Ten Years of Failure; Florida Panthers Need Guidance

It was not long ago when the Florida Panthers organization was the model expansion franchise for the NHL. They had a first-class foundation for success during their inaugural season. General Manager Bill “Bowtie” Torrey helped build the New York Islanders dynasty team of the early 1980’s, and was given the opportunity of building the Panthers from infancy. Torrey and his staff obtained several key players who had vital roles in the team’s early success.

Those players included John Vanbiesbrouck, Scott Mellanby, Brian Skrudland, Tom Fitzgerald and Bill Lindsay.

Three years later, during the 1995-96 season the Panthers were the Cinderella story of the playoffs, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in just three seasons of existence. Florida won series they were not favored to win including victories over Ray Bourque and the Boston Bruins, Eric Lindros and the #1 seed Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins duo of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.


They were eventually swept by 2006 Hall-of-Fame inductee Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche, this was a pivotal point in history for the Florida Panthers franchise that set off a chain reaction of events that left the team in the state they are today.

The Panthers never returned to the kind of success they had early on. In fact Florida has only qualified for the playoffs twice (96-97 and 99-00) in the 14 years it has been since advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.

They have been plagued by mismanagement from top to bottom regardless of who is in charge. This began during the 1997-98 season as then owner Wayne Huizenga tried to make the franchise more attractive to potential buyers by cutting costs. This process included questionable transactions, poor player development, and the undermining of hockey executives by non-hockey personnel.


The inability to attract a stable ownership group interested in success on and off the ice has been a major problem in the last decade. Poor ownership decisions included handing the reins of General Manager over to the likes of Bryan Murray (who was given credit for the 96 playoff run), followed by Chuck Fletcher, Rick Dudley, and finally Mike Keenan. Each GM made questionable trades and free agent signings that made it impossible to actually rebuild the roster after each respective party parted ways with the organization.


One of the worst trades happened in the 1997-98 season as the Panthers made a trade for a former first round pick of the San Jose Sharks named Viktor Kozlov. In exchange for Kozlov the Panthers sent Dave Lowry and a first round selection in the 1998 draft to the Sharks, the pick was later traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning and they selected their future Captain and 50-goal scorer Vincent Lecavalier. Kozlov’s most productive season was during 1999-00 campaign as he was line-mates with Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner Pavel Bure. Kozlov still only managed to score 17 goals and while adding 53 assists during that season.


Couple poor trades with boneheaded free agent signings such as Esa Tikkanen’s retirement contract and Ray Sheppard’s second go-round as a Panther and league circles begin to take notice.


The Panthers have missed badly during the draft in the past ten seasons. Using first round selections on players like Marcus Neilson, Denis Shvidki, Petr Taticek, Anthony Stewart, and Kenndal McArdle. When they did select players who with the ability to play major minutes like Jay Bouwmeester they bolt for free agency when they have the opportunity.

With this season much like ones of seasons of past, the Florida Panthers have the third overall selection in 2010 NHL Draft. The front office did a better job last season in the selection process taking defenseman Dmitri Kulikov. He appeared in 68 games during his rookie season scoring three goals and 13 assists. The Panthers needs to make sure they don’t rush players into service too soon, or they could potentially stunt that prospects growth as many of the Florida players have had done to them in the past.

Here's to hopes of a better next season and improved management of players.