Florida Panthers
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The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team who play in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida/Miami, Florida suburb of Sunrise. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Facts
- Founded: 1993-94 NHL season
- Arena: BankAtlantic Center (Previously known as the National Car Rental Center, and later, Office Depot Center) (capacity 19,452)
- :Former Home Arena: Miami Arena (1993-1998)
- Team color jersey: Navy blue jersey with white, red and gold stripes at the bottom of sleeve and torso with red and gold stripes over the shoulders. Team logo (a leaping panther) centered on chest.
- White jersey: White jersey with identical striping and logo as team color jersey.
- Third Jersey: Red jersey with navy, gold and white stripes at bottom of sleeve and torso with navy and white stripes over the shoulders. Team logo is identical to other jerseys with the exception of a broken hockey stick in the panther's paws.
- Logo design: a Florida panther (puma subspecies)
- Mascot: Stanley C. Panther
- Conference Championships: 1 (1995-96)
- Stanley Cup Finals appearances: 1 (1995-96; lost to Colorado, 0-4)
- Rivals: Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers
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 1994-95, 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.
The 1996 playoffs were a dream for the Panthers. They upset the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins to reach the Stanley Cup Final. South Florida was euphoric. Against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, series comebacks were part of the astonishment. It came to an end in the Stanley Cup finals though. Their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, would sweep the Panthers on Uwe Krupp's third-overtime goal in Game 4. The next season, a team ravaged by injuries would lose to the New York Rangers on the first round. More injuries caused the team to have their worst record to that point in 1997-98.
The Panthers moved into the National Car Rental Center (now known as BankAtlantic Center) in 1998, the new arena being the result of bickering and threatening to move the team. In 1999, they acquired Pavel Bure (the "Russian Rocket"), in a blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks. They would reach the playoffs again in 2000 riding on his 58 goals, losing in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils.
The team slumped in the 2000-01 NHL season despite a 59 goal season from Bure. The following season, 2001-02, the Panthers would have their worst record ever. Bure struggled despite being reunited with his brother Valeri, and was traded to the New York Rangers on the 2002 trading deadline.
In 1994, Miami businessman Cliff Viner, acquired a four percent stake in the Panthers.
In 2003, the Florida Panthers held the NHL All Star Weekend. In the abnormally high-scoring exhibition, 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 Atlanta's Dany Heatley, who took home MVP honors in his first All-Star Game.
On June 23, 2006, the Florida Panthers were again involved in a blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks, sending Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a 6th round draft pick in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen.
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| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1993-94 | 84 | 33 | 34 | 17 | - | 83 | 233 | 233 | 1620 | 5th in Atlantic | Out of playoffs |
| 1994-951 | 48 | 20 | 22 | 6 | - | 46 | 115 | 127 | 770 | 5th in Atlantic | Out of playoffs |
| 1995-96 | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | - | 92 | 254 | 234 | 1494 | 3rd in Atlantic | Final, 0-4 (Avalanche) |
| 1996-97 | 82 | 35 | 28 | 19 | - | 89 | 221 | 201 | 1628 | 3rd in Atlantic | Conf QF, 1-4 (Rangers) |
| 1997-98 | 82 | 24 | 43 | 15 | - | 63 | 203 | 256 | 1676 | 6th in Atlantic | Out of playoffs |
| 1998-99 | 82 | 30 | 34 | 18 | - | 78 | 210 | 228 | 1522 | 2nd in Southeast | Out of Playoffs |
| 1999-00 | 82 | 43 | 27 | 6 | 6 | 98 | 244 | 209 | 1329 | 2nd in Southeast | Conf QF, 0-4 (Devils) |
| 2000-01 | 82 | 22 | 38 | 13 | 9 | 66 | 200 | 246 | 1509 | 3rd in Southeast | Out of playoffs |
| 2001-02 | 82 | 22 | 44 | 10 | 6 | 60 | 180 | 250 | 1994 | 4th in Southeast | Out of playoffs |
| 2002-03 | 82 | 24 | 36 | 13 | 9 | 70 | 176 | 237 | 1127 | 4th in Southeast | Out of Playoffs |
| 2003-04 | 82 | 28 | 35 | 15 | 4 | 75 | 188 | 221 | 1192 | 4th in Southeast | Out of playoffs |
| 2004-052 | |||||||||||
| 2005-06 3 | 82 | 37 | 34 | 11 | 85 | 240 | 257 | 1255 | 4th in Southeast | Out of playoffs |
- 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 have a winner; games ending overtime in a tie are decided by shootouts.
