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Posts tagged 'Florida Panthers'

Posts Tagged ‘Florida Panthers’

Chicago Blackhawks Signed Alexander Salak

June 20, 2011 - By
Chicago Blackhawks Signed Alexander Salak

The Chicago Blackhawks signed former Rochester Americans goalie Alexander Salak to a two year one way contract worth approximately $1.2 million.  It’s still possible Salak will play in the American Hockey League on a one way contract but it means he’ll be paid NHL cash if he does.

Yes, this news is about a month old but someone asked me over the weekend where Salak was playing so I decided to take a minute to post.

Last season Salak played for Farjestad BK in the Swedish Elite League. He ranked second in the league with a 1.97 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.  When he played for the Amerks during the 2009-2010 season he was a fan favorite with his Dominik Hasek style of play.  Teams quickly seemed to figure him out and his stats went downhill thanks to the Florida Panthers not providing him with a full time goalie coach (at least in my opinion).

Salak had been loaned to Farjestad BK of the Swedish Elite League for the 2010-11 season by the Florida Panthers before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on February 9, 2011.  The Panthers had also sent Michael Frolik to the Blackhawks in exchange for Jack [...]Read More

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More Amerks-Sabres Fuel, Pirates-Panthers Affiliation a Possibility

June 2, 2011 - By
More Amerks-Sabres Fuel, Pirates-Panthers Affiliation a Possibility

The silly season (AHL affiliation changes) continues with this latest story that the Kennebec Journal wrote discussing the realistic possibility of the Florida Panthers and Portland Pirates affiliating.  The Panthers just hired Kevin Dineen as head coach for the Florida Panthers, Dineen had spent the previous five seasons as coach of the Portland Pirates.

For Dineen to even discuss this as a possibility just adds to the all but officially confirmed Sabres purchase of the Rochester Americans.  Dineen knows what’s going on in Portland and with his recommendation of the Panthers it could help sell Panthers hockey there.

You know what us Amerks fans say?  You can have them!  Even if they become extremely successful we’ve had enough.

“I have a place that I certainly prefer where they’ll be,” said Dineen. “I’ve worked in Portland. I know the quality of life there for the players is great for them to develop as players. I know (the Panthers) haven’t had a strong fan base there, but (the fans) are passionate about hockey.”

Also from the article:

The problem is the Pirates and Sabres agreed to an extension of their affiliation agreement last spring. It now runs through the 2013-14 season.

Still, Dineen [...]Read More

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And Now to Blame the Panthers

January 20, 2011 - By
And Now to Blame the Panthers

On Wednesday night I wrote an article that called out the Amerks on not making a simple phone call.  A few readers agreed that they should at least make a phone call, many others said no it’s not up to the Amerks, the Panthers got us into this mess.  This all reminds me of a few years ago when the Buffalo Sabres were on the way out the door and it was a he said / she said type of thing and we seemed to learn about a lot of half truths.

So, how did we get to this point? Well, the Florida Panthers built this roster and it sucks so they ultimately deserve the blame. They had Jeff Taffe and Graham Mink under contract but dumped them. Jimmy Bonneau would’ve been great to keep around for some muscle but they didn’t want him back either. They didn’t think Jordan Henry was worth keeping and let him walk. Hard to believe that compared to this current defense he would’ve been a stand out. Also, if the Panthers suffer another injury who are they going to call up?

One could argue that if Mark Cullen did not get injured, Michael [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Amerks

Panthers Loaned Michael Nylander for Amerks

September 30, 2010 - By

The big news of yesterday was that Michael Nylander has been loaned to the Florida Panthers by the Washington Capitals and will play for the Rochester Americans.  Of course, the news happened when I was away from cyberspace for the day.  Nylander was acquired as a replacement for the injured Mark Cullen who was slated to be the Amerks number one center this season.  The Panthers could have just waited until training camps finished to see how the team looked but they didn’t, they made a move to get a guy who still has some gas left in the tank and will be great with the younger players.

From Kevin O’s blog:

“He’s coming here to help our young guys,” Panthers assistant general manager Mike Santos said. “He’s not coming here grumbling. He wants to resurrect his career for one more shot.”

A year ago the Capitals decided they didn’t need Nylander and he was loaned to Jokerit-Helsinki in the Finnish League 3-4-7 in 14 games) and also played for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL (2-16-18 in 24 games) on Washington’s dime.

In 2008-09, his last NHL season, he scored 9-24-33 in 72 games for the Capitals. [...]Read More

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Panthers Game in Rochester was an Entertaining Success

September 24, 2010 - By
Panthers Game in Rochester was an Entertaining Success

When it was announced that the Florida Panthers were going to play a preseason game against the Boston Bruins a lot of people talked about how dumb it was and that no one would care.  I think Thursday night proved that a lot of people did care (over 4,700) and a lot of people had a great time.  A lot of preseason games in sports are pointless and provide no entertainment but the opposite occurred.  We saw some goals scored, great saves, big hits and some players fighting for jobs.

The attendance may have been different if it had been a team other than the Boston Bruins but that’s why the Bruins were picked, they knew they would be a draw.  There was definitely more Bruins gear in the stands than Panthers but there was also an impressive amount of Panthers attire.

Just to also toss this out there, the last time the Sabres played a preseason game in Rochester there was only around 3,000 people at the game.  Close to 5,000 for a Panthers vs Bruins game.  Yea.  But, that’s another debate.

One of the biggest complaints about the game ahead of time was the ticket price but based [...]Read More

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Lineup for Tonights Panthers vs Bruins Game

September 23, 2010 - By

Unless someone gets hurt, the projected lineups for tonights Panthers vs Bruins game are below.  Being a fan of goalies, Tomas Vokoun vs Tuukka Rask is a treat.

Florida Panthers:

David Booth – Stephen Weiss – Michael Frolik
Christopher Higgins – Steven Reinprecht – Cory Stillman
Kenndal McArdle – Marty Reasoner – Byron Bitz
Andrew Peters – Adrian Foster – Bill Thomas

Bryan Allen – Erik Gudbranson
Bryan McCabe – Dimtry Kulikov
Keaton Ellerby – Dennis Wideman

Tomas Vokoun
Tyler Plante

Boston Bruins:

Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Brad Marchand
Jared Knight – Zach Hamill – Shawn Thornton
Jeff LoVecchio – Joe Colborne – Michael Ryder
Lane MacDermid – Jamie Arniel – Kirk MacDonald

Zdeno Chara – Nathan McIver
Mark Stuart – Steve Kampfer
Jeff Penner – Andrew Ference

Nolan Schaefer
Tuukka Rask

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks

10 Reasons To Go To Tonights Panthers vs Bruins Game

September 23, 2010 - By
10 Reasons To Go To Tonights Panthers vs Bruins Game

Tonight is the NHL preseason game between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins at Blue Cross Arena and if you’re still undecided about going, I thought I’d share some reasons to go.  If you decide you want tickets, call the Amerks office at (585) 454-5335.  Ticket prices?  Yea, you can see those here.

10. It’s hockey!!!!  After a long summer of dealing with other sports where people run around on the grass we finally have the return of the greatest sport on earth.

9. Dimtry Kulikov and Erik Gudbranson.  These two will likely anchor the Florida Panthers defense for many years to come.  It’s still unknown whether Gudbranson will stay in the NHL this season but if not he’ll be back next year.  You don’t care about Panthers players you say?  I understand that.  I’m sure many people said the same thing years ago when Ovechkin played in Rochester for the Capitals but today would love to see him play.  As a hockey fan it’s great to get the chance to see players who bypassed the AHL completely.

8. The return of Andrew Peters and potential for a great preseason hockey fight.  Peters is working hard to try and [...]Read More

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Heres Hoping for an Andrew Peters Fight

September 22, 2010 - By
Heres Hoping for an Andrew Peters Fight

Thursday night will be the first game for Andrew Peters in a Florida Panthers uniform and I’ll come right out and say here’s hoping to see him headline a fight at center ice.  There’s no question that Peters is working to earn a full time with the Panthers and one way he’ll need to do that is to show his skills, both pugilistic and with the puck.  Being a fan of hockey fights, Thursday night against the Boston Bruins is his perfect opportunity!

Andrew Peters played three seasons with the Rochester Americans followed by five with the Buffalo Sabres, he’s someone that fans are familiar with in Western New York.  In the 2001-2002 season he compiled an impressive 388 penalty minutes in an Amerks uniform.

Three possible options for Peters would be Milan Lucic, Brian McGrattan and Shawn Thornton.  McGrattan played on Wednesday night for the Bruins so it’s possible that Thornton and Lucic could be in the lineup Thursday night.

Some real hockey talk later…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZhp5wFlxe4

The batteries are charged and camera is ready to go, don’t let us down Andrew Peters!

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

Evgeny Dadonov is Staying in North America

September 21, 2010 - By
Evgeny Dadonov is Staying in North America

Over the summer of 2010 a news article was published somewhere out of Russia where Evgeny Dadonov was quoted as saying if he didn’t play in the NHL that he was going to play in the KHL instead.  Well, turns out that’s incorrect and he’ll stay in North America to play this season.  Whether it’s with the Florida Panthers or Rochester Americans is yet to be seen.

George Richards of the Miami Herald wrote tonight about Dadonov:

“They were asking me what I was going to do,” Dadonov said. “All I said was ‘maybe Florida sends me back to Russia.’ It’s not my option. Whatever Florida tells me to do, I’ll do. They say go back to Rochester, that’s where I’ll go. I’d like to be in Florida. I think I’m ready to play in the NHL, but as a forward, I have to score.”

and…

“He’s in that big mix and one thing he has is skill,” said DeBoer. “He has a dynamic element to his game and I give him a lot of credit. He wasn’t the best conditioned guy last year, but he’s lost a lot of [...]Read More

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Panthers Rookies Blanked by the Predators

September 16, 2010 - By

In the first game of the season the Florida Panthers rookies were blanked 5-0 by the Nashville Predators rookies.  Chuck Weber had bench duties as coach and in a post game interview he talked about Evgeny Dadonov being a dominant forward in the 2nd period.  Hearing him talk about “breakdowns defensively” though brings back nightmares of last season for the Amerks.

Here’s another quote that brings back more bad memories from the Sun-Sentinel:

“At the end we played a lot better but we got to play the full 60 minutes,” said Rochester coach Chuck Weber, who was standing in for coach Pete DeBoer.

Just have to remember, it’s only the first game and it’s only a rookie game.  hmm.. the Predators rookies played too and seemed to dominate.

Here’s the post game interview with Chuck Weber..

http://video.panthers.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=724&id=75372

Can’t really find anything else too exciting to write about or reference.  They play again on Thursday and hopefully Jacob Markstrom gets the start and we get to read about him in action.

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Report about Screaming Matches between Ballard and DeBoer

September 15, 2010 - By

The hockey season has started with rookies everywhere battling for NHL training camp invites and it also means time for reports of troubles from seasons gone by.

The current news is a report out of Vancouver about screaming matches between Keith Ballard and coach Pete DeBoer which ultimately led to his trade.  In something that Amerks fans may find interesting is Ballard saying that DeBoer treats players like they’re in juniors still.  Hmm.. sounds like complaints about former coach Benoit Groulx.

Here’s more from Litter Box Cats

Tags: Categories: Amerks

Carl Hudson Signs with Panthers, Will Help Amerks Defense

July 9, 2010 - By
Carl Hudson Signs with Panthers, Will Help Amerks Defense

It’s the ninth day of free agency in hockey and although some of the top free agents have signed elsewhere, the news that the Florida Panthers signed defenseman Carl Hudson to an entry level contract is great news.  There’s still a need for a veteran defenseman, but I’ll take the news for the day.  Hudson was one of the bright spots on the Rochester Americans defense at the tail end of the 09/10 season and into the playoffs.

In his last season at Canisius College, Hudson had 14 goals and 20 assists in 35 games.  In the 12 games he played for the Amerks he only had one assist but the stats don’t tell the whole story.  Hudson played a physical defensive game, something some of the other players failed to do.  Hudson will help fill the role of a physical defenseman, something returning players Keaton Ellerby, Jordan Henry and Michael Caruso aren’t exactly known for.

In his first professional game he dropped the gloves with  Andre Deveaux of the Toronto Marlies.  He didn’t exactly win the fight, but he stepped up to show he wasn’t going to be pushed around and would stand up for himself.

The fact that [...]Read More

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