If You're Not On The Florida Panthers Bandwagon By Now, I Don't Know What To Tell You
After last night’s 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers, the Florida Panthers have now won 12 games in a row. 12 straight. They haven’t lost since bowing to the B’s 3-1 back on December 12th. Since then they’ve racked up 24 out of a possible 24 points, haven taken control of the Atlantic division and are in 2nd place in the East only behind the Caps. Leading the charge is a 43-year-old Jaromir Jagr who has 15 goals on the season. Keep in mind that there are coaches in the league (Mike Yeo in Minnesota) who are younger than Jags. He could be the father of over half the Panthers’ roster and with how much this guy slays on the regular, it wouldn’t be all too surprising if he actually has fathered one of these youngsters in Sunrise. Then you have 36-year-old Roberto Luongo in his 2nd stint in Florida who is top 5 in the league right now in save percentage (.931) and with a GAA of just over 2.
And then you have a shit ton of young talent making up the core of this team and that’s the scariest part about the Florida Panthers. Aleksander Barkov is only 20 years old. Jonathan Huberdeau is only 22 years old. Aaron Ekblad, who will most certainly become a Norris candidate type of player within just a few years, is only 19 years old right now. They’re a young team, for sure, but Dale Tallon has surrounded this kids with a bunch of guys in that lokcer room who have been there before. He brought in guys like Dave Bolland and Willie Mitchell and Jagr and hell, even Shawn Thornton. All guys who have won Stanley Cups before and know what it takes. You mix in their experience with a group of top young talent like the Panthers have and it’s no wonder why this team is finally clicking.
And obviously what sets this team apart from the other teams in the East is that you actually want to see them do well. The Capitals are the villains of the NHL. They’re led by a Russian communist captain (though I’ll admit that I’m starting to hate him less as the days go by). They employ that scumbag Tom Wilson and who actually wants to see Nate happy? Unless you’re a Caps fan, you openly root for the Capitals to choke as they are always one to do. And then Boston hates Montreal enough for the rest of us but I’m firmly content with keeping the Stanley Cup out of CanadiAn possession for as long as possible. A Canadian team hasn’t won since Montreal in ’93 and I’d really appreciate keeping that going for as long as possible. But the Panthers? Well I guess they’re Cinderella right now. And even though I’m not much of a gambling man, not only can you have a lot of fun watching this team succeed but you can also get really rich off of them as well. As our boy Chief can attest, the Panthers are still getting looked over by Vegas considering they’re a hockey team playing in Sunrise, Florida. People still aren’t taking them seriously yet and that means that you can get and get rich quick by throwing a paycheck on the Panthers. (Disclaimer: I’d probably hold off on betting the next Panthers game because they’ll obviously lose that after I write this blog mushing them to death today).
They aren’t exactly a phenomenal team as far as fancy stats are concerned (they’re good, just not great) and obviously the streak is going to come to an end at some point and they’ll come back down to reality a little. But the Florida Panthers have turned themselves into a playoff team. And with the right type of pick up at the deadline, I don’t see why they can’t win a series in the playoffs. Then they probably end up running into the Montreal Canadiens for a trip to play the Caps in the Eastern Conference Finals and I don’t know how well they’d fair against either of those teams when they’re completely healthy. But there’s something special going on with this Panthers team and it’s time to hop on the bandwagon now if you haven’t already. Because it’s gonna start getting crowded.
#AnotherOne
Side: Love to see the Panthers sticking up for one another out there. It’s not a characteristic that is exclusive to hockey, but you see the “team” aspect come out more in this sport than any other. If you’re gonna try to murder the future face of the franchise with a shitty hit into the boards, well then you’re gonna have to catch a few fists yourself.
Nick Bjugstad also stepped in and fought for one of his teammates last night. Unfortunately for him, however, he ended up donating a bunch of blood in the process.