I think it’s safe to say that Panthers fans are feeling pretty good after this weekend, right? Saturday night’s season opener was the best possible way to start the season. In this morning’s Mania, we got prospect updates, analytics talk, a look ahead at the week, and the Hat Trick as always.
Links and Bulletins
• Jayce Hawryluk is the man. The Panthers’ prospect had a second straight 5 point game on Tuesday against the Vancouver Giants, a 4 point game on Friday against the Kootenay Ice, and picked up one more point in the Brandon Wheat Kings’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings Saturday night.
• Panthers prospect Juho Lammikko had a goal and an assist for the Kingston Frontenacs this week, including this goal off a rebound on a nice individual play by Los Angeles Kings prospect Spencer Watson.
• We launched our College Cats column this week, covering all Panthers NCAA prospects. Staff writer Angie gave us a preview for the who and what of College Cats.
• We also launched the Pirates Periodical, our rebranded AHL weekly column reflecting the Panthers new affiliation with the Portland Pirates. Staff writer Nat Gajic gave us a look into the Pirates exhibition schedule, and set us up for the start of the AHL season.
• The RIT Hockey Analytics Conference was this weekend. Among the many presentations made was one by Jen LC (@RegressedPDO), who took a detailed look into what we typically call “puck possession” and methods of specialized tracking. I personally took part in the tracking for this project, and finally getting to see some of the end result was thought-provoking and generally awesome. I’m proud to have been a part of this. I highly recommend watching her presentation on YouTube, as I don’t have the space here to do the ideas justice (it’s the first presentation on this link). There’s sure to be tons of follow up as well, the project in of itself was pretty big.
• Also, check out Kris’ new podcast Kris Talks Hockey, in which he chats with the aforementioned Jen LC for the first episode. They spend a little time talking about the project too, as Kris also did some tracking.
• There are other presentations worth looking into at the RITHAC too. I haven’t been able to sit down and devote time to looking at all of it yet, so I can’t speak for the other presentations at the moment. If you are interested in all manner of stats, the entire seminar is available on YouTube. The afternoon session is linked above, and the morning session is linked here.
• And finally, here’s a quote to close: “It wasn’t a good game. They beat our asses.” – Jakub Voracek after 7-1 loss to the Panthers [NJ.com]
The Week Ahead
10/12/15 – Florida Panthers @ Philadelphia Flyers
Routing the Flyers was fun on Opening Night. You can bet the Flyers would love to return the favor in their own home opener. Today is game day, so we’ll have a full Pre-Game Skate up later today for you.
10/13/15 – Florida Panthers @ Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes will kick off their week with this Tuesday tilt against the Panthers. They have dropped their first two games of the season in one goal fashion, a 2-1 defeat in Nashville on October 8, followed by a 4-3 loss in their home opener to Detroit on Saturday. Cam Ward has started both games, but might we see Eddie Lack, a.k.a Luongo’s BFF, make his Carolina debut? Stay tuned.
10/15/15 – Buffalo Sabres @ Florida Panthers
Jack Eichel returns to play his first game in the building where he was drafted. The second overall pick in the 2015 Draft made his presence known by scoring the first goal of the Sabres season and his NHL career. The Sabres though, like the Hurricanes, have dropped their first two games of the season. The difference here is the Sabres have lost in more convincing fashion, 3-1 to Ottawa on October 8 and 4-1 to Tampa Bay on Saturday. They will play host to Columbus this afternoon for Columbus Day (I see what you did there NHL schedule maker) before coming to Sunrise to play the Panthers.
10/17/15 – Dallas Stars @ Florida Panthers
The Panthers play host to the Dallas Stars, whom they faced twice in the preseason. The team features some prominent new faces, namely Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya, recent Stanley Cup winners with the Chicago Blackhawks. Add in Tyler Seguin and the NHL’s reigning scoring champion in Jamie Benn, and the Stars could easily give the Panthers headaches. The Stars are 1-1 to start the season, having beats Pittsburgh 3-0 on October 8, and fallen to the Colorado Avalanche Saturday by the score of 6-3. They will face Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, before heading to Tampa on Thursday to start a four game road trip that will take them to Tampa, Sunrise, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
The Hat Trick
Trocheck This Out: The season started with a bang on Saturday night. Though he was awarded the First Star, Vincent Trocheck’s performance seemed a little lost in the buzz on Saturday night. He tied a franchise record for most points in a season opening game with 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists). The record was set by Viktor Kozlov on October 9, 1998 in the first game at BB&T Center, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The record was later matched by Todd Bertuzzi on October 6, 2006 in an 8-3 thumping of the Boston Bruins. For a guy who was yo-yoed a bit between the NHL and AHL last year, and spent some time in the press box to boot, it’s wonderful to see him breakthrough on opening night like that. Hopefully it is the start of a breakout year for the young forward.
The Next Step: Beating a team 7-1 in the first game of the season certainly makes the soul feel good. This cannot be construed as a bad thing by itself. However, some degree of caution must be exercised. It’s odd saying this, but the Panthers must find a way to put this victory behind them and focus on the task at hand. This thunderous start to the season will be a faint memory if the team is mediocre at the 20 game mark and beyond. We need only look into recent history to find out why exactly that is:
In 2006, #FlaPanthers followed 8-3 opening night win over Boston w/ 6-0 loss at Atlanta, SO loss at TO. #Thrashers pic.twitter.com/Gn24DETvNM
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 11, 2015
The Panthers were in 12th place with a 7-9-4 record after 20 games in 2006-07. They would finish the season in 12th place. Todd Bertuzzi, who had those 4 points in the blow out season opener against Boston, was injured and would never play another game for the Panthers. It’s a cautionary tale to not assume that success will follow such a boom. There are many other stories just like it as well. Now it is on this edition of the Panthers to use this game as a solid foundation for the season to come.
Don’t Trend On Me: The cautionary tale from above does not just apply to the long range look of the Panthers, it also applies to the short range as well. The last four times the Panthers have won their first game of the season, they have come back and lost the second game. They have done so by a combined score of 21-2 as well. The Panthers have been shutout by Atlanta (6-0) in 2006, Chicago (4-0) in 2009, and St. Louis (7-0) in 2013, along with a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh in 2011. So, let us break some trends tonight, eh?
Make sure to tune in next week for another edition of Monday Mania!
