Good luck to the Panthers tonight..Win win situation tonight for me..

If we win its great as we keep pace or narrow the gap on the Pens to 5 pts with a game in hand..

If we lose , its ok as Panthers stay ahead of the Penguins..Ideal situation a Leafs win in OT..

gg..we should of won...anderson and the snow was the factor

Yeah tough game Serge, there were some crazy bounces. Toskala did well until Florida finally got their first powerplay. See you guys again soon.

Come on Panthers..You are the team i am backing from here on in...The Panthers making the playoffs will be huge..

GO PANTHERS

I feel really good at this point of the season, but we've got a really rough stretch coming up. The Bouwmeester saga will also be most likely resolved within a month-ish, so that will bring a lot of anticipation and curiosity.

Lossss

6 out of 10 points. Not the worst thing in the world due to some teams around us struggling, but should have been better. Last nights game was killer to watch, so depressed after the Leafs made it 4-1. We were out chancing them in the scoring chances category but weren't capitalizing and the Leafs were doing the opposite. Horton's goal didn't even give me hope at 4-2. Once Peltonen potted his goal, I just knew we were going to tie it up. Really glad for Zednik, he's been on fire of late.

nice 5-0 start..

with the pending 2pts the Panthers will 3pts ahead of the Penguins with 2 games in hand..And only 2pts behind the Habs with a game in hand..

Go Panthers

We're in a pretty good spot right now, teams around us are faltering. Pittsburgh is being fended off, Buffalo takes a big hit to their goalie (Legace one time?), Rangers are awful (plus we have two games on them) now and we'll see how they shape up after Renney is gone, even Montreal has been spinning. Out of all Eastern Conference playoff teams, only Washington has a better record in their last ten games, (7-2-1 to 7-3-0). Big game in Boston tonight.

Lets go Panthers....

3-2 on a absolutely brutal road trip with games against Washington, New Jersey, New York Rangers, and Boston. With Atlanta threw in as a bone of sorts.
Steve Eminger picked up, didn't realize the minutes that this guy was logging in Tampa Bay, he's got some serious minutes. Of course he won't see the same ice time, but he's a great shot blocker and lead Tampa in that category, and he's got a bit of grit to him. We needed to address the team scoring and would have loved to add another forward, if anything to balance out our fourth line who bring it every night; just haven't been putting up aaaaany points.

There will be no contract negotiations with Jay until after the season.
Rostislav Olesz is skating with the team today, and should be back in a rough two week time frame.

How much negotiating can there be left? Hasn't he already turned down $7 million a season?

I'm definitely liking the improvement I see in Shawn Matthias' statline over the past couple months, he was really making me nervous for a while there. I had really high hopes for him at the start of the season, he may still live up to them.

I'll be taking in an Amerks game next weekend, anyone in particular that you want a scouting report on?

This is true I think there is zero chance he will play in Florida next year...Someone will give him a huge contract..Here is hoping its the Leafs..

Ok huge and i mean HUGE game tonight..I know you guys can do it..

Please win...And win big.

Yep, well as far as I know, and has been reported the $7 mil, 6 year deal still stands and never has been rejected. Just never gotten a yes or no. I figured he'd like to see what happens at the end of this year regarding the playoffs, etc etc. But who knows? He's probably gone at the draft for a pick if I had to guess.



Rory Fitzpatrick

Seriously, I'd loveee a report on Repik, Matthias, and Micflickier.

EDIT: And I guess when the media were talking to JM regarding everything going on yesterday, Matthias was brought up in discussion as to some reason why he's confident with the team as is, and how he wouldn't be surprised to see Shawn icing for Florida in the very near future. Also he said that Neil was never a target, so where that Neil to Florida trade confirmation came from, well I have no idea.

Rory's an NHL All-Star candidate, what more do you need to know?

I'll type something up after the game, Repik and Matthias are guys I'll definitely have my eye on, Micflickier I've never heard of before now.

He's really nothing earth shattering, a grinder who's put up decent numbers for what he does. He hails from UNH and I grew up watching him and having him as one of my favorite players.

I checked his statline, reasonably impressive college numbers all the way through. Problem is he's kind of a little guy by the look of things. Is he signed to a Florida two-way deal or is he only signed by the Amerks?

I think only with the Amerks, I know they signed him from the ECHL and just kinda raised my eyebrows over what seemed like a meaningless headline.

who will you be seeing them play adam? i havent got any panther prospects right now but probably will have players on the other team

The Marlies, I'm pretty sure. Hopefully Tlusty chooses that game to cool off...6 points for him last night.

There wont be any Marlies left..Most of the good ones will be up with the big club...

This is a made up name.