Notable players
Current squad
As of July 15, 2006 [link]{| !colspan=6 |Goaltenders |- bgcolor="#dddddd" !width=5%|Number !width=5%| !!width=15%|Player !width=16%|Catches !width=9%|Acquired !width=37%|Place of Birth |-
|- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|-- |align=center| |Alex Auld |align=center|L |align=center|2006 |Thunder Bay, Ontario
|- |-bgcolor="#eeeeee" |align=center|-- |align=center| |Craig Anderson |align=center|L |align=center|2006 |Park Ridge, Illinois
|-
| Defensemen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number |
| Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| - | Bryan Allen | L | 2006 | Kingston, Ontario
| ||
| - | Ruslan Salei | L | 2006 | Minsk, Belarus
| ||
| - | Ari Vallin | L | 2006 | Ylöjärvi, Finland
| ||
| 4 | Jay Bouwmeester | L | 2002 | Edmonton, Alberta | ||
| 5 | Branislav Mezei | L | 2002 | Nitra, Slovakia | ||
| 7 | Steve Montador | R | 2005 | Vancouver, British Columbia | ||
| 20 | Joel Kwiatkowski | L | 2004 | Kindersley, Saskatchewan | ||
| 21 | Alexei Semenov | L | 2004 | Murmansk, Russia
| ||
| 26 | Mike Van Ryn | R | 2003 | London, Ontario | ||
| 55 | Ric Jackman | R | 2006 | Toronto, Ontario | ||
| Forwards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number |
| Player | Shoots | Position | Acquired | Place of Birth |
| -- | Todd Bertuzzi | L | RW | 2006 | Sudbury, Ontario | |
| -- | Ville Peltonen | L | LW | 2006 | Vantaa, Finland | |
| 9 | Stephen Weiss | L | C | 2001 | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 10 | Gary Roberts - A | L | LW | 2005 | North York, Ontario | |
| 12 | Olli Jokinen - C | L | C | 2000 | Kuopio, Finland | |
| 13 | Juraj Kolnik | R | RW | 2002 | Nitra, Slovakia | |
| 15 | Jozef Stumpel | R | C | 2005 | Nitra, Slovakia | |
| 16 | Nathan Horton | R | C | 2003 | Welland, Ontario | |
| 23 | Martin Gelinas | L | LW | 2005 | Shawinigan, Quebec | |
| 25 | Joe Nieuwendyk - A | L | C | 2003 | Oshawa, Ontario | |
| 42 | Mikhail Yakubov | L | C | 2006 | Barnaul, Russia | |
| 44 | Gregory Campbell | L | C | 2002 | London, Ontario | |
| 57 | Anthony Stewart | R | RW | 2003 | LaSalle, Quebec | |
| 77 | Chris Gratton - A | L | C | 2005 | Brantford, Ontario | |
| 85 | Rostislav Olesz | L | C | 2004 | Bilovec, Czech Republic | |
Retired numbers
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)
Team captains
- Brian Skrudland 1993-97
- Scott Mellanby 1997-01
- Pavel Bure/Paul Laus 2001-02 (co-capts)
- no captain 2002-03
- Olli Jokinen 2003- present
1st 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)
Franchise scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Panthers. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points * = Still active as a Panther
| Player | POS | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Mellanby | RW | 552 | 157 | 197 | 354 |
| Viktor Kozlov | C | 414 | 101 | 190 | 291 |
| Robert Svehla | D | 573 | 61 | 229 | 290 |
| Rob Niedermayer | C | 518 | 101 | 165 | 266 |
| *Olli Jokinen | C | 403 | 115 | 142 | 257 |
| Pavel Bure | RW | 223 | 152 | 99 | 251 |
| Ray Whitney | LW/RW | 273 | 97 | 130 | 227 |
| Radek Dvorak | RW | 336 | 69 | 93 | 162 |
| Bill Lindsay | RW | 506 | 63 | 98 | 161 |
| Gord Murphy | D | 410 | 42 | 100 | 142 |
NHL Awards and Trophies
Prince of Wales Trophy Rocket Richard TrophyFlorida Panthers 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
See also
- List of Florida Panthers players
- Head Coaches of the Florida Panthers
- List of NHL seasons
- List of NHL players
- Stanley Cup
External Links
| National Hockey League 1917 to present |
| Current teams : Anaheim | Atlanta | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Carolina | Chicago | Colorado | Columbus | Dallas | Detroit | Edmonton | Florida | Los Angeles | Minnesota | Montreal | Nashville | New Jersey | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Ottawa | Philadelphia | Phoenix | Pittsburgh | San Jose | St. Louis | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Vancouver | Washington |
| Trophies and awards: Stanley Cup | Prince of Wales | Clarence S. Campbell | Presidents' Trophy | Adams | Art Ross | Calder | Conn Smythe | Crozier | Hart | Jennings | King Clancy | Lady Byng | Masterton | Norris | Patrick | Pearson | Plus/Minus | Rocket Richard | Selke | Vezina |
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