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News and notes from Sunrise, FL
The biggest headline of the last week in Panther land revolves around the devastating hit that Philadelphia Flyer Mike Richards put on David Booth of the Panthers. Booth went down hard and remained motionless on the ice for a few minutes before being stretchered off. The good news is that Booth is now home and recuperating. He is suffering from post-concussion symptoms, including severe headaches and pain when focusing for awhile on something like reading or watching television. 
Was it a cheap shot? To no one’s surprise, the Flyers are defending Richards and the Panthers are calling it a head shot. The NHL has ruled that no further penalties or suspensions will be doled out (Richards was given a 5 minute major and a game misconduct). Personally, it looked like Booth was admiring his nifty little drop pass and got caught coming through the middle of the zone. While Richards’ shoulder certainly seemed to connect with Booth’s head, there did not seem to be any intent to injure. He did not leave his feet or lead with a forearm. That said, this puts a giant dent in what little offense the Panthers have. Coupled with Radek Dvorak’s knee injury from the same game, two of Florida’s best skating forwards will be out for multiple weeks. It is hard to find any positives in the first month of the season in which the Panthers went just 2-6-1, and it might not get better anytime soon.
If one is searching for a silver lining, it has been the play of rookie defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. He was the Panthers’ first round draft choice this past summer, and made the opening day roster after an impressive preseason. His numbers will not astound, or even impress most that have not seen him play, but he has grown through his first nine games, playing near 20 minutes a game and key power time. Should he play Wednesday night against Ottawa, he will have played 10 NHL games, meaning this will officially count as his rookie season as it pertains to his entry level contract. No indications have been given that he will be sent down to his minor league team, so it appears Kulikov is up with the big boys for awhile. Whether or not this is a good thing can be debated. There does not appear to be much benefit for him to go play in the QMJHL and dominate players his own age. It makes sense for him to get his feet wet playing against NHL caliber players, for better or worse. However, there is the thought that this season is already a lost cause for the Panthers, and Kulikov could suffer from a long season in which he is pulling pucks out of his net far too often. Only time will tell.
Which transitions to my final question. Is this season already a lost cause? As a fan, I say no. As an unbiased hockey observer, I’d advise Panther fans to learn as much as they can about Taylor Hall, John McFarland, or Ryan Spooner. There are plenty of reasons to think this season can still turn around. The Panthers are notorious slow starters. They posted just 9 wins in the first two months last season before posting one of the best records in the NHL in the 2009 calendar portion of the schedule. Granted, they came up just one point short of the playoffs last year, but there are signs of hope. Another thing to consider is that half of their top six defenseman were skating for other clubs last season. A fourth missed virtually all of last year with a knee injury. Time will only make the blue line more cohesive. Tomas Vokoun started the season horribly. He has come around in his past two starts.
The best thing about the Panthers slow start is that we are only nine games into an 82 game schedule. But consider that the Panthers’ 5 points have come against the Chicago Blackhawks (7-3-1), Philadelphia Flyers (5-4-1), and Pittsburgh Penguins (9-2-0). There have been signs that this team can skate with teams. It just has yet to happen on a consistent basis. Hope is a dangerous thing.
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Florida Panthers
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