BOSTON - Florida goaltender Craig Anderson followed his record-setting shutout two days ago with a 40-save win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. Nathan Horton scored 22 seconds into overtime to give the Panthers the 1-0 win.
Anderson stopped 53 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Islanders on Sunday, the most ever in a shutout since shots on goal started being kept in the 1955-56 season.
Alex Auld made 30 saves for the Bruins, but was beaten by Horton’s wrist shot inside the left post on the first shift of the extra period.
The Panthers won for just the second time in five games. Boston, coming off an embarrassing 10-2 loss at Washington on Monday, lost for just the third time in 10 games.
With 13 games to go in the season, Florida is 5 pts behind division leader Carolina. Carolina has one less game played than Florida. The Panthers face a daunting task to make the playoffs.
The last month has driven this Florida Panther fan up the wall. Four times, REPEAT Four times Florida blew two goal leads in the 3rd period. Three of those losses coming in OT and the other in regulation. The Southeast Division and Florida has had their chances to take the lead and can’t get over the hump.
Anderson is hot right now, but the Panther offense is non-existent, so the Goalie needs to be nothing less than perfect. Florida Captain Olli Jokinen has been almost unheard from since the Richard Zednik incident. Some say it shook Olli, but I’ve had my doubts about the will of this team all year.
Now Jacques Martin is seeing it may be a good idea to play Craig Anderson some. Tomas Vokoun has been good, but I as I said before, I felt Florida needed to give the Czech Goalie an occasional rest. In the first 60 games of this season, Anderson started less than 10 games. Why?
Untill the last two games, I think Martin had no faith or confidence in Anderson. For what reason, I don’t know. His stats were good, his won loss record so so but Anderson only had one bad outing this year. His losses were 3-2, 2-1, 3-2.
The Palm Beach Post’s Brian Biggane hasn’t even let the 07-08 end, before starting to write a revisionist history of it.
Acquired in a trade with Chicago before last season, Anderson spent most of last season in the minors before going 1-1-1 over five games in a late-season callup. That brief stint prompted the Panthers to release both Ed Belfour and Alex Auld - who was in the Boston net Tuesday night - in favor of the 26-year-old from Park Ridge, Ill.
Florida let go of Auld because he played like crap last year. Belfour was let go because Anderson was a cheaper alternative. Coach Martin had so little faith, confidence, or trust in Anderson’s abilities last year that he trotted out the 41-year-old for over 20 consecutive starts. Tell me what that and Anderson’s bench warming this year say about Martin’s use of his goaltenders.
If Anderson had been played more, maybe Florida would be a little closer to the division lead. Other than a game against Montreal at Florida, after a long road game the night before, can I point to a game where Martin was undeniably dumb in his choice of goalies.
Can Florida still make the playoffs? Yes. Do I expect them to? I’m negative on this team, so I say no. If Florida doesn’t make the playoffs, I don’t expect Jacques Martin to be back as Coach or GM. Based on this year, firing Martin seems reasonable to me.
Last night’s win was the team’s 3rd win in their current road trip.
BOSTON — If the Panthers can wrap up their five-game road trip tonight in Buffalo the right way, they could wake up Monday morning atop the Southeast Division standings.
An offense that has struggled for most of the season battled from behind three times and pulled away late for a 6-3 victory over Boston at TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday night, once again moving to within one point of the division lead.
Florida (26-26-5) can claim that lead with a win at Buffalo and a Washington loss to the New York Rangers this afternoon.
Right now Florida has 57 pts, one point behind division leaders Carolina and Atlanta. However Florida has played one less game than those two teams. Washington also has 57 points, but has played one game less than the Panthers.
Florida plays tonight at Buffalo. A win would be big not just because of the division standings, but to show the Panthers can win back to back road games on consecutive days. I’ve seen Florida play in a very lackluster fashion more than once this year when they’ve had back to back games this year.
