Anderson Shuts Out Tampa

On Sunday, Craig Anderson stopped 44 of 45 shots and David Booth scored the first hat trick of his career to push the Panthers past Anaheim by a score of 3-1, ending a six game losing streak in the process.

DeBoer chose to ride the hot hand in net tonight and carry that momentum forward, and the decision paid off. Playing a much more inspired game, the Panthers held the Lightning to 24 shots, all of which Anderson was able to stop.

Early on, penalties were nil and at full strength throughout, Florida held Tampa to only four shots, adding eight of their own. One of which was Bryan McCabe firing a shot by Mike Smith to put the Cats ahead late in the first.

Thirty-five seconds in to the second, the Panthers went on the man advantage for the first time on the night. There, Nathan Horton stole away the puck on a backhanded clearing attempt, walked out in front and let fly a blistering wrister that found the back of the net.

Later in the period, the Panthers capitalized on the power play for the second time of the night. During a tangle behind the Tampa net, Horton emerged with the puck and passed it high to Jay Bouwmeester. Bouwmeester drifted back and looked to McCabe who was ready for a one-time opportunity, but Bouwmeester instead threw the puck on net, and Gregory Campbell was there -- on the power play -- to deflect the puck past Smith.

Still standing strong, although only having faced 13 shots through two periods, was Craig Anderson.

As the third period moved along, the physical play picked up and Florida continued attacking. Eventually, it was Gregory Campbell getting rewarded with another goal, and another assist from Jay Bouwmeester, this time on a rush.

Nick Boynton and Ryan Craig dropped the gloves not long after with Boynton looking to have the clear advantage in the short scrap, and the game was over.

Nathan Horton never returned for the third period, but I'm not sure what the problem is. Hopefully it's nothing too serious..

Another Rochester Move

Rochester reassigned defenseman Doug O'Brien to the Florida Everblades (ECHL) earlier in the day. The move leaves the Amerks with eight active d-men, but it may only be the start of the changes ahead.

Moving O'Brien and bringing back Shantz don't seem like moves that will make a huge difference, if any difference at all, unless of course David Shantz has radically improved, but even then, the Amerks have struggled to score goals.

So, it's possible that these recent moves (and maybe more to come, as guys like Luke Beaverson, Brady Calla, Andrew Sweetland and Dan Collins have been ineffective) could signal something bigger up ahead, or maybe it's just a shakeup to try to change the culture. Either way, it's not like the team isn't working hard. By the time everyone comes of age, the team may be too far gone to turn this into a decent season. An addition would be something I think everyone wants to see.

David Shantz to Rochester

David Shantz has gone 4-2-1 since joining the Dayton Bombers and with Rochester's goaltenders struggling, he's getting another crack at the AHL after being recalled earlier this evening.

As written at LetsGoAmerks.com, goaltender Tyler Plante packed up his gear after tonight's game against the Moose -- Plante did not play in the game -- and will be heading a bit southwest to tend the nets in Ohio.

Plante has appeared in six games this season, and as a starter has gone 0-5 with a 5.10 GAA and a save percentage right at .850%.

Shantz, through seven games, is 4-2-1 with a 2.35 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

Whether the move yields any significant improvement is a little questionable, as both Plante and Shantz struggled in the AHL last year, while both goaltenders were solid when they played for the Everblades last year.

Last week, Panthers goaltending coach Pierre Groulx went up north to Rochester, so whether this change is just a result of that, or a sign of things to come, we'll just have to wait and see.

Prospects: Week of 11-3-08

Rochester played two games over the weekend, first on Friday and again on Saturday. The Amerks lost 5-1 to Manitoba on Friday night, but rebounded and picked up their second win of the season by beating Houston 3-2 on Saturday.
Shawn Matthias led the way with two goals, while Kenndal McArdle had a goal and one assist. Stefan Meyer scored one goal, his first of the year, and Duco, Repik, Glass, Larman, Sprukts and Fitzpatrick each tallied one assist.

As for the rest of the North American players:

ECHL -- Dayton played Friday, Saturday and Sunday. David Shantz started the games on Saturday and Sunday, winning both. On Saturday, Shantz turned aside 25 of 26 shots and on Sunday, 28 of 30. For the weekend, the Bombers went 3-0, while Shantz pulled a save percentage of around .946%.

