So you haven't read anything by Esplen or Barry then?
- BlueBallz

LOL at Barry's Ovechkin post.

Yes, Trocheck has been great. However, he's been great in the OHL. He will need to play in San Antonio, like all other prospect, before he can play here with the big club.

As far as officiating goes, yes it has not been fair. The Nash hit was a travesty, and most people will say the same. It's done, and you have to move on at this point.

I'm not saying it because I'm a Florida fan, but the hit on Sestito was total embellishment on his part. Please watch the replay with your eyes open.. Robak only fleeced his jersey and upon feeling the contact, it's clear that Sestito went to dive and caught an edge, thus causing the impact with the boards. Had it of been different and Robak board him, I would be calling for a suspension. But he barely made contact. The more disgusting part of that play was Tom "why am I in the NHL" Kostopoulos. He was belting Robak with rib shots while he was defenseless on the ice. But I digress, it's over and done with. Thankfully, Sestito is not hurt. I will also say that the NJ training staff was wrong to not send someone out immediately.

Bottom line, this season has sucked major balls and I'm glad there's only 15 games left.
- Panthers88

bold: kovy went down about a min before so they were attending to him, he skated off and right down the tunnel, so the training staff wasnt on the bench

why would sestito (or any player) dive in a situation like that where they have no where to go but into the boards and go in awkwardly

yes it wasnt a "hard" hit but the placement of the hit and the area of the ice he was hit in, made sestito defenseless, i wouldnt speculate that he barely touched sestito, as you really dont know how hard he did hit him, he did extend his arms so he knew what he was doing

kostopoulus was stepping up for his teammate who he felt was injured in a dirty play (it was, look at kaleta on richards) he should know to expect something to happen and he will if he can stay in the nhl...........sestito was defenseless even more so

bold: kovy went down about a min before so they were attending to him, he skated off and right down the tunnel, so the training staff wasnt on the bench

why would sestito (or any player) dive in a situation like that where they have no where to go but into the boards and go in awkwardly

yes it wasnt a "hard" hit but the placement of the hit and the area of the ice he was hit in, made sestito defenseless, i wouldnt speculate that he barely touched sestito, as you really dont know how hard he did hit him, he did extend his arms so he knew what he was doing

kostopoulus was stepping up for his teammate who he felt was injured in a dirty play (it was, look at kaleta on richards) he should know to expect something to happen and he will if he can stay in the nhl...........sestito was defenseless even more so
- dmarsden2988

Maybe dive was the wrong word. But there is no way the minimal contact made by Robak caused him to go into the boards like that. He hit a rut on the ice, it's evident on replay, and that is what caused his fall.

Carolina is not in our division, you are correct. However, a part of me believes it was FLA who called for their placement to help facilitate more rivalry with the "bigger" clubs. Purely a move made from the business point of view.

I don't think you can say we will be at the bottom next season. Let's be honest, if we were healthy for longer than two games this season we could have done some damage. We are a much better team than NJ and NYI. We are a better team the the NYR and Carolina. This season hasn't been a fair way to gauge where we're going as a team.
- Panthers88

FLA won their stanley cup last year when they made the playoffs. As long as Theo is FLA's goalie they won't be going anywhere...He is absolute garbage, idk how he won a vezina. he gave up 2 terrible goals in ot last year vs nj.

FLA won their stanley cup last year when they made the playoffs. As long as Theo is FLA's goalie they won't be going anywhere...He is absolute garbage, idk how he won a vezina. he gave up 2 terrible goals in ot last year vs nj.
- twitchingwalrus

Well I'm glad you feel that way... because he won't ever be starting for us again.

This definitely should not have been a suspension, but you Florida homers are downplaying the incident. There was no embellishment, and the cross-check to the lower back, from behind, while aggressively skating directly towards the boards is absolutely bad hockey form and could have easily resulted in an injury. Don't tell us to "open our eyes," we are watching the same thing, the difference is we realize how ice and momentum work. Don't take your frustrations of an injury-plagued season out on stuff like this.

Here is the bottom line:

1. Reverse the Nash hit on Kopecky to a Kopecky hit on Nash and let's see what transpires. Guarantee Kopecky would get suspended for that. Nash was lining up a guy moving into a shooting position such that Nash's contact was in the guys numbers. The puck was already gone when Nash had time to lessen the impact if he wanted to. Instead Nash left his feet to deliver the hit which consisted of an elbow to the back of the neck driving his Kopecky's head down. Fortunately Kopecky had time to brace his head hitting the ice with his gloves. This was a reckless play by Nash and I would label it a dirty hit. He could have easily delivered a stiff shoulder check or a push in the back to make sure Kopecky couldn't get to a rebound.

2. Robak's hit on Sesito was nowhere near as forceful however it was a dangerous play due to Sesito's vector of movement in relation to the boards. That will be a penalty every time. Was it worthy of a major? Debatable. Seen much worse get less but it was a reckless play so I can accept it. I won't say Sesito was embellishing per se but he was down on the ice for a long time, whether that was due to an injury (Which he said he was fine afterward) or he just wanted to make sure that the refs had time to see it we will never know (he didn't even get up to his knees for a couple minutes). For perspective, Kovy just crashed as hard into the boards and has an injury that keeps him out 2-4 weeks and he was up pretty quick. I was most displeased with the lack of a penalty on Kostopolos for 3 punches to the ribs of Robak. As a team we have retaliated a couple times this season and have been penalized to even it up the calls or actually been shorthanded. I would just like to see consistency.