Some other assorted Panther notes
*- The team has scored 18 goals in its last three games, tying a team record. Will the real Panthers please stand up? Is this the same team that lost 1-0 to Buffalo the first game back after the All-Star break?
*- Yesterday was Tomas Vokoun’s 51st game in goal for Florida. No goalie has played more. Vokoun’s GAA isn’t good but his Save Pct. is 11th in the NHL. Vokoun has had a good year and I’d hate to think what this team would be doing if not for the Czech’s goaltending.
On the other hand, Vokoun has given up 8 goals in his last two games. Is Tomas getting tired? Coach Martin appears to have little confidence in backup goalie Craig Anderson, I really don’t know why. Anderson’s Save Pct is even better than Vokoun’s in limited play. Also Anderson’s two wins this year came in matchups versus Martin Brodeur and Rick Dipietro two of the best in the East. Why isn’t Anderson giving Vokoun a break more often? I fear Florida could burn out Vokoun before the team makes the playoffs. That is assuming Florida does that.
Martin hardly played Anderson last year either. Anderson was called up at around the All-Star break and then rode the bench as Florida played 41-year-old veteran Eddie Belfour over 20 games straight in goal. Belfour ran out of gas at year’s end. This year and last show IMHO that Martin has no confidence in Anderson and I don’t really know why. He’s played well when given the chance.
*- Has Palm Beach Post Florida Panther beat reporter Brian Biggane been paying attention this year? In an article about last night’s game, Brian wrote-
With the Panthers on a power play, Jokinen collected a short pass from goaltender Tomas Vokoun and worked his way through the Boston defense, then beat Thomas on a backhander through the pads. It was Vokoun’s first assist of the season.
First? Try sixth assist of the year. Vokoun leads all NHL goaltenders in assists. Biggane should stop drinking or pay more attention to the team he’s paid to cover.
*- Florida has won 15 road games this year. I bet the team finishes with 20 or more for the year, breaking the Panther’s previous record of 18.
Ottawa Senators 51 32-15-4-68
Montréal Canadiens 50-27-15-8-62
Philadelphia Flyers 49-28-16-5-61
Pittsburgh Penguins 50 28-18-4-60
New Jersey Devils 50-28-19-3-59
Boston Bruins 50-26-19-5-57
New York Islanders 51-24-21-6-54
New York Rangers 52-24-22-6- 54 Carolina Hurricanes 53-25-24-4-54
Washington Capitals 51-23-23-5-51
Atlanta Thrashers 52-23-25-4-50
Buffalo Sabres 49-22-21-6-50 Florida Panthers 51-22-24-5-49
Toronto Maple Leafs 52-20-24-8-48 Tampa Bay Lightning 51-20-26-5-45
Note- The numbers above from left to right are- Games played, wins, losses, Overtime losses, total points
Teams in Bold are Southeast Division teams
First of all barring a complete collapse by these teams, you have to think Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Montreal are locks to make the playoffs. You can probably also toss Boston in.
The rest of the conference is pretty wide open. The only teams that appear to have little chance are Tampa and Toronto.
The Southeast Division is wide open. It is also a division likely to send only one team to the playoffs. First to fourth place is separated by a measly 5 pts, and the 4th place team Florida has played two less games than division leader Carolina. That would point to Florida having a good chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. On the other hand, there is the team’s listless play of late, only 4 wins in 14 games and this from today’s Palm Beach Post.
The Panthers, who return to action tonight against Buffalo following the All-Star break, say they are determined to end their agonizing playoff drought.
But some observers think the Panthers haven’t exhibited enough determination to reach the post-season for the first time since April 2000.
To put it more bluntly, some critics think they are soft.
“This team plays too much on the perimeter; I haven’t seen the willingness to get their noses dirty and do the dirty work,” said NHL broadcaster John Vanbiesbrouck, who starred in the nets for the Panthers when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.
