Dan Spiegel: Punched In The Gut

Suck it up and move on! You only have to get one point. Been here many times before with the Preds. Be greatful for where you are, you could be in 9th place having to win out just to get in.

Better to be chased than the one doing the chasing.....

Good luck against the Caps!

Suck it up and move on! You only have to get one point. Been here many times before with the Preds. Be greatful for where you are, you could be in 9th place having to win out just to get in.

Better to be chased than the one doing the chasing.....

Good luck against the Caps!
- gibson98

Lol. Suck it up? You are likely not privy to Panther history and the pain that comes with it. At least your team knows what the postseason feels like, and Trotz has provided stability Florida has only dreamed of. If there is any organization that could blow this, it is this one. However, this is not the Mike Keenan/Jacques Martin Florida Panthers. They are clearly moving in the right direction, and I still have faith. However it is what it is: unclinched and up in the air.

hey, do us a solid and beat the caps in regulation today, okay?

thanks,

SabreNation

Lol. Suck it up? You are likely not privy to Panther history and the pain that comes with it. At least your team knows what the postseason feels like, and Trotz has provided stability Florida has only dreamed of. If there is any organization that could blow this, it is this one. However, this is not the Mike Keenan/Jacques Martin Florida Panthers. They are clearly moving in the right direction, and I still have faith. However it is what it is: unclinched and up in the air.
- spiegs13

1 point to get against WAS and CAR. I'd drop a large bet to say you'll qualify. History be damned, this is an entirely different team with new management. You'll get there. What you do against NJ is a different story but one step at a time.

I am extremely frustrated, its going to be an angry day.

I didn't think we'd be in contention for a playoff spot this season, its so early in the rebuild, but now they got me hoping and this just hurts....

Go CATS! Would love to see a Bs v Panthers matchup in round 2 so Im pullin for ya

Last night's game was played by the Panthers I've known for years... they need to shake the Martin/Keenan bad ju-ju tho..

"Yes, lucky. Something the Panthers cannot seem to find in any situation, which is why they sit where they are. Call that goal the silver lining of a cloud filled with pain."

Not sure I agree with this, I'd say the panthers are pretty damn lucky to be where they are, the two most talented teams in the division had to fall off the edge of a cliff this season for you to pull this off.
On top of that, the loser point is the only thing that has you sitting pretty at 3rd overall, you have the same amount of regulation wins as Tampa and Winnipeg.

Lucky is exactly what this season has been, it should still have taken a couple more years for this team develop enough to be competing for a division title. But don't worry, Huberdeau is a'comin.

Not sure I agree with this, I'd say the panthers are pretty damn lucky to be where they are, the two most talented teams in the division had to fall off the edge of a cliff this season for you to pull this off.
On top of that, the loser point is the only thing that has you sitting pretty at 3rd overall, you have the same amount of regulation wins as Tampa and Winnipeg.

Lucky is exactly what this season has been, it should still have taken a couple more years for this team develop enough to be competing for a division title. But don't worry, Huberdeau is a'comin.
- TommyDeVito

Maybe us getting those loser points is the unlucky part because if we even won half our OT or SO appearances then we would be ahead of Boston for 2nd seed so it can be looked at both ways....and most of the games we got a "loser point" we dominated our opponents and just failed in the SO because of less-talented shooters.

Not sure I agree with this, I'd say the panthers are pretty damn lucky to be where they are, the two most talented teams in the division had to fall off the edge of a cliff this season for you to pull this off.
On top of that, the loser point is the only thing that has you sitting pretty at 3rd overall, you have the same amount of regulation wins as Tampa and Winnipeg.

Lucky is exactly what this season has been, it should still have taken a couple more years for this team develop enough to be competing for a division title. But don't worry, Huberdeau is a'comin.
- TommyDeVito

Only Boston has fewer regulation losses than the Panthers. True the Panthers have been awful in the gimmicky shootout, but before you go spouting off about "more talented teams" "falling off a cliff" maybe take a deeper look at what constitutes talent as well as the most critical aspect of the sport: team play.
I agree that in an all-star skills competition Washington and Tampa have players who could school the Panthers, but all that super skill means nothing if the players don't have heart, can't play as a team, won't play their system, or lack debth as a team. For all Tampa's top talent (and there is obvious super-talent there) they have no defense and goaltending. We didn't need them to fall off a cliff- they were not a team made to compete this season. And for all Washington's high priced, super salary stars, they have shown no heart, no ability to play well as a team, and a lack of defensive debth as well. You might as well be Montreal, with their purchased "star-power."

The Panthers success has nothing to do with more talented teams falling off a cliff. It has everything to do with what makes hockey a great sport: the ability to over-achieve based on grit, hard-work, determination, and chemistry. Rather than being put together to hit the salary cap floor, Dale Talon and Mike Santos carefully signed players to fill very specific roles who they believed would work and play well FOR each other. To be sure, we lack offensive fire-power, but these guys play hard and have become greater than the individual.

THAT is why they are in first in the SE, and the sooner folks stop looking at big names and paper rosters and start respecting the fact that the Panthers TOOK their division lead by earning it, the sooner ridiculous comments like benefiting from other poorly constructed teams falling off cliffs will disappear.

Only Boston has fewer regulation losses than the Panthers. True the Panthers have been awful in the gimmicky shootout, but before you go spouting off about "more talented teams" "falling off a cliff" maybe take a deeper look at what constitutes talent as well as the most critical aspect of the sport: team play.
I agree that in an all-star skills competition Washington and Tampa have players who could school the Panthers, but all that super skill means nothing if the players don't have heart, can't play as a team, won't play their system, or lack debth as a team. For all Tampa's top talent (and there is obvious super-talent there) they have no defense and goaltending. We didn't need them to fall off a cliff- they were not a team made to compete this season. And for all Washington's high priced, super salary stars, they have shown no heart, no ability to play well as a team, and a lack of defensive debth as well. You might as well be Montreal, with their purchased "star-power."

The Panthers success has nothing to do with more talented teams falling off a cliff. It has everything to do with what makes hockey a great sport: the ability to over-achieve based on grit, hard-work, determination, and chemistry. Rather than being put together to hit the salary cap floor, Dale Talon and Mike Santos carefully signed players to fill very specific roles who they believed would work and play well FOR each other. To be sure, we lack offensive fire-power, but these guys play hard and have become greater than the individual.

THAT is why they are in first in the SE, and the sooner folks stop looking at big names and paper rosters and start respecting the fact that the Panthers TOOK their division lead by earning it, the sooner ridiculous comments like benefiting from other poorly constructed teams falling off cliffs will disappear.
- clarkey

Versteeg gets dragged down by a hand and stick around his head, no call. Of course when Semin gets a tiny little tap to the face it gets called. That's why suggestive calling is so (frank)ed in this league.

Versteeg gets dragged down by a hand and stick around his head, no call. Of course when Semin gets a tiny little tap to the face it gets called. That's why suggestive calling is so (frank)ed in this league.
- snipesydangle

It's pretty (frank)ed up after the first they let so many calls go on both sides but with 3 mins left they would call that $hit to kill any chance of a come back bullpoop...