The chirping I've heard on HFboards is that Stewart will probably make the team at the outset, and Matthias and Frolik will come to Rochester for a little seasoning. Stewart has to be waived down to Rochester, the two kids can bounce back and forth at will this season.

I can't imagine that Florida thinks anyone else will claim Stewart (I've seen him play live a lot, he's really kinda terrible), but I guess if they still have questions about M & F then there's no real reason to risk it.

In any event, if Matthias and Frolik are here this weekend I'm definitely going to the game on Sunday, maybe the opener on Friday as well. They won't be here long enough to mess around with a shot at seeing them play for $15.

How sick would the Amerks be if there was still dual affiliation this year?

Stewart is bad, but again another one of those cases where he's played well this preseason so everyone is hopeful. Yeah I'm over on the hf boards too, I just hope Stewart plays awful and is shipped down. I doubt anyone would claim him haha.

Yeah pretty much can't miss opportunity for cheep in Rochester, I am very glad that Florida outright owns Rochester now though. It was a tough situations with it being a dual affiliation because Buffalo still owned the Rock and had the decisions on coaching, lines, ice time, etc. Obviously they wanted to get a better glimpse of most of their guys so unless your name is Janis Sprukts there might have been some slight mis-judgment going on.

TSN is reporting McCabe broke a vertebra (or more)
Of course they're also reporting that he was playing the Boston Bruins when it happened.

Pretty much welcome back Jassen Cullimore.


EDIT: Way to go TSN, thought that report was a bit unlikely. News is a contusion and some brusing, no fractures or breaks. Very positive, considering.
Also Frolik AND Stewart will be in tonight against Atlanta.

Kreps and Belak healthy scratches.

David Booth is seriously sexy right now.
He's carried the team through the first two. Great job to pull 2 points from this tough division game.

The BOOTH , THE BOOTH, THE BOOTH is on fire.......

GG for Florida tonight, get a much needed win after a piss poor performance from the team and Vokoun last game. I'm sure the shutout will help a lot of guys forget that one. DiPietro looked very good in his first game back from injury.

Frolik is getting top line treatment tonight with Stillman and Horton.

Ya, Biatch is excited, since he's got him on his farm. We're going to the game tonight. Should be fun.

Awesome, be sure to regale me with stories afterward.

WTF Florida, this is the game we're supposed to lose. You guys really are not on the ball.

Do you think Chris Higgins or Tomas Plekanec is enough to get Bouwmeester?

I can't personally see Montreal trading Plekanec, and Higgins wouldn't be close to enough for J-Bo. Actually I don't think either of them by themselves would get it done, and bundling them together would be too much.

Bouwmeester is an unrestricted free agent who isn't playing particularly well right now. I do think Higgins is enough. The only problem is I don't know if Florida wants another forward right now.

You can say Bouwmeester isn't playing well but Higgins (3 games, 1 assist, RFA after this year) is reasonable value? C'mon now...

There is no way Florida would just give away their franchise defenseman (whether he's willing to resign or not) for a winger whose career high in points is only eight higher than Bouwmeester's. Another team will offer far more value at the deadline.

Higgins was injured. There's a big difference. There's also a big difference between an unrestricted free agent and a restricted one. PLUS, it's obvious Bouwmeester wants out of FLA.

its actually obvious the NHL wants out of FLA...Bettman not so much

It was obvious that Hossa wanted out of Atlanta too, and the Thrashers still got a very healthy return out of him by waiting for a bidding war (a war that Gainey cheaped out of, BTW).

If you believe that Higgins for Bouwmeester straight up is a fair trade then I won't try to dissuade you (I might start sendng you trade offers in the Yahoo league though).

I will say that Jacques Martin will never ever let the biggest piece of trade deadline bait go for so little. If he trades Bouwmeester for a single 55 point forward in return I'll let Serge make all the decisions for my FCHL team next season.

AND everyone (except a few guys around here) will agree that Pittsburgh overpaid for Hossa.

I don't think you're accounting for the free agent status enough.

I'm holding you to the last comment.

They absolutely overpaid, but that's what GM's do when they can smell that Stanley Cup within their grasp.

Montreal might get him at the deadline, but it won't be for Chris Higgins all by his lonesome. That's all I'm saying.

Plekanec would be a no, we're already developing a center log jam. Higgins is a name I've heard of very reasonable guys coming back if we were to trade with a team, but it has to be more than just Higgins, if that be a pick or a prospect or whatever.

I love the fact that we have the worst PP. I also love the fact that we finally got a point from a forward for the first time in over 8 periods. A friggin point!

Can I get some info Olesz and what you think his potential for the future.

