Biggest difference-makers this year were...

[zeroG]

Regular season is over and the team is quite different now versus the start of the season. The deadline acquisitions have transformed the team, there's no doubt. However, I contend that they haven't altered the trajectory of the team's season. (Feel free to take issue with that contention, btw.)

With a couple of days to chew the fat, I thought it might be interesting to take the "new guys" thread up one level and see if there was consensus around the biggest factors in this successful regular season.

Remember, Ek was a major force before his injury and the injury was more than halfway through the season. He was injured on March 28 and record was 22-9-4 (~63%) at that point. We went 15-5-1 (~%71) without him.

There's overlap between the choices (did I miss anything?) and surely they've all come in to play to some extent.

That said, can you put your finger on the two biggest factors this season?

Click to read more...

 

[Bag Of Beans]

I think this team would be dead in the water, and living on false hope going into the playoffs had Weegs not stepped up like he did. Guy is playing out of his mind at the moment!

Also the goaltending this year has been solid. Got the Panthers many points. If I was better with technology, I would make a highlight reel video of all the Panthers goalies big time saves this year.

 

[Pigge]

Q has successfully implemented a system where all five players work together on defense and offense with more consistency and cohesion than before, and he got a bunch of new players who were able to get it. There has not been a game where the players seem confused about what they are expected to do, unlike most recent seasons. The few times this happened with Tippett and Stillman, they really stuck out.

 

[Cricket Green]

Immediately before Bennett's arrival, Florida had lost 4 of 5, including 2 beatdowns by Carolina, despite having Barkov in the lineup. Since then?

10-2

 

[pb1300]

Additions are obviously huge, but our coaching staff has done an amazing job this year. We play as a team, we play smart, and we are well conditioned. It seems we are really busts for the playoffs. If we are going to get into an extended OT game, I feel like our conditioning will be a huge advantage.

 

[Dr Beinfest]

Goaltending for sure. If not for Driedger forcing a platoon, this team would not be a shoo-in for the playoffs.
Keep in mind that Montembeault served as a “true back up” last year and in 14 games posted a .890 save percentage. I’m not here to shit on Montembeault, because the defense was also hot garbage, but given that Bob is hit or miss, you need your second guy to sort of be a hit when he plays if you want to be a guaranteed playoff team. Driedger was so much of a guaranteed hit that he ended up forcing that platoon, and that made the world of a difference when the otherwise high caliber offense wasn’t there some nights.

of course “additions” is the other one and everyone should in theory be having one of their selections be that. That kinda goes without saying.

 

[austropanther]

Q has successfully implemented where all five players work together on defense and offense with more consistency and cohesion than before, and he got a bunch of new players who were able to get it. There has not been a game where the players seem confused about what they are expected to do, unlike most recent seasons. The few times is happened with Tippett and Stillman, they really stuck out.

Our PP is a catastrophy too often. And we give up a fair amount of odd man rushes and breakaways compared to the TBLs and Canes of this league. Besides that, I agree.

 

[Chaos2k7]

For me its Barkov pushing the team forward. After he came back from injury and Ek had gone down he has been so good. Another level from Barky. Mr Inflappable.

 

[I am not exposed]

Additions is my number one choice.

 

[zeroG]

by the way, i should mention that the schedule option didn't come out of nowhere. i heard it from at least one player early on. to paraphrase, "i think the fact our schedule was front-loaded with some rebuilding teams allowed us to get some wins under our belt and build some confidence in our game".

 

[KW]

Another poll with tough to pick just one or two. It’s making me realize that it’s the whole team, the whole process that’s made the difference.

But having to pick two, I’ll have to credit the new guys and the coaching staff, because those factors led into the other factors working out.

 

[Pigge]

by the way, i should mention that the schedule option didn't come out of nowhere. i heard it from at least one player early on. to paraphrase, "i think the fact our schedule was front-loaded with some rebuilding teams allowed us to get some wins under our belt and build some confidence in our game".

It makes a lot of sense to have it there, but there have been hot starts before and ultimately the team has had a lot of chances to unravel when the schedule got tougher. And the other options prevented that from happening, which was a big difference from earlier seasons. So even if it was a big factor to get the new pieces to gel, it's hard to put it in the top two.

 

[Two4Fighting]

Bill Zito and "Q"
Management Vision and Elite Coaching.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Tie between additions (and subtractions) and coaching.

As solid as Verhaeghe and Duke have been, Forsling came out of nowhere to run top pairing duties once we lost Ekblad.

 

[zeroG]

It makes a lot of sense to have it there, but there have been hot starts before and ultimately the team has had a lot of chances to unravel when the schedule got tougher. And the other options prevented that from happening, which was a big difference from earlier seasons. So even if it was a big factor to get the new pieces to gel, it's hard to put it in the top two.

i picked new guys and schedule. because i think, as you point out, where the two intersect is where some magic happened. the expectation... the belief that you were going to win seemed to take hold early on. it's a habit.

 

[zeroG]

Tie between additions (and subtractions) and coaching.

As solid as Verhaeghe and Duke have been, Forsling came out of nowhere to run top pairing duties once we lost Ekblad.

oh, crap. how did i forget about subtractions you could respond to the question with one word - matheson - and most of us would nod knowingly.

you know, duke was big early, too. he piled up the apples early on.

 

[zeroG]

barkov mentions that Q taught the team how to love winning and hate losing.

hard to do that when you're not winning. perhaps an example of what was going on behind the scenes earlier this season as the team started picking up wins.

it's an example of how much overlap there can be between all of these factors.

 

[Dr Beinfest]

This thread doesn’t have enough love for Driedger cause y’all be sad he can’t stay.

 

[austropanther]

This thread doesn’t have enough love for Driedger cause y’all be sad he can’t stay.

He deserves plenty of love, and we will be very sad when he leaves, but the Spence will dry our tears before they hit the floor

 

[batting1k]

I think this team would be dead in the water, and living on false hope going into the playoffs had Weegs not stepped up like he did. Guy is playing out of his mind at the moment!

Also the goaltending this year has been solid. Got the Panthers many points. If I was better with technology, I would make a highlight reel video of all the Panthers goalies big time saves this year.

Not that Weegar isn’t self motivated, but part of the reason why he and others stepped up is because of the accountability and attitude put in place by guys like Hornqvist, Gudas, etc. This is a completely different locker room compared to > 9 months ago.

 

[Ryuji Yamazaki]

This thread doesn’t have enough love for Driedger cause y’all be sad he can’t stay.

I love Driedger, but I still think we should’ve traded him. He’s absolutely gonna walk when the seasons over. It would’ve been smart asset management to deal him at the trade deadline assuming we could’ve gotten a fair deal.

 

[Ratsreign]

I love Driedger, but I still think we should’ve traded him. He’s absolutely gonna walk when the seasons over. It would’ve been smart asset management to deal him at the trade deadline assuming we could’ve gotten a fair deal.

I’m perfectly fine with them keeping Driedger around. He’s a big reason the Panthers are in this position.

 

[KW]

I love Driedger, but I still think we should’ve traded him. He’s absolutely gonna walk when the seasons over. It would’ve been smart asset management to deal him at the trade deadline assuming we could’ve gotten a fair deal.

Yeah.... but.... what if they win the SC with Driegs in net?

 

[zeroG]

Not that Weegar isn’t self motivated, but part of the reason why he and others stepped up is because of the accountability and attitude put in place by guys like Hornqvist, Gudas, etc. This is a completely different locker room compared to > 9 months ago.

locker room could've been another choice. definitely seems to be a different and more cohesive vibe. (winning early and often can do that...)

it's tough though - there isn't really any direct evidence or statistics. you can only try to measure indirect effects like, say, players stepping up.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

If we had a subtractions list I wonder how many votes it would have received