Tribute A tribute to Jonathan Huberdeau, the all -time leading scorer for the Florida Panthers

[Felidae]

Should Huberdeau’s number 11 be retired when he retires?

Hm, that's a tough one. I'm leaning towards no, just because it took him a while to reach superstar status.

To compare him to our only retired player in Luongo. He played 11 seasons with us, one more than Huberdeau, But he was the best player on the team and one of the best goalies in the league for at least 6 seasons.

I'd say Huberdeau was "only" top 10 at his position for 3 or 4 years. If he had stayed a few more years still being an elite player, then I think his jersey would be worthy of retirement.

 

[PSLguy]

Should Huberdeau’s number 11 be retired when he retires?

IMHO, only if he returns to the team,similar to Luongo.

 

[ShootIt]

I say no to retiring Huberdeau's number.

Being the all time points leader would of been more remarkable if it wasn't for the Panthers and a relatively low bar if we are being honest.

We never did much with Huberdeau here. Presidents trophy, a few division wins and 1 playoff series win. If he had over 1k points by the time he left, maybe, as that's a nice milestone that very few reach.

To retire a number over that seems meh.

 

[pantherbot]

Should Huberdeau’s number 11 be retired when he retires?

absolutely no. he had a good run with us, but nothing remarkable when compared to other star players with other franchises.

Lu was retired because his peak with us was insane and he was a shoe-in HHOFer. Plus let's be serious, it was done as a feel-good thing, bringing him back into the fold, and trying to generate some excitement about our history. I suspect Lu's contributions to Panthers on most other teams would not have warranted a jersey retirement.

That's not to say I have a problem with it, I love the guy and am happy his jersey was retired. My favorite Panther and only one who's jersey I have from the modern era. Just being real here.

 

[violaswallet]

This looks wrong:

 

[StrangeVision]

Yeah it looks like a Euro league jersey.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

With all due respect, I don't think you retire his jersey. That's something that should be done extremely rarely. Roberto Luongo I think gets that in part because he's the franchise's first Hall of Famer that we can really call 'our' guy, and also by way of much deserved apology for squandering a large chunk of his career behind bad teams.

At the time that we retired Lu's jersey, the other three in the rafters were Wayne Gretzky, Wayne Huizenga, and Bill Torrey. Great player yes, but there were a lot of other circumstances that led to what should be an exceedingly rare act in retiring that number from the team. Frankly, he needed to be there.

 

[RogerRoger]

Huberdeau was a treat to watch these past few years. I'll miss the hoobie calls from the crew.

 

[iam76]

not gonna lie.. gonna miss him. was so excited to see him become that 100 point scorer for us. he def aggravated at times.. but can't deny that skill and a lil grit .. I will miss him

 

[violaswallet]

To those that were around when Luongo left, how does this compare?

 

[iam76]

To those that were around when Luongo left, how does this compare?

feels more like jovo trade to me

 

[Dread Clawz]

feels more like jovo trade to me

I agree, but only because I guess I'm not as attached to players as I used to be. I'm 42 now so it's a little different than being a young kid. I loved Jovo but he was only in town for a little over 3 seasons, plus I realized at the time that we fleeced Vancouver. Plus Bure was my favorite player even before that.

Don't get me wrong, I wish Huby would have retired a Panther with multiple Cups. But Tkachuk is a much better fit for us with our cap moving forward. With a cap you have to make tough business choices.

 

[violaswallet]

feels more like jovo trade to me

Elaborate? Do you feel like @Dread Clawz

That was way before my time

 

[iam76]

Elaborate? Do you feel like @Dread Clawz

That was way before my time

jovo was drafted by us and basically in his prime. and we got back a stud but it felt like we traded our brother ..

 

[ShootIt]

To those that were around when Luongo left, how does this compare?

I wasn't on here at the time, think I was on the scout forums, but at the time there were rumors/grumblings he was going to be moved so it sucked but at the same time it was expected. This was out of left field.

Remember being happy we got Bertuzzi(was a big fan of the Bert-Naslund-Moore line). Too bad he never wanted to be here and Auld was a terrible goalie. The "best" piece from that trade was Bryan Allen...

Still remember rumors/fan trades from LA. Frolov was always included IIRC.

 

[Mitts]

Huby had a beauty assist tonight, amazing you guys got to watch him work his magic for so long. Hope Chucky is working out well for you guys, can you imagine if we meet each other in the finals? That would be freaking amazing. Good luck this season.

 

[Felidae]

Huby had a beauty assist tonight, amazing you guys got to watch him work his magic for so long. Hope Chucky is working out well for you guys, can you imagine if we meet each other in the finals? That would be freaking amazing. Good luck this season.

Lmao of course it's a spinorama. Huby's fabourite move. That wasn't an uncommon sight when he was a Panther. Though usually he would pass right after the spin rather than using the spin to evade a player and hold unto the puck, so that's a nice change.

 

[Mitts]

Lmao of course it's a spinorama. Huby's fabourite move. That wasn't an uncommon sight when he was a Panther. Though usually he would pass right after the spin rather than using the spin to evade a player and hold unto the puck, so that's a nice change.

Haha yeah that spinorama was a beaut, I could get used to that.

 

[Thomas Colavecchio]

I agree, but only because I guess I'm not as attached to players as I used to be. I'm 42 now so it's a little different than being a young kid. I loved Jovo but he was only in town for a little over 3 seasons, plus I realized at the time that we fleeced Vancouver. Plus Bure was my favorite player even before that.

Don't get me wrong, I wish Huby would have retired a Panther with multiple Cups. But Tkachuk is a much better fit for us with our cap moving forward. With a cap you have to make tough business choices.

There were so many reasons that the Panther did not win more than they did during his time here than Huberdeau. He built himself into an excellent overall player throughout his years in Florida.

But as I have felt from the beginning, this was a trade opportunity that Zito had little choice but to jump on. The $$ and term that Huby, and Weegs now as well ultimately got from the Flames; neither was going to see here. After this year's contract expirys, my view is that both would have been offered more, elsewhere, than the Panthers could ever have afforded to pay.

I have enjoyed watching them both during their times here, and wish them nothing but the best going forward with Calgary. But also I'm excited by the thoughts of seeing what Tkachuk can bring, hoping those elements provide the missing spark that kicks the Team up to that next level that we all here want!!

Go Cats...as a new season approaches...game on!

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Huby had a beauty assist tonight, amazing you guys got to watch him work his magic for so long. Hope Chucky is working out well for you guys, can you imagine if we meet each other in the finals? That would be freaking amazing. Good luck this season.

I've said it before, if Huby moves his feet, he eliminates most of the issues he might run into. All of his "issues" happen when he gets frozen per say, in one spot, and doesn't move his feet. That play is Huby moving his feet and skating. I still don't think people know how much skill he really has, that includes Zito.

 

[BabyBennettov]

I've said it before, if Huby moves his feet, he eliminates most of the issues he might run into. All of his "issues" happen when he gets frozen per say, in one spot, and doesn't move his feet. That play is Huby moving his feet and skating. I still don't think people know how much skill he really has, that includes Zito.

Best playmaker in the game.

 

[Mitts]

I've said it before, if Huby moves his feet, he eliminates most of the issues he might run into. All of his "issues" happen when he gets frozen per say, in one spot, and doesn't move his feet. That play is Huby moving his feet and skating. I still don't think people know how much skill he really has, that includes Zito.

Yeah I was blown away how he executed that spinarama at full speed, what you say makes sense about standing still, kind of neuters him offensively. Like the way he spun off that guy with the puck look like an EA games move.

 

[Mogo]

Haha yeah that spinorama was a beaut, I could get used to that.

There's a flipside to that too. You'll see once he keeps doing it on the PP

 

[Felidae]

Here's his top 10 plays of all time



As far as career highlights go as a Panther, only Barkov has him bested. Maybe bure too, but there's a surprising lack of highlights during his time here.

Edit: the first video I had up was his season highlights. Changed it.