Welcome to the first edition of Monday Mania, a new feature we will have every Monday morning for you this season on The Sunshine Skate. We will have a collection of short thoughts and links from the past week, and a preview of the week ahead. It is also the new home of the Hat Trick, which will now be a weekly feature here, rather than be part of the Pre-Game Skate. Now, without further adieu, let us get started.
Links and Bulletins
• Jameson Olive with a rundown and quotes on Saturday night’s disappointing Pre-Season finale loss against Tampa Bay. [Olive Hockey]
• Kevin Allen of USA Today with short article on Jaromir Jagr and the effect he’s having on the Panthers youth. [USA Today]
• There are host of other articles out there as well on this subject. Its apparent that Jagr has already made an impression on his young teammates based on last season. I personally am very amused by what looks like Jagr’s “Make Hockey More Awesome” mission, in which he goes from young team to young team, dispensing knowledge to young players, and helping to turn them into league powers. I certainly am appreciative of the increased level of play.
• Panthers prospect Jayce Hawryluk had a big Saturday night for the Brandon Wheat Kings, notching 4 goals and 1 assist, including a natural 1st period hat trick, to help rout the Regina Pats 6-0. [Brandon Wheat Kings]
• Also, looks like Colin Stevens will be heading to the ECHL:
#FlaPanthers prospect G Colin Stevens has been assigned by @PortlandPirates to @MonarchsHockey. #ECHL #AHL
— Chris Roy 🇺🇦 🏳️🌈 (@ChrisRoy78) October 4, 2015
• Last of all, a big welcome back to Bill Lindsay, who will be broadcasting home games on radio along side new play-by-play announcer Doug Plagens (who we interviewed the other week, in case you missed it). It was sad to see Bill leave the TV booth a couple months ago, but its great to see that he has quickly returned to the fold.
The Week Ahead
We have just one game in store for you this week and that is the season opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
10/10/15 – Philadelphia Flyers @ Florida Panthers (Season/Home Opener)
The Flyers will open their season two days prior on October 8th in Tampa, so we will be able to get one viewing of the Flyers prior to Saturday’s game. The Flyers are opening their season with two games in the Sunshine State, before heading home to complete a home-and-home series with the Panthers on October 12. The most recently closed their Pre-Season schedule with a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils.
More to come later this week in the Pre-Game Skate.
The Hat Trick
Hey, At Least It Didn’t Count, Right?: The end of the Panthers’ final Pre-Season tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning was about as bad as you could imagine. Giving up three goals inside the last six minutes of the third period is enough to drive anyone batty. Yet, the game didn’t count, so its not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s important to not let the gloom overshadow the good things we saw through the first 54 minutes of that game.
The Panthers looked faster than last year. The power play, even when not scoring, looked more assertive and confident. The fourth line of Quinton Howden, Derek MacKenzie, and Connor Brickley was awesome. Erik Gudbranson stepped up on offense a little more than usual. The meltdown wasn’t a lot of fun, that’s for sure, but this hiccup shouldn’t temper your excitement for the coming season.
Bricklayer: Connor Brickley has been a treat to watch during Training Camp. The young Massachusetts native turned in four unremarkable seasons at University of Vermont following his draft year in 2010. However, something has clicked with Brickley since he turned pro following his senior season in the spring of 2014. He has scored 49 points (23 goals, 26 assists) in 81 games at the AHL level, and his strong showing in Camp suggests it may not have just been a one year outlier.
He notched 2 goals in 4 games in the Pre-Season. He put up strong possession numbers in both of his games against Tampa as well. It’s also worthy to note that his best success came when put in a fourth line role with Derek MacKenzie at center. This was the setup in both Tampa games and the latter part of the Panthers road game against the Dallas Stars. It’s such a small sample size and the Dallas game was not as sharp as the Tampa games were, but the idea of that fourth line with Brickley on it is tantalizing.
Their opening goal against Tampa on Saturday night was a testament as to what they could contribute to the Panthers this season. They attacked the Lightning defenders with speed and ferocity, the likes of which we did not see last season. It was disorienting even for me to watch and I was in the upper bowl, I can only imagine how hectic it was on the ice. It was that kind of flash the Panthers lacked last year, and it is something they will need if they are to, indeed, take the next step.
Final cuts are to be made today, so we will soon find out who has and has not made the Panthers. We hope Brickley is among those who make it.
Expectations: I just have to say that it is great to have the regular season upon us once again. With that said, this season is different from the most recent seasons for one reason: expectations. This year, its not good enough to give it a good try, and simply put a scare in a few teams or even ruin someone one’s season (Hello Boston!). It is playoffs or bust, at a minimum. I must admit that I, a person who very much seeks to temper expectations, find myself expecting even more. I expect the Panthers to not just make the playoffs, in my mind, but also win their first round series, no matter who it is against. This may seem a little nuts at face value, but hear me out.
First off, my reasoning is part philosophy. If the expectation is to simply challenge for a playoff spot, then just making the playoffs is acceptable, you win no matter what happens. On the flipside, I don’t feel like that is the case when expecting a team to make the playoffs. If making it in is the expectation, then just it in is not acceptable to just get there, noise must be made. That’s like a friend promising to get you ice cream, and then simply dropping you off at the ice cream parlor before driving away. It’s no good.
Secondly, I don’t think it will be entirely unreasonable to expect the Panthers to be good enough. Think about what would need to go into an improved Panthers season. Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov producing like they did the last half of 2014-15 during all of 2015-16 with Jagr by their side. A healthy Nick Bjugstad modestly improving on the respectable numbers he put up his first two seasons. A full season of Brandon Pirri snipes along side Bjugstad and one-time 50 point scorer Reilly Smith. The above mentioned fourth line could be a vast improvement on last year’s edition.
The Panthers had a goal differential of -17 last season. Given all of the above, it wouldn’t be out of the question to not only find those 17 goals, but exceed that mark. Barkov and Huberdeau playing strongly with confidence for a whole season could net each player an extra 10-20 points, and the team about as many goals. Modest improvements for Nick Bjugstad and Brandon Pirri could pot a few more goals for the team. Finally, as pointed out last week by The Sunshine Skate’s own Kris M., last year Tomas Kopecky and Shawn Thornton combined for 13 points. No matter who ends up on this year’s 4th line, it would not be at all unreasonable to expect to see this edition handedly outscore last year’s, adding even more goals. On top of that, Reilly Smith could reasonably put up just as many points as Brad Boyes, the biggest loss to the Panthers offense this summer.
Considering all of the above, would it be at all shocking to see the Panthers, in total, add 25-30 goals to their total this year? I don’t think so. I don’t see the team faltering much defensively either, so I don’t think too many goals would be lost that way. Either way, isn’t it great to speculate about this, instead of how deep the Panthers draft position will be at the end of the season?
Make sure to tune in next week for another edition of Monday Mania!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