“Winning isn’t easy. You’ve got to make up your mind you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there and play like that every night.”
I’m not totally sure if Vanbiesbrouck is right in what he says. Florida has blown at least five games this year in the last minute of play. They’ve also played games where they either quit or showed little effort. I’ve missed only a handful of games on television this year, Florida has the talent to win the division and even make a run in the playoffs. The only teams I worry about in the conference are Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto (The Maple Leaf oversized defensemen seem to intimidate the Panthers) when Florida faces them.
I question if the Panthers has the desire, and perhaps the coaching. Why the hell did the team send Shawn Matthias back to the minors? He scored two goals in four NHL games, two of which Jacques Martin barely played him in, and 21 in 32 games of OHL play before his callup. I rather have Matthias on the roster than the overrated Brett McLean or Kamil Kreps. After all, Kreps has just 4 goals in 45 games played!
They won last night, marking for the fist time this season that the team has a winning record.
Thursday night’s Panthers-Hurricanes game might as well have been played on a roller coaster, it had so many ups and downs.
In the end, the final up went to Florida, which registered a 5-4 victory at the BankAtlantic Center, taking the lead for good on Brett McLean’s goal midway through the third period.
Back home after winning three of four games on the road and facing the Southeast Division leaders, the Panthers had nothing but opportunity in front of them. A win would cut into their five-point division deficit and set an energizing tone for a year-end schedule that features four of five games at the BankAtlantic Center.
It looked bleak when Carolina took a 3-1 lead after the first period, but the Panthers rallied for their third consecutive victory. They now trail the Hurricanes by just three points.
I have felt from Opening Night, that this Panther team is capable of taking the Southeast Division. That the team is right on Carolina’s back at the moment says something(Other than the SE division being mediocre) about how Florida has come this far. They’ve been plagued by injuries this year, particularly to defensemen(Three are out at this time, and its not known when any will be back) but all through this the team has pulled themselves over .500. Yes I still worry about the lack of punch the team has, their tendency to sit on a lead, and whether they give up when they fall behind. As to the last, maybe we’ve seen the end of it. For Florida was down 3-1 a little over 16 minutes into the game. The Panthers then stormed back.
The Eastern Conference playoff picture stands like this. Teams in italics are Southeast division teams
1- Ottawa 22-8-3 47 pts
2- Boston 18-12-4 40
T3- Montreal 17-12-5 39 T3- Carolina 18-15-3
T3- New Jersey 18-13-3 39
6 NY Rangers 17-14-3 37 T7 Florida 17-16-2 36
T7 Pittsburgh 17-15-2
T9 with 35 pts Buffalo and Philadelphia(32 games played each) and Toronto(35 games)
T12 with 33 pts Atlanta and Tampa Bay in 34 and 35 games respectively.
You can look at it one of two ways. Florida is four pts out of 2nd place in the conference or that the cats are just a game or two from being in 10th place because of the fewer games played by Buffalo and Philadelphia. As I see the conference, Florida can play as well as anyone with the exception of Ottawa, and arguably Carolina and New Jersey. The cats, who are notoriously bad as a road team, are 8-9-1. When you factor in injuries and the Panthers road record, this team could finish as high as 2nd in the conference, but more likely 4th or 5th. I think my preseason prediction of Florida making the playoffs for the first time since 2000, is looking better and better.
He was the last coach to lead the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup title. RIP.
BOSTON (Reuters) - Former Boston Bruins player and coach Tom Johnson has died at the age of 79, the team said on Thursday.
Johnson was an outstanding defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens and the Bruins, later becoming coach and executive with Boston for more than 30 years before he retired in 1998.
A native of Balfour, Manitoba, Johnson played 15 seasons in the NHL, helping Montreal win six Stanley Cups. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 1958-59.
He coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1972, their last championship, later serving as the team’s assistant general manager and vice president.
“The Bruins and all of hockey have lost a great person,” said Harry Sinden, the team’s former coach and general manager who is now an advisor.
Johnson was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1970.
He is the third Philadelphia Flyer to be suspended this year.
Flyers defenseman Randy Jones was suspended two games by the NHL on Monday for his violent hit on Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, making him the third Philadelphia player suspended for a dangerous play this season.
*****
The 22-year-old Bergeron was injured after he was hammered to the boards face-first by Jones in the first period of Philadelphia’s 2-1 victory over the Bruins.
Bergeron lost consciousness, was transported from the ice on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital where team physician, Dr. Bertram Zarins, diagnosed him with a concussion and a broken nose. No other serious injuries to Bergeron’s head or neck were revealed by tests and he was released Sunday.
The suspension was handed down by NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell.
HUNTSVILLE, Ont. - Now Anton Volchenkov can rest easy with the rest of his Ottawa Senators teammates.
The National Hockey League is not reviewing his check on Florida Panthers left-winger David Booth during Saturday’s game at Scotiabank Place, meaning Volchenkov will not be suspended for the hit.
That won’t come as a surprise to Senators coach John Paddock, who couldn’t understand why there was any suggestion of a suspension in the first place.
The NHL agreed with John Paddock’s assessment that Anton Volchenkov, above, did nothing wrong.
That’s about the dumbest thing I’ve heard in hockey this year, in terms of anybody even talking about him being suspended,” Paddock said during a conference call. “So, that’s my thought on that.”
To recap, in the second period of Saturday’s contest, Booth had the puck along the boards, in the Senators zone, when he turned towards Volchenkov with his head down. They collided and Booth went into the boards before falling to the ice. He was eventually taken off the ice on a stretcher.
Here’s the video of the hit on Booth.
I don’t see any difference between what Volchenkov and Jones did. Does the NHL have a double standard for suspending players?
He will be the NHL franchise’s third coach in just one year.
Claude Julien was hired as coach of the Bruins on Thursday, less than a week after Boston fired Dave Lewis and two months after Julien was dismissed by the New Jersey Devils in the season’s waning days.
Julien is the Bruins’ third coach in a year. He was let go by the first-place Devils in April with three games left in the regular season and the team preparing for the playoffs.
Lewis led to the Bruins to a 35-41-6 record in his only season. He was dismissed Friday — more than two months after they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year — and will be given another job in the franchise. Boston hasn’t won a playoff series since 1999.
*****
In his only season with New Jersey, Julien was 47-24-8. He also coached the Montreal Canadiens for three years, leading the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2004 — when they beat the Bruins in the conference quarterfinals — before he was fired midway through the 2005-06 season with a 19-16-6 record.
“He demands execution,” Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. “He demands that his players do what he wants.”
*****
Julien is the 17th person to coach the Bruins in 30 years.
Julien has had some success with other teams. The Bruins on the other hand have been poor to mediocre since the cancelled 2004-05 season. Something tells me Julien will be looking for employment again in 2 to 3 years at most.
TORONTO - The Calgary Flames have hired Mike Keenan as their new head coach, The Canadian Press reported Wednesday night.
The Canadian Press, citing unidentified sources, reported an official announcement is expected Thursday or Friday.
Current Flames coach Jim Playfair will remain with the organization.
The Flames went 43-25-10, finishing eighth in the Western Conference last season under Playfair. They lost to the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the first round of the playoffs.
Keenan has 569 victories in 1,014 games as an NHL head coach.
He won the Jack Adams trophy awarded to the league’s top coach in 1985 after leading the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup final. He also took the Chicago Blackhawks to the Cup finals in 1988, and won the Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994.
Calgary will be the eigth NHL team Keenan has been head coach of.
My take- Considering he traded the Florida Panthers’ star goaltender Roberto Luongo for garbage, and then bailed on the team two months later, forgive me if I don’t wish Keenan well in Calgary.
It appears the Chicago Blackhawks have won the NHL Lottery thus making the first 14 picks of the NHL draft order look like this:
1 Chicago Blackhawks (moved up from 5th spot)
2 Philadelphia Flyers (moved down from 1st spot)
3 Phoenix Coyotes (moved down from 2nd spot)
4 Los Angeles Kings (moved down from 3rd spot)
5 Washington Capitals (moved down from 4th spot)
6 Edmonton Oilers
7 Columbus Blue Jackets
8 Boston Bruins
9 St. Louis Blues
10 Florida Panthers
11 Carolina Hurricanes
12 Montreal Canadiens
13 Toronto Maple Leafs
14 Colorado Avalanche
We can put them back together. We have the technology. Errr, maybe not. Despite the occasional worst to first tales in recent sports history, fixing a train wreck of a team is rarely an immediate process. Organizations with the attitude that we can fix this mess quick, like the Boston Bruins, get stuck in the good season bad season, no chance at winning it all rut.
Boston Bruins fans have gone from feast, 29 consecutive playoff appearances, to more of a hi-carb diet, lots of regular season sugar and not enough post-season steak. They grow understandably frustrated with the cotton candy. Like most hockey fans, denizens of the hub of hockey tend to be a passionate lot. Enough so that Boston’s (top rated) sports talker, WEEI, refers to blocks of call-in time in Bruin fans use to vocalize their anger over the team’s misfortunes as Hockey Talk. The pain was not helped by a recent 10-2 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. At least, they can console themselves that they have the Patriots in the AFC Conference Championship this Sunday. Take that Maple Leaf, fans, you don’t even have real football! The rejoinder? Bruins fans don’t have real hockey. Life is rough when it’s been more than thirty years since your last Cup and you have become a team named Sue.
Last year’s stumbles brought the mid-season firing of GM Mike O’Connell and the much delayed, agonizingly so, dismissal of head coach Mike Sullivan after the season ended. O’Connell sealed his fate by dealing the teams two biggest stars in a desperate attempt to shake up the team. When it didn’t work, he was out of work. Sullivan was dismissed more so new GM Peter Chiarelli could have his own guy behind the bench. But coaches are always getting axed in Boston. The Bruins track record of firing coaches in this decade, and even before, would make George Steinbrenner blush.
The constant turnover behind the bench is matched only by the turnover on the bench. The Bruins parsimoniousness once created numerous trade opportunities whenever a player wanted more money than Ray Bourque got paid. Now, with Bourque long retired and continual roster turnover, the Bruins try to catch lightning in a bottle year in and year out. It’s not stinginess, quite the contrary, it’s spending poorly. In fact, the tightfisted Bruins had more success in getting to the postseason than have the free spending version.
What was once a proud franchise has now become the Washington Redskins of hockey. They spend during the offseason and underachieve when the games are played. This offseason brought a new GM, new coach and new hope in the form of Defensemen Zdeno Chara and Paul Mara and forward Marc Savard. The results have been again underwhelming. Erratic goaltending has been a problem for the Bruins, who are currently relying on journeyman Tim Thomas between the pipes. The Bruins had a Calder Trophy (top rookie) winner in net after the 2004 season, in Andrew Raycroft, but Raycroft was ineffective in the first post lockout season and subsequently dealt to Toronto.
When a team with a bigger budget for player salaries underachieves, talent evaluation, as well as the team’s overall definition of how to compete and succeed in the “new NHL,” need to be called into question. Bruins management for years felt the team was one player away from winning the Stanley Cup. They never could find that guy. It wasn’t Kevin Stevens or Al Iafrate or Mariusz Czerkawski. Now, they need more than one guy, but they keep going after the one guy. Winning it all with this team will take more than a silver bullet solution. Until the Bruins, and other devotees of the One-Year Rebuilding Plan, recognize that the on again, off again seasons are the result of poor organizational planning, their fans will continue to suffer through uninspiring, Championship free seasons.