The league wants teams in the hunt to succeed especially from bigger markets. A win by the Panthers, who have been out of it for quite some time, wouldn't do anything useful to help the league this season. We get it.

End rant. Time to move on.

Why are you commenting on a Panthers blog then you moron?! Wow I think literally 80% of the habs fans in the world are total retards
- panthers92

That's a conservative estimate judging by much of what is written on this site. They aren't all bad though. Like the Leafs, the fan base is so large that even if a small percentage are idiots it makes for a large number.

FLA won their stanley cup last year when they made the playoffs. As long as Theo is FLA's goalie they won't be going anywhere...He is absolute garbage, idk how he won a vezina. he gave up 2 terrible goals in ot last year vs nj.
- twitchingwalrus

Clemmer gave up the game 6 OT goal. Theo gave up the game 7 OT goal.

This definitely should not have been a suspension, but you Florida homers are downplaying the incident. There was no embellishment, and the cross-check to the lower back, from behind, while aggressively skating directly towards the boards is absolutely bad hockey form and could have easily resulted in an injury. Don't tell us to "open our eyes," we are watching the same thing, the difference is we realize how ice and momentum work. Don't take your frustrations of an injury-plagued season out on stuff like this.
- maccorf

The frustration is looking for consistency. Yes, it was a reckless play and warranted a penalty as did Kostopolous's retaliation.

Carolina is not in our division, you are correct. However, a part of me believes it was FLA who called for their placement to help facilitate more rivalry with the "bigger" clubs. Purely a move made from the business point of view.

I don't think you can say we will be at the bottom next season. Let's be honest, if we were healthy for longer than two games this season we could have done some damage. We are a much better team than NJ and NYI. We are a better team the the NYR and Carolina. This season hasn't been a fair way to gauge where we're going as a team.
- Panthers88

The funny thing is you actually believe this? I know you guys have injuries and you had a decent showing in the PO's last year but what makes you think you're better than the Devils? Rangers? even Carolina?

Carolina is not in our division, you are correct. However, a part of me believes it was FLA who called for their placement to help facilitate more rivalry with the "bigger" clubs. Purely a move made from the business point of view.

I don't think you can say we will be at the bottom next season. Let's be honest, if we were healthy for longer than two games this season we could have done some damage. We are a much better team than NJ and NYI. We are a better team the the NYR and Carolina. This season hasn't been a fair way to gauge where we're going as a team.
- Panthers88

The funny thing is you actually believe this? I know you guys have injuries and you had a decent showing in the PO's last year but what makes you think you're better than the Devils? Rangers? even Carolina?
- Cptmjl

We aren't. Some wishful thinking by the eternal optimists.

Our defense was horrible for the first 20 games. Zero shutouts (though Markstrom has been close twice). We lost multiple games when scoring 5 goals and having multiple 2 goal leads in the 3rd period. Our 4 on 4 OT play is atrocious. Our goal tending overall has been horrible (though Markstrom has been really good his last 3 games) even when the defense was playing better. We have no consistent goal scoring. Playing for an entire 60 minutes has been difficult to achieve. Our PK is the worst in the league. Our PP is all or nothing. Our best forwards are 3rd line energy guys that give you effort every shift, take a beating and keep plugging away.

Devils, Rangers and Carolina all have elite talent, have proven playoff experience post 04-05 lockout and are in markets that have more fans that bleed their team's colors. Making this comparison at this time is just choosing to ignore past seasons along with this 30+ game capsule.

I love my Panthers but it is not a blind love.

We are not better than NJ or NYR. Islanders are just as bad as us. You can't really compare teams now since half our team is out for the season. W no top line center on this team, we won't be any better next year. We haven't had a top center since Jokinen. That's not saying much. That just proves the incompetence of the organization as a whole.

We aren't. Some wishful thinking by the eternal optimists.

Our defense was horrible for the first 20 games. Zero shutouts (though Markstrom has been close twice). We lost multiple games when scoring 5 goals and having multiple 2 goal leads in the 3rd period. Our 4 on 4 OT play is atrocious. Our goal tending overall has been horrible (though Markstrom has been really good his last 3 games) even when the defense was playing better. We have no consistent goal scoring. Playing for an entire 60 minutes has been difficult to achieve. Our PK is the worst in the league. Our PP is all or nothing. Our best forwards are 3rd line energy guys that give you effort every shift, take a beating and keep plugging away.

Devils, Rangers and Carolina all have elite talent, have proven playoff experience post 04-05 lockout and are in markets that have more fans that bleed their team's colors. Making this comparison at this time is just choosing to ignore past seasons along with this 30+ game capsule.

I love my Panthers but it is not a blind love.
- Rat-a-Holic

This season will be a failure if we screw our chances to draft Seth Jones or a top 3 pick in general. Just continue to lose (hope Clemmer gets more starts) and then at the draft in NJ draft a TRUE cornerstone for the defense. Unlike Gudbranson, this Jones kid has all the tools to be star quality.

This would give the Panthers the ability to trade Kuba and get him the F out of Florida. Jovo might retire which leaves room for a Jones and Petrovic to be ready for next season. This all doesn't matter if Tallon doesn't get on his horse and bring in a top line center.