AccuScore Prediction: Panthers(!) 2.6 over Rangers' 2.4

Now I'm worried. Take cover, bring in the kids, lock the doors. Even after the loss of Nathan Horton, the Cats are projected to outscore the Rangahs, according to AccuScore. Must be the addition of center Nick Tarnasky that puts 'em over the top.

By the way, so far, Tarnasky should be playing tonight, and it will be fascinating to see where he's placed. Rumor has it that C Shawn Matthias is going to be called up. Horton is out, as are Richard Zednik and Cory Stillman. Question: Outside of David Booth (11G), does that troika represent all of Florida's hopes?

New York is seeking their third consecutive win, while Florida (4-3-1 in the past eight) looks to, well, get points any way they can. It's that desperate.

One of the finest Rangers-themed sites on the net, Scotty Hockey is the only place to go for coverage of the New York side of the ice.

Game Day! Prepping for our favorite opponent

Pipe down, Carolina fans...I haven't trudged out the tired Hartford references, or "Diver Down" flags, nor would I stoop so low as to mention last night's performance at home against Nashville. Need to turn things around for your club? Having a tough stretch? You've come to the right place. I've already bitten off what was left of my fingernails so I won't have to during the third period.

Not really news to anyone, but ex-Cane Cory Stillman remains out for at least another week with concussion stuff. That shouldn't be a problem since the rest of the roster has really picked up their offensive play in his absence. Then again he hadn't scored in six games, so it's a moot point. The evil plan is coming together.

A couple of great Hurricanes'-related sites to check out before the game: CanesCountry and Carolina on Ice.

AccuScore Prediction: Devils 3, Cats 2.5

A day off proves to be the only relief Florida will see over the next little while, as the Panthers stare at 3 games in 4 nights, leading off by facing the Devils in lovely Newark, NJ.

AccuScore has the Dev's (I really don't like that term for some reason) up by half a goal over the Cats, who have won three of the past four.

Cory Stillman - Florida's resident offensive "juggernaut" - remains out with concussion symptoms, or an "upper-body" injury in league-speak.

Back to television with this game!

AccuScore Prediction: Bolts, 2.4 to 2.1

The Lightning are obviously an improved club versus the first several games of the season, so no surprise here. However, Cory Stillman wasn't included in the stats, but evidently will play, so we've got that on our side, among little else.

The outrage is thus: a 24.6% chance of a fight? This must change. I'm not going all the way to Sunrise - on a school night - for handshakes and loveletters from our cross-state rival. And on that note, this is barely a rivalry. Let's get some emotion and blood and crosschecks and Belak in there.

Oscar Goldman Sucks: Stillman Out. Yes, the Entire Road Trip.

Cobbled this together just now, after Puck Daddy referenced On Frozen Pond, but here's the word: Cory Stillman will not play during the West Coast trip, due to the "face" injury he sustained in the first period of that laugher in Atlanta.

This is not welcome news. For a club straining to score goals, the loss of a guy like Stillman is a major-league jones.

Perhaps we can turn to our All-Star candidates to carry the mail through these difficult times.

Stillman Rebuilt, Ready for Action

Cory Stillman, who left the Panthers' last game early in the first period due to a "face" injury, appears to be on the mend and will at this point be in the lineup Thursday in Los Angeles.

It cannot be stressed or exaggerated how important his inclusion to the roster is. With scoring at an absolute minimum (read: sorrrrry) the Cats will need whatever they can get. Is it time yet to go after another scorer? Have the kids been given enough time? Could I do JM's job better than he? Does anyone remember this?:

Stillman Out With "Face" Injury

As if Florida's scoring wasn't extinguished with him in the lineup, forward Cory Stillman has what's been termed a "face" injury. Not "facial injury". "Face injury". I guess that would count as an "upper-body" malady. Some stitches, couple of teeth...you know the drill. He's a hockey player...he'll be back soon.

Panther Rant: Is NHL Biased...in naming Three-Stars of the Night?

Ok...here's my small-market nitpick of the day. Was doing the usual morning routine, reading all the typical sites, gathering info, and wound up at NHL.com. As I've mentioned previously, the official NHL site was never a favorite of mine, but their constant upgrades and video access has kept me going back. I still prefer to get news and opinion from other sources. The NHL's not going to be all that upfront about their issues (what issues?). However, I do enjoy checking out their Three Stars of the Night following Panther games, in the event one of the Cats may have performed above and beyond the rest of the league. Certainly wasn't likely the past few seasons, but whatever.

