As fans, we are often consumed with evaluating the rosters of our teams and looking into the future for ways to improve the team. We want to understand our teams, find out what makes them tick, and discover solutions for the issues we find, even if it is just for fun. One question, however, comes up less often: “How did we get here?” The answers that follow usually encompass a face value evaluation, the basic facts of how each individual player was acquired. In this three part series, however, we’re going to dig deeper. We will dig all the way down to the deepest roots that have led to the Florida Panthers of today. Just how deep do the roots go?
For that, we will have to go all the way back to very beginning.
Dawn of the Panthers
The roster as we know it today can be traced all the way back to when the Panthers officially opened for business. The date was June 24, 1993, the day of the Expansion Draft. It occurred in a two phase format, with phase one having the Panthers and their expansion cousin, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, selecting 48 players from the other 24 NHL franchises, with a strict limit of 2 players per franchise. The second phase of the Expansion Draft had the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators, the expansion teams who entered the NHL for the 1992-93 season, given the option of selecting players from Anaheim and Florida (1). The second phase would ultimately have a negligible impact on the Panthers, but four players selected that day would have an impact on today’s team: Goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick (#4 Overall), Forward Tom Fitzgerald (#24), Forward Jesse Belanger (#25), and Forward Bill Lindsay (#38).
All four players would make significant contributions to the team in the coming years. Mark Fitzpatrick would provide solid backup to starting goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck. The duo would finish no worse than 6th in the league in goals against during each of their first four seasons of service together. They would also backstop the Panthers in two playoff appearances, including the magical 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Final. Tom Fitzgerald and Bill Lindsay would also contribute to that run. Lindsay himself would be one of four Panthers to score 10 or more points during the run. Jesse Belanger, for his part, would finish Top 2 in Panthers scoring during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
Two days after the expansion draft, on June 26, 1993, the Panthers would pick up two more key players in the transaction tree at the 1993 Entry Draft: Rob Neidermayer (#5 Overall), and Kevin Weekes (#41 Overall).
Niedermayer would have a good eight season run with the Panthers. He made the team as an 18 year old rookie in the Fall of 1993 and had the primary assist on the first goal in Florida Panthers history on October 6, 1993 against the Chicago Blackhawks. He would go on to be part of the 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Final and was second in scoring during the 1995-96 regular season with 61 points (26 goals, 35 assists). He would again finish second in team scoring during the 1998-99 season, tied with Viktor Kozlov at 51 points (18 goals, 33 assists). He is one of nine Panthers players to amass at least 250 points in franchise history. Weekes, on the other hand, did not enjoy a particularly lengthy or illustrious tenure with the Panthers. He would play just 11 games with the Panthers during the 1997-98 season, collecting a forgettable 0-5-1 record, .870 save percentage, and 3.96 GAA, before holding out during the 1998-99 season (2).
The key acquisitions did not stop at just the Expansion and Entry Drafts, they also picked one up in free agency. On August 10, 1993, Jody Hull, a free agent from the Ottawa Senators, signed with the Panthers. Hull is yet another player who would see some time significant time in a Panthers uniform during the coming seasons. He would play 281 games over five seasons for the Panthers, collecting 100 points in that time, and providing another helping hand to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final run.
Just under a year later, the Panthers found themselves with the first overall pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. With that pick the Panthers selected defenseman Ed Jovanovski. He had an explosive rookie season in 1995-96, and quickly rose to prominence as JovoCop. His scoring record for Panthers rookie defensemen stood until Aaron Ekblad broke it this past season and Jovanovski is one of eight Panthers defensemen to score at least 100 points in franchise history.
This group of players represents the first wave of progress towards today’s team. Everything today’s team has become starts with these players.
First Moves
Of course, change eventually happened. Jesse Belanger, a team leading scorer in his first two seasons with the Panthers, found himself sixth in team scoring with 38 points at the 70 game mark of the 1995-96 season on March 19, 1996. On top of that, the acquisitions of Martin Straka on March 15, and Ray Sheppard on March 16th rendered Belanger expendable. He did not play in the two games following their arrival. Naturally, it did not take long for him to be dealt. He was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on March 20 for the modest return of a 3rd Round Pick in the 1996 Entry Draft. The pick, 65th overall, would be used by the Panthers that summer to select 6’5″ Russian forward Oleg Kvasha. The question out of the gate with Kvasha was “want-to”, despite an evident abundance of raw talent (3). His upside would not come to be in his time with the Panthers though, as he would collect just 50 points in 146 games with the franchise.
Flashing forward, the Summer of 1997 brought two more relevant pieces into the fold: prospect Mike Brown was selected 20th overall at the NHL Entry Draft, and veteran forward Dave Gagner would sign as a free agent on July 4, 1997. Prospect Brown would never play a game in a Panthers uniform, but the veteran Gagner would score 62 points in 114 games over the next season and a half for the Panthers, becoming the second leading scorer on the Panthers for the 1997-98 season. However, both players would later be involved in a bigger happening in franchise history.