So I am going to play dumb right now because thanks to the FCHL I am getting more into the prospect side of hockey that I never paid any attention to before. So on my Farm I have Colby Robak. He was drafted by the Panthers. He plays in the WHL. Is that like AA or A compared to the AHL?

The WHL is junior. It's the Western equivalent of the OHL or QMJHL. All three combined make up the CHL.

Robak is a stud.

You really can't get a true comparison between the AHL and the CHL (which is the parent body of the WHL, OHL and QMJHL) because the AHL is a professional league and the CHL is Major Junior. In the AHL, you have professional players ranging between 18 and 35+ years old (no ex-CHL players unless they are over 20 years old by 12/31 of the year they start playing in the AHL), in the CHL you generally have players between 16 and 20 years old, the only time the players go younger is if they are granted Exceptional Player status like Tavares was, he's been in the OHL since he was 14.

It's a fine line judging guys in Major Junior, sometimes you'll see a guy like Thomas Beauregard a couple years ago absolutely dominating the QMJHL and looking like the second coming of Crosby, then you realize that he's 20 years old and playing his 5th year in the league, that makes a big difference. Generally speaking if a 16 or 17 year old undrafted player is making a lot of noise in Junior, that should grab your attention a lot more than a guy who is 19 or 20 years old and putting up the big numbers. The guys who are still there a couple years after they're drafted aren't very likely to have a big NHL impact.

The minor league for the AHL is the ECHL, it's pro hockey but basically if you're playing there your prospects for having a big impact on the NHL are extremely slim.
Typical feeder leagues for US College would be leagues like the BCHL and USHL (USHL is American Major Junior, not as prestigious by any means), you'll also see a lot of guys from Team USA (US Under 18 Development) going on to the NCAA.

My absolute favorite part of the FCHL is scouting prospects, and I'm happy to share if you want to know anything else. I used Thomas Beauregard because he's looking like a possible exception to the overager rule, he did really well in the ECHL and Montreal is giving him a chance with Hamilton (AHL) where he's continued to do fairly well. You don't know 100% what a guy is going to do in the NHL until he's actually there doing it, prospect analysis just isn't that exact of a science.

In the pros it's:
NHL->AHL->ECHL

For undrafted players it's:
WHL/OHL/QMJHL -> Juniors.... -> etc/etc

We used to have USHL in Thunder Bay. We dominated.

Sweet, thanks for all the info guys.

In the AHL, you have professional players ranging between 18 and 35+ years old (no ex-CHL players unless they are over 20 years old by 12/31 of the year they start playing in the AHL)...[/quote]

Euros (who aren't selected in the CHL Import Draft) can also play in AHL as well but tend to stay in their own domestic leagues. (ie: I think Filatov)

Yeah, that's why I indicated 18+ because you'll sometimes (rarely) get guys like Nicklas Bergfors crossing the pond to get acclimated to the North American game early, usually because they're not getting good playing time in the SEL, FNL, KHL, etc, and they think the poor stats will hurt their chances of making the NHL.

Most every Canadian or American born player of merit will be in major junior or the NCAA until they're at least 20, unless they're so good that they make the NHL as an 18 or 19 year old.

Busy day for the Panthers thread today.
Good luck tonight.

For reference, the WHL is the best junior league in the world. The Vancouver Giants are the best junior team on the planet.

Florida Panthers prospect Micheal Repik is a former Giant. What a team.

FYP

I have to agree with the WHL statement, minus the homerism.

If nothing else they have all the coolest team names, you really can't beat the Chilliwack Bruins or the Kelowna Rockets. QMJHL teams sound like a mix of Australian-based shipping companies and name brand detergents. You say Rimouski Océanic to a passer-by on a Nebraska street corner and I guarantee he'll either say it's a shipping company or the doomed airline on Lost.

This conversation is really making me want to own a CHL team one day.

Thats a really cool marketing idea....Promote the starting lineup for Rimouski as the OCEANIC SIX....

in reference to jiri tlusty who was mentioned earlier - he is absolutely tearing it up with a stat line of 16g 18a 34p in his past 15 games in the ahl! the fact he hasnt been called up to the leafs already pretty much say it all

I'd be just fine not having to turn in a scouting report on how badly he smoked my hometown boys next weekend.

Sorry, off subject but I just want to make sure you went over your lineup for tonight's very important FCHL game. Make sure you got your best going and that they are fresh and ready to play.

who says he wont be?

You are only allowed 4 call ups after the trade deadline , unless its an emergency..

He will get his chance.

Same goes for you...oh wait.

I have never wished for the bubble more...

lol i'll do my best for you steve - got the best i can muster going tonight, just gotta hope the blindside killer jason blake decides not to show up this evening.

Considering that their only viable Center is now skating on the other side of the QEW, I would have to call that low-probability.