Juniors -- Adam Comrie scored a goal (his 5th) on Friday and an assist (7) on Saturday, although he took four minor penalties and then a ten-minute misconduct was assessed while he was serving a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Through 16 games, Comrie's 12 points leads all defensemen on the Saginaw Spirit . . Corey Syvret had an assist (8) on Friday, but was unable to help the team on Sunday, going -2 in a 4-1 loss to Kingston. . . A.J. Jenks had a quiet week, going without points in back-to-back losses before scoring a goal (6) in another loss on Saturday. . . James DeLory has not played for Oshawa. . . To the WHL, Colby Robak put up another assist (7) in a Friday night victory but was kept off the scoresheet on Saturday in a 6-2 loss against Medicine Hat. Like Comrie, Robak leads his team in points by a defenseman.

CCHA -- Matt Rust centered Michigan's second line for a two-game weekend series against Alaska. Rust was held off the scoreboard in the loss on Friday, but registered an assist (5) in the win on Saturday. . . Matt Bartkowski played on the top pairing for Ohio State this weekend, upsetting #8 Michigan State in both games. Friday night, Bartkowski scored a goal (2) and Saturday, an assist (3). The Pittsburgh native shares the defensive point lead with Chris Reed. . . Ryan Watson played in one of Western Michigan's two weekend games but didn't get on the board. . .

WCHA -- North Dakota's Derrick LaPoint spent the weekend first on the top pairing (a 3-1 win) and then on the second pairing (a 7-4 loss). LaPoint finished the week with a -2 and the defenseman was held without a point in either game. . . John Lee didn't log much ice time, or poitns, over the weekend, but the freshman has still been a regular fixture in the Denver lineup, while goaltender Marc Cheverie stopped 61 of 63 shots and helped move Denver back to #6 in the nation. The goaltender's save percentage and goals-against-average have been steadily improving, now at .918% and 2.54, respectively. . .

Hockey East -- Netminder Brian Foster had another strong start on Friday, stopping 39 of 41 shots against #1 Minnesota, but he stumbled on Saturday, allowing four goals on twelve shots in the third period. For the game, Foster allowed six goals on thirty-four shots. . . Maine only played one game this week, and defenseman Matt Duffy was a -1 in Maine's 2-1 win against Boston College.

Panthers Win, too!

Congratulations to David Booth on his first career hat trick. DeBoer said someone was going to have to have a career night, and Booth stepped up and helped power the Cats past the Ducks to put an end to that nasty six-game losing skid...

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -If David Booth had to pick a favorite, his first goal Sunday would probably get the nod.

Booth scored three straight goals for his first NHL hat trick, Craig Anderson made 44 saves and the Florida Panthers recovered from an early miscue to end a six-game winless streak with a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

Looking to win the finale of a five-game road trip and end their lengthy winless skid, the Panthers found themselves down 1-0 after Anderson gave up a goal to Corey Perry on the Ducks' first shot, less than 2 minutes into the game.

But Booth was able to draw the struggling Panthers even 2:19 later, lofting a backhander past Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

"It was good to get that first goal, we've given up the first goal a lot lately and haven't come back until the third, so to get one right away helped our team out," said Booth, the former Michigan State star who added two more goals in the second period.

Jassen Cullimore and Steven Weiss each had two assists for Florida. . . READ MORE

Rochester Wins!

Last night, the Amerks snapped their losing streak and defeated the Houston Aeros, 3-2.

Coming in to the game, the Aeros were 7-4 and second in the West division, while Rochester was 1-10, last in the league.

The game was scoreless through two periods with Chris Beckford-Tseu stopping fourteen shots before the Amerks scored the first goal of the game 5 minutes into the third.

Stefan Meyer, who has missed half of the games already this season, scored his first goal of the year and it came on the power play. Thereafter, the score remained 1-0 until a couple minutes beyond the midway point of the period when Kenndal McArdle scored his third, extending his point streak to five games (2 goals, 3 assists). Twenty-four seconds later, Shawn Matthias took a pass from Mike Duco, skated in and put the puck past Nolan Schaefer, making it 3-0 Rochester.

The Aeros surged, scoring with just over two minutes to play and then again with less than thirty seconds on the clock, but it was too little too late and the Amerks held on to snap their losing streak and come away with a much deserved win.

Rochester is off tonight, but will be back in action Monday night when the Manitoba Moose return for the fourth matchup between the two teams so far (they play each other eight times).

