Inside The Penalty Box 11.19.07: Same Old Story In Florida
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 11.19.2007
Every year, the Florida Panthers have the potential to improve. And every year, they fall by the wayside. This season has been no different. In this edition of Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein discusses the team that he believed prior to the season would be a contender, but is no longer being fooled.
he Anaheim Ducks' goaltending situation was too cluttered. Three NHL-caliber goalies in one system that includes a specific No. 1 just wasn't going to work. One goalie needed to be moved. The only logical choice was Ilya Bryzgalov.
On Friday, the Ducks placed Bryzgalov on the waiver wire. General manager Brian Burke attempted to deal the team's backup up until that point. But with no deal in place, the team elected to set Bryzgalov free for absolutely nothing. With so many teams in need of help in net, it took little time for a team to claim him.
The Phoenix Coyotes, chock full of underachievers between the pipes, picked up Bryzgalov on Saturday morning. Less than four hours after being informed of his new home, he started against the Los Angeles Kings. Bryzgalov scored a 1-0 shutout victory in his debut in the desert. With the 28-save performance, Bryzgalov places himself well ahead of Alexander Auld and Mikael Tellqvist for the starting job in Phoenix.
This is a move I don't particularly understand from the Ducks' perspective. Johan Hiller will now move in as Jean-Sebastien Giguere's primary backup – a position on the team he's more than capable of filling. But I find it very difficult to believe that there was absolutely no market out there for Bryzgalov, or that it was a necessity to let him go now instead of deal him closer to the trade deadline when his value would absolutely increase. With so many teams in need of goaltending, such as Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and even Calgary at backup, the Ducks should have been able to pull something in for Bryzgalov.
Instead, Burke bid him adieu just to clear up some cap space. It's not even a lot of cap space being cleared, as Bryzgalov's salary on the season is a mere $1.36 million.
Bryzgalov always had No. 1 goalie potential. Two years ago, he had 10 wins, a 2.51 goals against average (GAA) and a .910 save percentage (SV%) in 31 games played. In 11 playoff games, he was 6-4 with a 1.45 GAA. .944 SV% and three shutouts. Last season, he was 10-8-6 in the regular season and went 3-1 in five postseason contests on the Stanley Cup winning Ducks. Bryzgalov started this season as the starter with Giguere on the injured reserve list, and he went 2-3-1 in nine total games with a 2.55 GAA and .909 SV%. The talent is there.
He just sat in the same spot Martin Gerber did before him – a goaltender capable of being a No. 1 anywhere else but couldn't do it in Anaheim because of Giguere. Gerber left the Ducks and since found success both in Carolina and Ottawa. In that sense, Bryzgalov was being held down and would likely have left the team during the summer when he's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. That's why I don't doubt it was the right move to deal Bryzgalov this season.
Burke still could have held out a bit, though, and waited for a bigger market to develop for Bryzgalov, especially since the money coming off Anaheim's payroll is really not that much. I guarantee teams would have come calling. The Ducks just let go of a valuable trade commodity for absolutely nothing, something I can't believe happened under the direction of Burke.
Regardless, Anaheim's loss is Phoenix' gain. This move isn't going to make the Coyotes a playoff team by any means and they will still finish dead last in the Pacific Division. But it will help them immensely on defense. They are 27th in the league in GAA (3.28) and have not seen solid production from any of their netminders, be it David Aebischer, Auld or Tellqvist. Apparently, all three of those players are capable backups, but cannot handle the starting duties. Though based entirely on one performance, Bryzgalov leaps above all of them and should see the most starts out of the remaining games this season. He will give the Coyotes more reliable starts.
Unfortunately, he won't be enough since the team needs some consistency in front of him. Just as importantly, the Coyotes need more offense, as well. The rank 29th in goals (42) and have few threats behind Shane Doan. This is a team that needs help all over the place, and Bryzgalov's addition with certainly help. But it's not enough and it's only one of many steps necessary to create a successful franchise under Wayne Gretzky.
Same Old Story In Miami
New Goalie And Player Group Not Producing Different Results
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
Tomas Vokoun's acquisition isn't enough to improve the Panthers.
I have to admit that I was a bit foolish prior to the season. I actually fell into the trap that many by now have learned to avoid. Years and years of believing that the maturity of young players would finally pay off, just to have it not, turned people off to the belief that they are contenders. I thought this year, with a few key offseason additions, would be different. Alas, I was wrong.
The Florida Panthers are the same joke of a team that they have been for at least the past six seasons. They currently sit fourth in the Southeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference with 17 points. It's just the same old story with a team full of promise that is not as good as it's capable of being.
Right now, Florida is mediocre on both sides of the puck. Offensively, they rank 25th in the NHL with 2.37 goals per game in 21 contests – the most games any team as played thus far this season. The club has very few offensive forces that are actually showing up.