The NHL's Three Stars of the Night are as follows:

Mike Richards (PHI): 0G, 4A, 4P, beat New Jersey in a 6-3 blowout (NJD: 5-1-0 entering the night)

Marian Hossa (DET): 2G, 1A, 3P, GWG, beat Atlanta 5-3 (ATL: 2-2-2, and his ex-club)

Nik Zherdev (NYR): 1G, 2A, 3P, beat Columbus 3-1 (CBJ: 3-3-0, his ex-club as well)

Solid numbers. But may I note:

Cory Stillman (FLA): 2G, 1A, 3P, GTG, GWG, beat San Jose 4-3 (SJS: 6-1-0 entering the night)

What form of Klingon math must I employ to figure out how the NHL even possibly concluded Hossa (with Detroit, no less) is more deserving of a star than Stillman? And simply forget Zherdev showing up for his one game per season.

I took note of the teams behind the players. In fact, it screams out: Philadelphia, New York (R), and Detroit. Hmm. Rather large markets. As simple as looking over the numbers above, one can't help but see something a bit distressing. The season just began, so the sample size is pretty small, and this may be a fluke, but for the life of me I cannot see the justification in Hossa - or Zherdev - being honored over Stillman. Except in playing up the big towns. And we all know Bettman's Boys play that game.

For the record, our friends at Puck Daddy have awarded their first star to Panthers' goaltender Tomas Vokoun. So maybe this is all moot. I am working on a Saturday, after all.

Post-Game Roundup

Not gonna spend much time gloating over this one. It was certainly not a gimme: 50 shots against T-Vo made this a spectacular evening. BTW: the Cats had 35. Back on the road tonight at St. Louis, 8:30 pm.

Full recap - with video highlights (which I'll include on a daily basis from here on out) over at NHL.com...a sight that continues to impress me with the features they offer. HOWEVER, I've got a beef with them which I'll go into later today.

GR at The Herald checks in with the Miami view of the evening's events. Line of the night, via Vokoun, following his 47-save winning effort: "It was a war." He wasn't kidding.

The Sun-Sentinel had no recap of the game (what...it's a long drive from Lauderdale???), but did weigh in earlier yesterday with an update on The Dueling Bryans, Allen (surgery Monday) and McCabe (skating to resume next week).

More to come...

Quickies: End of Two - Cats up 2-0

Cory Stillman scores his first Panther home-ice goal, on the PP.

Notes: Cats keeping the momentum going with stronger posession play in each zone. Much more fluid and strategic. Isles continue to be frustrated, still taking penalties, hence the Stillman tally. Ballard remains in the running for "Best Bouwmeester Lookalike". Radek Dvorak has had more odd-man rushes than at any point in the last five years of his time in the league. Looks phenomenal, except for the not-scoring part. Still waits too long to shoot. Dubbing him "Dvolesz".
Play has been mostly confined to NY end. Superstar-to-be Kyle Okposo for the Isles has been strong and making his presence known with little support. DP settling down. Vokoun not tested this period. NY opens the third on the PP. Can't imagine where we might be without Bouwmeester. This cannot be over-emphasized.

Who's the Captain? Stillweissllen!

Don't I feel dumb...make a prediction, get burned. Oh well, I pulled for ya, Horts!

Pete DeBoer named three alternate captains today: Cory Stillman, Bryan Allen, and Stephen Weiss. There will be no single player designated to wear the "C", at least for the time being.

No complaints here.

Panthers Name Captain...well, not yet...

Coach Peter DeBoer has this nugget via the Sun-Sentinel:

"We're definitely going to address (the captaincy situation) here in the next 24 hours (translation: Wednesday) and come up with something,"

TLB remains sided with Horton. But Stillman's not bad either. Notice my unapologetic waffling.

Renewed Interest in the "C"

"How to draw Olli Jokinen."

It wasn't me, folks. Go here...

Do the Panthers head into the season minus a captain? The talk of the league seems to be centering on captains.

It appears every member of the Cats has worn an "A" over the past two weeks. When asked my opinion, I honestly had no clue; the possiblities are varied and many. However, I've made up my mind.

Weiss has always been a favorite of the pundits. Stillman's got the hardware. McCabe's been a captain. I've seen it written that Ballard has the goods to make for a successful leader.

But it's Horton's ship. Now is the time to turn it over to him, the defacto head of the party, so to speak. A tremendous commitment has been made by the club to build a team around his presence, and anything less than handing him the keys would be a mistake.

