Apologies for the slow blog posts, fellas. In the midst of work projects and some new adventures - such is life.
Unless I'm missing something, I don't think the second episode of 'Panthers Uncaged' aired this week. I thought they were going to be every Wednesday in the lead up to the season restarting...whenever it does air, I'll do another review.
Pronger Departs Cats Front Office
Love him or hate him, Chris Pronger's career as a player spanned 18 years in the NHL and led to a seat in the Hall of Fame. He notched 698 points (157 goals, 541 assists) in 1,167 regular-season games over his career and...was drafted by the Whale (bring them back!)
Over the past three years, he served the Panthers as the Senior VP of Hockey Operations & Senior Advisor.
From Tallon:
"We want to thank Chris for his invaluable contributions to the Florida Panthers organization.
Since joining our hockey operations staff in 2017, Chris approached his role with great passion and provided our team with a fresh and unique perspective. A true professional, champion and proud family man, we wish Chris, Lauren and the Pronger family the very best in their new business endeavor, Well Inspired Travels."
Pronger will turn his attention to the new luxury travel business he and his wife are starting up called, "Well Inspired Travels," which will cater to elite athletes, executives and business owners.
From Pronger:
"I want to personally thank the (owners) Viola family, (CEO) Doug Cifu, Dale Tallon and all of the staff with the Florida Panthers. I was able to grow as an executive and more importantly as a person in my three years with the hockey club. I wish the Panthers organization nothing but the best in the upcoming playoffs and years to come."
Always cool to see someone follow their dream/passion. Interesting to note from NHL.com:
"A four-time NHL All-Star Team selection, Pronger won the Norris Trophy voted as best defenseman in the NHL and the Hart Trophy as League MVP in 1999-2000. He was named one of the 100 greatest players in NHL history during the League's centennial celebration in 2017 and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Blues will retire Pronger's No. 44 next season."
Timeline and TV Time
If you can believe it, we're currently about 22 days from the start of the Qualifying Rounds. What seemed like an impossibility and then an eternity, has turned into a matter of less than a month for hockey to return!
While that's fantastic news, perhaps the best news to recently come out was the below. Just look at that schedule:
Not sure about you guys, but I'm going to be like this:
via GIFER
Lastly, who's headed to the hotel to get autographs?
I tuned in last night to watch a bit of the Cats/Isles game from earlier this season that the NHL Network replayed. This series is going to be a battle and I can't wait for it to kick off.
Re-watching, the teams are more even than I remember, maybe with an edge in quickness going to New York. But the Cats get after it in terms of SOG and offensive pressure, it's just that the difference-maker is the Islander goaltending tandem - particularly Thomas Greiss (as we all know).
New York bolstered their centermen this deadline by picking up Jean Gabreil Pageau. This addition really rounds them out down the middle (at least from an outsiders perspective). The Cats will need to be aware of this, since all four lines of NYI are strong at center.
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Go Panthers!
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