Olli Jokinen leads the charge with nine goals and 21 points. He is perhaps the only productive player on the offensive side of the puck this year. Even Jokinen has slipped a bit, though. He's still around a point a game player. But he has zero game-winning goals through 21 games despite having 17 over the last two seasons and 35 throughout his career.
Stephen Weiss has been a good setup man with 11 assists. Last year was a career one for Weiss with 20 goals, 28 assists and 21 power play points. This season, he will likely end up with 10 or less goals. But he could set a new personal best in helpers, as he's on pace for 42. If Weiss can finish the season with 50 or more points, he'd be doing his job. Right now, he can do that.
I think offseason pickup Richard Zednik has provided some good offense for the Panthers, too. He's not supposed to be a superstar for Florida. He was signed for two years at $3.25 million over the offseason because he's a decent source of secondary scoring. Having scored seven goals and nine points in 17 games, I'd say he's holding up his end of the bargain. He will likely end this season as a 35-40-point scorer. It's not amazing, but I think he's doing his job.
To me, that's where the optimism on offense ends.
My biggest issue is with Nathan Horton. Horton is supposed to be a top source of offensive production for the Panthers. He was drafted third overall in 2003 and gradually improved in his first three seasons in the NHL. Last season, he put up career numbers in goals (31), assists (31), points (62), power play points (13) and game-winning scores (three.) For his third year in the NHL, that's pretty darn good. But coming into his fourth year, I'd be willing to garner there was an expectation for even more improvement. Right now, with seven goals and eight assists, he's on pace to actually finish with four less points than last season. He's still the Panthers' second leading scorer behind Jokinen. But it has to be disappointing that a man capable of being so much better is actually on pace to finish with less points than he had last season. Though he is a power forward, he might be a bit more successful putting pucks in the net and setting up some plays if he weren't on pace to sit in the penalty box 136 minutes. Maybe I'm being too harsh on Horton. I just think as the Panthers' No. 2 scoring threat, he should be better than a 60-point a season player.
Jay Bouwmeester is also disappointing. He had an amazing year last season. Not only did he finished with a plus-23 rating, but he also scored 12 goals and notched 42 points in 82 games. This year, he has two goals and four assists, as well as a minus-3 rating. He may actually finish this season not only drastically worse in the defensive department, but almost half as good as he was last year on offense. Bouwmeester seems to be a big question mark in this league. He needs to be the guy to lead the Panthers' defensive core. But his play can be suspect enough sometimes that it's hard to really look at him as a model for the rest of the teams' defenseman. He has all the talent in the world, but he needs to really apply that every game of every season. I think consistency is a big issue for him. He can play a ton of minutes, but can he be a constant presence?
Jozef Stumpel (11 points), Radek Dvorak (four points), Mike Van Ryn (two points) and the now-IR ridden Brett McLean (two points) could also afford to step up their production.
Florida's bigger issue, however, comes on defense.
This team has gone through a big transformation in net. Just two years ago, Roberto Luongo was suiting up in a Panthers jersey. Last year, it was Ed Belfour and Alexander Auld. This season, Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson get the nod. No matter who's in net, though, the defense just doesn't show up for Florida.
When Vokoun was acquired from Nashville over the summer, he was supposed to fill in where Luongo left off. Luongo was always the most talented goalie in the NHL on a team that just couldn't win. Vokoun's talent is not up to par with Luongo, but he's still one of the best in the NHL. Unfortunately, in 18 starts, he's 8-10 with a .908 save percentage and 2.95 goals against average.
Like the rest of the team, Vokoun struggles with inconsistency. One game he can be amazing by allowing only one goal, then he allows four or five in the next. And without a consistent offense in front of him, he cannot win games like that.
As a team, the Panthers are tied for 25th in the league in goals against (62.) That can't all be blamed on Vokoun. After all, when Luongo was in town, it couldn't all be blamed on him. The team has not changed at all since he was with the Panthers.
Only five players have a positive plus/minus rating, with Weiss leading the team at plus-4. Most of Florida's defenseman, including Branislav Mezei (-7), Cory Murphy (-4) Ruslan Salei (-3), Bouwmeester (-3) and Van Ryn (-2) are in the negatives. They need to give Vokoun more support, especially when goals aren't being scored like they should be from this team.
Florida needs to put forth more of a team effort. It's the same old story with this team. General manager and head coach Jacques Martin is convinced that the answer to this team's problems are within the organization. If he really believes the team has the potential to work out of its rut without making moves, he better start pulling it out of them now. I am no longer a believer that this team is a contender.
Send all comments, questions, suggestions and telephone numbers from the ladies to br7qbsteelers@yahoo.com.
Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!
he Anaheim Ducks' goaltending situation was too cluttered. Three NHL-caliber goalies in one system that includes a specific No. 1 just wasn't going to work. One goalie needed to be moved. The only logical choice was Ilya Bryzgalov.