Is there risk involved? Of course. He could revert. His mentor was, after all, the last captain of this club. Bad habits? Uninspired play? All a possibility. But I doubt it. Give the kid a chance.

So, The Litter Box officially endorses Nathan Horton for the captaincy (I'm gonna take a boatload of heat if this experiment doesn't work out...).

On the Glass: Stillman and DeBoer

The acquisition of Cory Stillman, a kind of Public Enemy Number One around these here parts, was a masterstroke by JM the GM. As I've said previously, just getting the guy out of the division was Priority Job Two, behind Priority Job One (hiring the ridiculous Panthers' Energy Squad, of course. Say, whatever happened to that idea?).

Not having to face him a multitude of nights per season is Christmas in October. And November. And so on. For a little more depth on #61, Steve Gorten steps up:

"Of playing with Horton, Stillman said, 'The more we play together, the better we are.' "

Yet another profile of Pete DeBoer, this time a bit higher profile, from the desk of Wes Goldstein at SportsLine:

"I don't want any baggage from the past so when we started (training camp), you could see the guys were excited to be back, excited about our direction and about the changes."

This Hooouse is Freeeakin' Sweeeeeeet.

It would appear that new Cat Cory Stillman has decided on permanent living quarters, according to blockshopper.com.

In other Stillman news, the Panthers forward has lent his head to the producers of a remake of the 70s sci-fi classic, WestWorld.

On the alternate side, former d-man Ruslan Salei has pulled up stakes on his home in the area and left for Colorado.

Couple of days old, but Spector gives his incisive take on the recent Keith Ballard signing.

Captain Stillman? Weiss? Horton? Kirk? Crunch?

We are still seven weeks from the start of the new season, but inevitable speculation on the Cats' vacant captaincy role can't be helped.

The drama of the Jokinen deal has subsided (is it me or was the outcry in the aftermath pretty mellow? What does that say about Olli?) and the time is rapidly approaching when a new leader must(?) be named. There's always the possibility of Coach DeBoer going the rotation route a la Buffalo, or stick with a trio of alternates. I don't believe this will be case. The club needs a figurehead of strength, one man to turn to when the chips are down. Duh.

Jokinen was many things, but he left an aftertaste of, um, less than a full-blown, respected leader. His friendship with Nathan Horton is a not going to help Horton's cause in gaining the captaincy, if he indeed wants it. Several voices in the blogosphere have spoken about giving Nate the "C" in the thought that the team would be "his" and he would expand his role as scorer and all-around bad-ass. I don't agree that he's quite there yet. After following Olli's lead for so long, he's going to need a complete attitude change under a fresh new authority figure.

We'll obviously cover this subject in greater depth as the season draws closer. As for my take on who should be "The Man", I'm kinda warming up about McCabe's potential arrival. Could be an interesting choice for the "C". "A"s to Weiss, Horton, and Stillman, with all due respect to Bryan Allen. Just a thought.

In any case, James Mirtle had great post this morning featuring polls asking who should be captain of each team with the position open. A lot more vacancies than I imagined.

Cats Acquire First-line Center!

Well, not really.

For my inaugural post, I present: Nothing!

It's August 11th, people. Other than standing idly by waiting on His Highness Lord Sundin to decide his fate, there's not much left to ponder. Unless, of course, the highly-anticipated return of Janis Sprukts to the Sunrise clan gets your goat. Playoffs, here we come!

• The Gretzky Trade 20th Anniversary Extravaganza has come and gone (though admittedly, I was intrigued by the prospect of his going to Detroit).



• The - real - Olympic Games are only a year and a half away...and on this continent, no less. Hats off to watching AHL-calibre hockey on NBC with an easy to digest three-hour time difference for those of us on the only coast that matters to western civilization.

• Anyone else really jonesing for a reprise of those completely awesome Checkers hamburger commercials featuring Rap Cat? Based on the Panthers' performance from that season, RC was 50% of the fun in watching the telecasts. Two out of three hockey-loathing roommates would agree.



• For the record, I am ecstatic about the hiring of Peter DeBoer.



• The Cory (a GREAT name, BTW) Stillman pickup was addition by, well, addition. Just getting him out of the hands of the Carolinas and Tampas of the world improves our point total by six. The guy killed us. Even if he only nets 8 goals, we have prevented an equal number from going the other way. In the division.



• Speaking of Tampa Bay: