivered from the New Jersey Devils. The franchise is constantly looking for respectability, but cannot seem to put together a quality team. After getting just two victories in their first ten games, the Panthers have clawed their way to seven wins in the last ten after defeating Detroit in overtime Friday night. So, as hunters prowl around the fields and woods of Michigan, I would like to remind all drivers on the highways to watch out for deer...but aim for cats.

What Were You Doing On December 1, 1996?

If you were watching the Wings, then you would have seen the only other time that the Panthers have won at Joe Louis Arena before Friday night. Just twice in 16 seasons and the first in nearly 13 years. That kind of dominance is always more noteworthy after the streak snaps, especially when it is against an irrelevant franchise like Florida. I'm sure the Golden Girls were all sitting at a bar in Boca Raton, giving cheers to the Panthers win in Detroit, and pouring a pina colada out for Dorothy Zbornak (RIP Bea). I wonder if the Panthers have been deliberately missing the playoffs because they know 90% of the residents of Sunrise, FL move back to Michigan in the spring (and are probably all Wings fans anyway).

It only took 40 seconds for Florida's captain Bryan McCabe to rip a shot past Chris Osgood for the overtime win. It was the second loss in a row at the Joe for the Wings after the controversial 3-1 loss to Dallas. Despite the defeat, the Wings get an important point in a game they were fortunate to score a goal in. Florida goalie Scott Clemmensen, backup to Tomas Vokoun, was stellar in stopping 39 of Detroit's 40 shots. He clamped down an erratic Wings offense that has scored just two goals in two games after netting 19 in the previous three. Detroit was once again the victim of a young goalie that was motivated and prepared to play at his highest possible level to get a win. He was great between the pipes for Florida; the story of the game.

The Panthers have always had solid, and sometimes elite, goaltending. Here is a list of Florida's goalies since Vanbie-slur:

Kirk McLean: two seasons (1997-1999)
Sean Burke: two seasons (1998-2000)
Mike Vernon: one season (1999-2000)
Trevor Kidd: three seasons (1999-2002)
Roberto Luongo: five seasons (2000-2006)
Ed Belfour: one season (2006-2007)
Craig Anderson: three seasons (2006-2009)
Tomas Vokoun: three seasons (2007-present)

Impressive list. Impressive that out of all of those goalies, only Vernon (Conn Smythe winner for the Wings, 1997) ever saw playoff time with the Panthers.

Another Reason To Not Like Florida













Remember the 'Rat Trick'? Fans in Florida used to throw thousands of rubber rats on the ice after Panther goals during the mid-late 1990s. The short-lived tradition was started when Scott Mellanby one-timed a real rat in the locker room before a home game in 1995, and proceeded to go out and score two goals in that game. It was ridiculous. It was annoying. It was stupid and time-consuming. It pretty much summarized the Florida Panthers as a team. Worst of all, it was a slap in the face to our beloved octopus tradition, and it caused amendments to the rule books, allowing refs to penalize a home team for delay of game. Screw the rat, here's some octopi:



Now that is a tradition! Too bad Al can't twirl those slimey cephalopods around and above his head anymore.

What A Lucky Guy

Henrik Zetterberg is having a fantastic season so far. He leads all Wings with 24 points and is ranked tenth in the NHL. He is tied with Tomas Holmstrom for a team-high in goals at nine. His 81 shots-on-goal are fourth best in the league, and he leads all skaters in the NHL with four game-winning goals. And despite just two Detroit goals in the past two games, Hank has a five-game point streak in which he has five goals and eleven points. He assisted on Pavel Datsyuk's second period power play goal, a backhand shot off his own rebound. However, Zetterberg is unlikely to maintain his current point parade all season long, and he will never have all the unbelievable moves of his teammate Datsyuk, and he will have to wait for Nicklas Lidstrom to retire to become the next captain of the Wings...but his fiance is pretty hot. He does have that going for him.

Griffin Eggs

Taking The Helm-Nobody, outside of the usual suspects, has impressed me more this season than Darren Helm. He has taken every minute of his ice time and has proven why he has earned it. Even though he was left off the scoring sheet, Helm was named one of the Three Stars of the game against Florida. Without playing a single second of power play time, he led all skaters, Wings and Panthers alike, with eight shots-on-goal. That was three more than Zetterberg and Datsyuk. He also had four takeaways and won six of his ten faceoffs.

Nugs and Notes

Mac On the Mic-The Wings won't have much time to forget about their back-to-back losses as they take on the Montreal Canadians in Quebec Saturday night, and then roll out to Nashville on Monday to face the Thrashers. Darren McCarty, who officially retired earlier this month, will try out a new avenue when he joins the Versus Network for game-analysis during the Wings/Thrashers game. It will be interesting to see how critical he is of some of his closest friends like Kris Draper, Chris Osgood, and Kirk Maltby. Good luck Mac!

Peace.