As for the Panthers, they have extended their losing streak to six games.

Olli Jokinen scored a goal and added an assist while the Coyotes skated off with a 4-1 victory.

Florida actually opened the scoring when Richard Zedink chipped away at a puck in front of the net, which slowly slid under Ilya Bryzgalov and into the goal. But it was all Phoenix after that. The Panthers no longer sustained pressure and rather than start a game poorly and play better late, they started well and progressively got worse. Tonight, the Panthers wrap up the road trip in Anaheim.

Game time is 8PM.

Jokinen Quotes and..

Before tonight's game between the Panthers and the Coyotes, you knew there were going to be some questions for Olli Jokinen on how it feels to go up against his former team.

If you want to read the full set of questions and answers (thanks to Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel), go here. Otherwise, I'll pull a couple of quotes for you.

First, the not-so-harsh:

I was there for seven years, so it's going to be weird to face your former teammates, but it's a good thing we play only once against them. . . I'd rather them come in here winning five in a row. But we can't be too focused on what they're doing or what they're going through. . . I always wish the best for the Panthers. I had a good seven years there.

And then some other quotes..

There have always been so many changes, so half the guys on that team I don't even know. Every year, there are five, six new guys. . . They had to do everything possible to sell their season tickets. I was there to take the blame. I have no regrets. . . I knew after the year I was gone, but probably the most disappointing thing was I didn't really get a clear answer. I just heard everything, what was going on, behind the scenes. But I knew I was gone. I just didn't know where. . . I wanted to get out. I didn't want to stay there. . . I heard finally they have a good coach there, too, so that's good.

The whole of the Q&A isn't bad. If you aren't a fan of Jokinen, you'll be less of a fan after you read it. If you were a fan of his, you'll enjoy reading some of what he had to say. I thought it was pretty good, even with his little jab at the end. Actually, I laughed when I read that. Nothing against Jacques, of course.

Puck drops at 9PM.

As for the other thing, apparently I won the Puck Daddy contest for reasons why the Panthers are cool.

Rochester Loses Fifth Straight

For the fifth game in a row, the Rochester Americans have come up short, now winless since October 25 and for the second game in a row, the starting goaltender didn't last the first period -- Plante was yanked after allowing three goals (two on the power play) on eight shots.

Matthias scored the Amerks' lone goal, while McArdle and Repik picked up assists.

Over this five-game skid, Rochester has been outscored 29-10.

I don't really know what comes next.

More DeLory

Well, the Everblades' stint didn't last long.

From the Naples News 'Blades Blog:

And Blades fans have seen the last of James DeLory, a 20-year-old rookie and the team's sole Panthers prospect. The 6-foot-5 "fighter-in-training" had a reputation as a tough guy in the OHL, but he had to learn to switch positions from defense to forward. Because DeLory's just 20, he's eligible for one more year in juniors. Cameron said he'll be sent back to the OHL's Oshawa Generals for his overage year. With 6-foot-8 enforcer Riley Emmerson remaining in the AHL, DeLory's departure leaves the Blades minus-2 big bodies. Plus, with Herauf out on injured reserve, there's a slight void in proven fighters. Should be interesting to see who steps up to fill their roles ... or how soon Emmerson is sent back down to the Blades.

Hockey's Future: James DeLory Q&A

There's a Q&A feature on Panthers' prospect James DeLory at Hockey's Future. A lot of the questions are about the position switch (from defense to right wing) and a couple about his former teammate and potential #1 overall pick, John Tavares. It's worth reading, so go check it out.

Stillman Out

The Panthers are back in action tonight on the west coast taking on the Los Angeles Kings, but one definite 'no' for the game will be Cory Stillman.

Stillman, who leads the team with goals (5), was injured against Atlanta when he was hit and landed face first on the ice. Initially, reports were of facial lacerations and it was unclear whether he would return. Eventually, it came out that Stillman had also suffered a concussion. So, he won't be on this road trip.

Now, if you read Stephen Weiss's blog on the Panthers' site, you saw him write that he's good for tonight:

I got a couple practices in this week and I’m ready to get back in tonight. I feel good.

It’s a big road trip for us. Three pretty good teams we don’t see that often, so we’ll have to be at our best. The last time we played Los Angeles they beat us 6 or 7-0, so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to play. It’s important we have a good start.

Bryan McCabe also practiced, as did Gregory Campbell, so they could return tonight, while Rostislav Olesz left practice near the end, apparently still feeling the nag of a shoulder injury he suffered in the Atlanta game.

For the Kings, Erik Ersberg will start.

Tonight's game is not on local television. Again. So, if you don't have Center Ice and you can't find a stream online, you won't be able to watch the game. As always however, it will be on 790, so worst case, you can still listen.

Rochester Fans to the Panthers

At RochesterSportsFan.com, you can find out a lot about what's going on with the Amerks, and Florida hasn't exactly been winning fans over just yet. Quite the opposite, in fact. Truth is, there's a lot of room for improvement and the Panthers are really lagging behind.

One poster manifested those frustrations into an open letter to the Panthers. It's been forwarded to some people; not just Gorten, Richards and Oklobzija but to some of the people in management, as well. The concern with the team is real, and it's not pretty. So, if you've wanted to read one accurate, well-written overview of how things seem to be up north, here it is.

The 2008-09 AHL season moves into its second month. The hockey team you have provided us is quickly becoming the demise of our very storied and treasured Rochester Americans franchise. This is not being overly dramatic, or negative, or unrealistic.
The fact is, despite all the animus that has surrounded the team over the past few years, you are replacing a very popular, well established institution here in Rochester--the Buffalo Sabres...an NHL team that many local hockey fans have adopted as their own--being as they are only about an hours drive away.

You witnessed our struggles the past few seasons. You vowed last spring, that if given an opportunity you would return some dignity and competitiveness to the good fans of Rochester--something you said we deserved. You had to know you were going to be facing a great challenge and a lot of skepticism and disappointment when local hockey fans woke up the first weekend in October to see the Sabres prospects they have followed closely for 3 decades now wearing the colors of the Portland Pirates.

Rather than cave in to, what many back then felt were strongarm demands of the Sabres management, with the spectre perhaps of another season of a threadbare roster and a non-competitive team, the Amerks went in another direction and engineered a change in majority ownership to Canadian entrepreneur Curt Styres. Mr Styres certainly had the financial wherewithall to clean up old debts, and the desire to accept nothing less than a winner for Rochester. Still, he had to answer to you at the end of the day, when it came to player personnel.

At issue for our struggling hockey team was the lack of veteran leadership, missing for the past couple of seasons, and quite evident by the results in the standings. You promised to correct that situation by obtaining for us, the necessary blend of veteran and prospect, to make us competitive and entertaining again.

Mr Martin, Mr Birch---you have failed. You are no longer part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

No, you ARE the problem.

You have witnessed empty arenas and angry fans. The team you have assembled is hopelessly outclassed. This is not a criticism of the young kids or the coach personally. They are all working hard, but when stacked up to the rest of the AHL, these kids can't compete at all. You have not allowed them to compete. You did not sign the veterans. You did not give us an AHL quality goaltender. You signed an enforcer for us and then foolishly allowed him to slip away because you couldn't even deal with the simple realities of the waiver process.

In short, you are killing this franchise, Florida Panthers. There isn't a team in this league as inept as we are. (Norfolk comes close just in case you think we don't check the standings every once in awhile) You have to go back a long time (if ever) to witness back to back home games that barely attracted 1,000 warm bodies.

You have given our new coach an impossible task. Our new owner, who tried very hard early on to generate some excitement and hope is being cut off at the knees. The inevitable and bitter comparisons between the Sabres/Pirates fast start and our abysmal 1-9-0 record has taken flight. The fans do not care about this team anymore.

And make no mistake, its ugly around here. Florida, you have no friends in Rochester, and its completely your fault. We trusted you--we took you, cautiously, at your word last spring. This is our reward.

What do you plan on doing? Our coach continues to say we will improve. What do you expect him to say? Florida, that just isn't going to happen...without some help. The rest of the league also improves. How do you expect us to win with horrible goaltending (assuming you force us to play Beckford-Tseu); invisible special teams; absolutely no one who can score goals; an inexperienced defense; and no significant veteran leadership to show the way. It was nice to sign our local boy Rory, but he is not going to make an impact on the ice. He is an aging stay at home defenseman who has on most nights looked every bit his age. You signed Janis Sprukts as our 'big veteran scorer'. Many of us knew that was a huge mistake. He hasn't played in this league in over a year and he is not a goal scorer. He may not even stick around, which has been the tendancy of many Europeans, who simply bolt for home when they are unhappy. I won't even dignify your choice of 'veteran' goaltender with anything more than 'what were you thinking'?