Season of Change
That 1997-98 season, however, was a turning point in franchise history, just not of the most positive variety. After finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference in each of the previous two seasons, and winning the Eastern Conference Championship in 1996, the Panthers fell apart. Head coach Doug MacLean was fired after a 7-12-4 start to the season, the team went from being a top six defensive team to bottom six defensive team, all while their offensive numbers continued to trail off. As a result, general manager Bryan Murray started to break the team apart.
That brings us to a couple of significant trades. First, it was Jody Hull and Mark Fitzpatrick. They were traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 15, 1998, for defenseman Jeff Norton and forward Dino Ciccarelli. Neither player was long for the Panthers. Norton played 22 games in first stint with the Panthers (he would later play 29 games in 2001-02), and Ciccarelli would play just 42 games before back issues forced him into retirement. However, not before some history was made. Ciccarelli notched his 600th career goal in a game against one of his former teams, the Detroit Red Wings, on February 3, 1998 at Miami Arena. He would finish his career with 608 career goals.
Tom Fitzgerald would too become a statistic to the teardown. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for the rights to Mark Parrish and a 3rd Round Pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft on March 23, 1998. Parrish was a well-thought of prospect, having just scored 54 goals and 92 points for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL that season. It was suggested that he could be a potential 30 goal scorer (4). Parrish would earn a spot on the Panthers the following season, and enjoy a brief two season stint in South Florida, notching 81 points (50 goals, 31 assists) in 154 games.
Rocket Landing
The following season, 1998-99, was a very significant one for the Panthers. For starters, it was their first season playing in Broward County out of the building we now know as BB&T Center.
For our purposes, it starts with Jeff Norton, acquired in Jody Hull/Mark Fitzpatrick trade in the previous season, being sent away to the San Jose Sharks for Alex Hicks and 1999 5th Round Pick on November 11, 1998. Hicks would play just 59 games in a Panthers uniform before heading off to play in Germany, while the 5th round pick would be put to later use. However, this smaller deal would pale in comparison to the hulking blockbuster trade that loomed on the horizon.
The saga began in August 1998. Pavel Bure announced that he had played his last game for the Vancouver Canucks, and was going to hold out. He wasn’t the only hold out either, many other NHLers held out with their teams entering the 1998-99 season, with as many as 130 restricted free agents holding out heading into training camp (5). Though Bure wasn’t a restricted free agent, he didn’t report to training camp in September, the Canucks suspended Bure, and the rumors began to swirl. The Panthers were almost immediately speculated to have interest in the Russian Rocket. General Manager Bryan Murray denied a rumor of a package deal centered around Ed Jovanovski for Bure just prior to training camp (6). The price was thought to be too high for the Panthers though, and teams like the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs were considered the most likely destinations (7)(9). The Panthers explored other options as well, vying for Pittsburgh Penguins hold out Petr Nedved, before eventually being pushed out by the Rangers (8).
Things changed in the new year though. In early January, the Panthers were reported to be one of the frontrunners for Bure (10). Then finally, after months of speculation, the dream became reality on January 17, 1999. Ed Jovanovski, as rumored back in September, was the centerpiece of the Panthers package, sent to Vancouver with Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, hold out Kevin Weekes, and a 2000 1st round pick. In return, the Panthers got Bure, defenseman Bret Hedican, prospect Brad Ference, and a 2000 3rd round pick.
Now the Panthers, a .500 hockey team, had a bonafide superstar for the first time in franchise history. Hope had come to South Florida.
This concludes Part 1 of “Anatomy of the Panthers”. Come back tomorrow for Part 2 as we discuss the rise and fall of the Roberto Luongo & Olli Jokinen era of the Florida Panthers.
AJ can be reached for contact on Twitter.
Sources:
– All stats per Hockey-Reference.com, unless otherwise notated
– All transactions per ProSportsTransactions.com, unless otherwise notated
– (1) “1993 Expansion Draft”, Wikipedia
– (2) Russo, Michael, “Weekes Better Off If He Had Signed Panthers’ Contract”, Sun Sentinel (January 10, 1999)
– (3) Neal, David J., “Panthers’ Kvasha Shows Missing Desire”, Miami Herald (September 10, 1996)
– (4) Russo, Michael, “Panther Trades Will Help a Bit Now, More in Future”, Sun Sentinel (March 29, 1998)
– (5)Russo, Michael, “Widespread Free-Agent Signing Impasse Confounding League”, Sun Sentinel (September 13, 1998)
– (6) Russo, Michael, “New Arena, Young Panthers… Old Results?”, Sun Sentinel (September 6, 1998)
– (7) Russo, Michael, “Worrell Can Withstand Verbal Blows Just as Well”, Sun Sentinel (November 15, 1998)
– (8) Neal, David J., “Nedved to N.Y. – By a Whisker”, Miami Herald (November 26, 1998)
– (9) Russo, Michael, “Panther Cannot Afford Bure”, Sun Sentinel (December 3, 1998)
– (10) Russo, Michael, “Murray Not Saying if the Panthers Will Bid on Bure”, Sun Sentinel (January 3, 1999)
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