Olesz is a huge part of this team when he plays like he can, when he's not putting up points he finds ways to get himself into games by using his body and skating ability to create. His skating ability is superior to the rest of most forwards on the team but his hands have been called into question regarding accuracy of his shots. He's a great bundle of energy but he's like every budding player we get down here (minus Olli Jokinen, he was the exception) as he'll probably improve a ton when/if he gets shipped off to another team and start putting up some real good numbers, and make everyone go, "Wow where did this kid come from?" Potential to be a 30 goal scorer and somewhere around 65 points. Slow start this year, but I expect him to end up around 45 pts (which would still be an improvement). He's still fairly young and I'll expect production from him to incline over the next two years as he gets more of a grip (pun) on his shot/accuracy.

So with Igor Larionov getting into the HHOF he will become the first player in inducted that will have had put on a Florida Panther jersey, sure it was only for 26 games I think but...well maybe when(if) Bure gets inducted we'll have more of a Panther in the Hall.

Last 3 games we've looked good, beat up on Tampa Bay, Ducks got Boothed, and then put up 2 good periods against the defending champs. Still pretty awful offensively but we've got some injured guys back in Weiss and McCabe (still missing Kreps horribly) and hope to put the hurt right back on Tampa on Tuesday.

I don't think Bure is a hall of famer, but that's another argument. Anyway, you'll have Luongo in there with the way he's going.

I can't imagine why Bure wouldn't get in, but that's because I'm completely biased, since I think he was my favorite goal scorer to watch when I was little.

i agree..its the old argument..If Neely got in, why not Bure?

I don't think Neely should be in either. I've said that before.

Yeah, I mean, durability and longevity is certainly something that makes someone an elite hockey player, so I see that side of the argument as well, I just liked Bure too much.

Maybe his work with the Russian national team and his post-NHL career will help him get in.

I loved Bure as well...Also AHL trivia..

Pavel Bure was the first player acquired by the Mustangs in the AHL..He was traded for Jerome Iginla...I got fleeced

Was this in Pavel's Rangers days?

Besides 1996, 2000 was such a great year for me. It was like nothing in the world to watch due to Bure and all his glory.
These are great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNoQGAZVc00

and one from when NHL 2 Night was still kickin' around. Man I miss that show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjx7LRx9WKE

i think he was in Vancouver at the time.

Belak on waivers today.

Panthers trade Belak to Nashville for Tarnasky

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=257535&lid...=headlines_main

I'm fairly ok with this.

Don't know where this Florida team is coming from today, but we're dismantling the Rangers.

We're playing much better now, thankfully.
I don't know how, or why even with all the injuries but we've got 5 road wins in a row and wins in 6 out of our last 7.
Getting real quality efforts from everyone, but especially Bouwmeester. After a slow start the guy has been absolutely on fire. 5 goals and 9 assists in the last 15 games.

It's been rumored, yet not confirmed yet that Florida will be invited to start the 09-10 season in Prague against the Blackhawks. With a fair amount of Czech players on Florida it makes sense, and could be very cool to see. I just hope that if it happens, the travel and such doesn't wear them down or become an excuse for them to lose some games with hardly an effort.

The trip to Europe is one of my excuses for the Pens recent struggles, fwiw. lol

David Booth is a machine.

Real good article on Bouwmeester.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/stor...&id=3818303

If they told you half way through the year the Panthers would be knocking on the door of the Playoffs ahead of the Penguins, what would you have thought??

Crazy stuff

what a great game for the Panthers..Total domination..

Great line by Mcguire..."The Panthers are going Globetrotter on the Canadiens"

loving it

4 in a row for the Habs

Best Florida game all season.

Boston vs Florida first round?

please ONE TIME...assuming it means the Pens miss the playoffs

I will be beside myself if this happens. Obv I'd be getting as many tickets as I could to the games in Boston, never seen a Florida playoff game live (hell we don't have too many anyway) and it would be just elation to make the playoffs this year. My pre-season diagnosis was not good for this team, I didn't think they'd be in this spot at all.

Our next 5 games:
NYI
TOR
NYI
WAS
TOR

I could easily see us going 4-1-0, or pulling 7-8 points out of there. This is a huge part of the season where the points are right there waiting to be picked up, we can't play down to these teams and gotta go out and seize those points.

If it's Boston vs Florida, I'll consider* driving down and watch some games with you.

*disclaimer, I really really really hate driving so it'd be like 50/50. Let's just see Florida get in first.

Like I said if it means seeing the Pens miss the playoffs i will sacrifice our two games against you...Florida is my new team that "I dont hate and can toleratere winning at the expense of the teams that i hate"

Go Florida

GO Mccabe

I'd love to see Florida get in. Not at the expense of the Pens, obv, but would love to see my man-crush Booth light it up in the playoffs.