Florida--you aren't losing credibility with the good folks of Rochester. You have already lost it...on merit. SO--please do something. Anything. Now, not in another month when we are 2-20 and nobody is buying tickets. Or allow us to respectfully rip up the 3 year agreement, now and flee from this incompetence and abuse to our franchise. Personally, I would rather suspend the team for the rest of the season, and look to rebuild correctly, than have to watch this unwatchable, sorry, team get hammered every night by our competition, who has also frankly suggested we are in way over our heads.

Our new coach deserves better. Our new owner deserves better. The fans here in Rochester deserve better. The puck, as they say, is in your rink. But rest assured, we are tired of the words and the empty, unrealistic promises, with nothing to back them up.

Yes, we are not happy with you. We are angry. We feel betrayed. You gave us the royal shaft. You have seen the games. Aren't you the slightest bit ashamed of what you are asking people to pay money to watch?

So we wait and wonder...what's next? More of the same? Do you care? Or do you have a conscience? Your legacy may well be to have written the sorriest and final chapter in long and successful history of the Rochester Americans.

Are you proud?

Respectfully but sadly submitted:
a fan for over 50 years

With the exception of MacIntyre (Florida had to put him through waivers anyway, Edmonton screwed it up for us), I agree with a lot of the skepticism. It's sad, and with the games I have watched online and the games I've heard on the radio, it's not an exaggeration. It really is bad right now.

Markström's Hospital Stay Only Precautionary

As I'd written earlier, the report was positive for Brynäs' Jacob Markström, but just to expand on that a bit with the later update, Markström spent the night in an area hospital -- however, it was simply for precaution and observation to ensure that there is no harmful swelling anywhere in his neck.

Afterwards, Markström, Florida's second-round pick this summer said that he didn't like the feel of neck protection, but after this incident, he's considering wearing it in practice to get used to the feeling.

The best news is that he will be able to play again as soon as this week, although he may not start immediately.

Long Weekend

I had been wondering if Markström was pulled from the game after allowing three goals on thirteen shots, in what was a tight game -- including an assist -- or maybe if he was injured. As it turns out, he was indeed hurt.

Over at svt.se, it says that Markström took a shot to the neck and he was taken to hospital for observation. He skated off the ice under his own power and looked to be fine. The hospital trip confirmed that he was in no medical danger.

Now, to the other things that I missed over this long weekend.

The Panthers lost a 2-1 lead in the third period in Nashville, ultimately losing 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. On Sunday, the Panthers were comfortably outplayed by the Thrashers, trailing 4-1 at one point. Florida eventually lost 5-3.

Rochester's struggles continued over the weekend, too. Shawn Matthias was returned to the team after one game with the Panthers, but the Amerks dropped both of their weekend games, 5-2 against Toronto and 5-3 against Hamilton.

In Dayton, Shantz and the Bombers had a three-game weekend. Dayton lost all three games; 1-6 at Wheeling, 4-5 in a shootout against Cincinnati and 2-4 against Johnstown.

Also in the ECHL, James DeLory has started to play. His ice time may be heavily limited, as he's learning a new position but for the role he can fill, a lot may depend on whether Riley Emmerson stays with the Amerks for a while. If he does, DeLory should be seeing more games.

Brynäs continued to plummet in the standings, losing Thursday and losing Sunday. Jacob Markström started neither game, though he replaced Anders Lindbäck on Sunday, stopping eight of eight. Today, Markström's individual woes dragged on as he was hit in the neck with a shot and taken to an area hospital for precautionary measures.

A.J. Jenks had a big weekend for Plymouth, scoring at least a goal in all three games. . . Corey Syvret had a two-point night on Sunday, assisting on Guelph's first two goals of the game. . . Adam Comrie scored one goal over the weekend, although he took three minor penalties in that same game. . . To the WHL, Colby Robak had another good weekend. On Saturday, Robak scored a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Giants and the night before that, he added an assist and had a +5 rating in a 7-3 beatdown against Chilliwack.

Marc Cheverie gave up five goals over two games this weekend, one ending a 2-2 tie and the other, a 3-2 loss to Colorado College. In the loss to CC, Cheverie faced only 17 shots. . . Brian Foster stopped 25 of 27 in the only game he played this weekend - a 4-2 win for New Hampshire against Northeastern.