Game On!!! Lockout Over

[CoolburnIsGone]

Hey Coolburn, didn't you have some juicy info about the lockout you wanted to share a couple of weeks ago?

I remember seeing this comment briefly last night and forgot to reply to it. Then saw an email from Viner saying he'd be in NY tomorrow (to sign off on the new CBA obviously) so figured I'd reply now.

Essentially the "juicy info" (which it really wasnt) was that Viner was communicating via twitter with player agents to get a gauge of how the players were thinking during the negotiations. This was being done by the Penguins with Pat Brisson, super agent (represents Sidney Crosby) to allow the owners to communicate somewhat with the players. So its not unique to our team and was mentioned at one point by most of the people reporting on the lockout. It was a back alley channel for the owners to stay in contact with the players.

That day I posted about it, Viner came back into the office here where I sit and was having trouble getting twitter to refresh on his phone. One of my coworkers in the dept was helping Viner get it to work and he was able to confirm for me exactly what I saw too. I wont get into more details but that was the gist of the "juicy info".

Oh another little funny thing to share: a few weeks ago we were changing out the phone system here in our office. I'm in the IT dept so I'm helping do that and had to do some additional training on the weekend to provide help to users on Monday morning. We got to train on Viner's phone and I saw that we had to program Michael Yormark into his personal speed dial list. Kinda funny to see his speed dial list was like daughter, daughter, girlfriend and then Michael Yormark.

 

[CoolburnIsGone]

Interesting news coming out about the schedule. Assuming since we are the defending division champs, we will most likely only have to face Winnipeg 4 times this season (twice up in Canada). We most likely play Tampa 5 times this yr and probably Carolina 5 times also (the Caps being the other team we face 4 times). That should favor us in terms of travel and schedule since I would rather face Tampa & Carolina 5 times each and the Caps & Jets 4 times each.

@TSNBobMcKenzie: Each team plays: 4 games vs. two Divisional opponents (8); 5 games vs. two divisional opponents (10); 3 games vs 10 Conference rivals (30).

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Interesting news coming out about the schedule. Assuming since we are the defending division champs, we will most likely only have to face Winnipeg 4 times this season (twice up in Canada). We most likely play Tampa 5 times this yr and probably Carolina 5 times also (the Caps being the other team we face 4 times). That should favor us in terms of travel and schedule since I would rather face Tampa & Carolina 5 times each and the Caps & Jets 4 times each.

I wonder how they decide the split between home and away with the 3 games against conference rivals.

 

[Panteras]

I wonder how they decide the split between home and away with the 3 games against conference rivals.

flip a coin

 

[floridada]

I remember seeing this comment briefly last night and forgot to reply to it. Then saw an email from Viner saying he'd be in NY tomorrow (to sign off on the new CBA obviously) so figured I'd reply now.

Essentially the "juicy info" (which it really wasnt) was that Viner was communicating via twitter with player agents to get a gauge of how the players were thinking during the negotiations. This was being done by the Penguins with Pat Brisson, super agent (represents Sidney Crosby) to allow the owners to communicate somewhat with the players. So its not unique to our team and was mentioned at one point by most of the people reporting on the lockout. It was a back alley channel for the owners to stay in contact with the players.

That day I posted about it, Viner came back into the office here where I sit and was having trouble getting twitter to refresh on his phone. One of my coworkers in the dept was helping Viner get it to work and he was able to confirm for me exactly what I saw too. I wont get into more details but that was the gist of the "juicy info".

Oh another little funny thing to share: a few weeks ago we were changing out the phone system here in our office. I'm in the IT dept so I'm helping do that and had to do some additional training on the weekend to provide help to users on Monday morning. We got to train on Viner's phone and I saw that we had to program Michael Yormark into his personal speed dial list. Kinda funny to see his speed dial list was like daughter, daughter, girlfriend and then Michael Yormark.

Heh, that's pretty cool. I'd imagine you hear a lot of stuff that you're not allowed to share.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Hope they announce the schedule soon. Want to get my tickets for opening night.

 

[PanthersHockey1]

Now there are rumors swirling were playing the bolts on opening night instead of the caps.

 

[LUUUUUIS]

Now there are rumors swirling were playing the bolts on opening night instead of the caps.

That's interesting. GR had us playing the Caps on the 19th in his latest blog entry... and now it doesn't specify a team. Hopefully they release a schedule Thursday.

 

[LUUUUUIS]

From what I could find, this is a list of who all are in Florida currently. Anyone know of others that haven't turned up yet? (list includes injured and unsigned players)

Campbell
Versteeg
Weiss
Theodore
Clemmensen
Upshall
Matthias
Gudbranson
Jovanovski
Skille
Mueller
Kopecky
Sturm
Dvorak
Kovalev

 

[JP Mick]

From what I could find, this is a list of who all are in Florida currently. Anyone know of others that haven't turned up yet? (list includes injured and unsigned players)

Campbell
Versteeg
Weiss
Theodore
Clemmensen
Upshall
Matthias
Gudbranson
Jovanovski
Skille
Mueller
Kopecky
Sturm
Dvorak
Kovalev

Flash and Weaver have been here for a while too I think.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Flash and Weaver have been here for a while too I think.

IIRC Bergy returned to Florida right after he got injured.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

That's interesting. GR had us playing the Caps on the 19th in his latest blog entry... and now it doesn't specify a team. Hopefully they release a schedule Thursday.

I think they will release the schedule when the players ratify the CBA, whenever that is. It should at least be by Saturday.

From what I could find, this is a list of who all are in Florida currently. Anyone know of others that haven't turned up yet? (list includes injured and unsigned players)

Campbell
Versteeg
Weiss
Theodore
Clemmensen
Upshall
Matthias
Gudbranson
Jovanovski
Skille
Mueller
Kopecky
Sturm
Dvorak
Kovalev

So I'm wondering when Huberdeau will show up ?

 

[Coach Nate]

I think they will release the schedule when the players ratify the CBA, whenever that is. It should at least be by Saturday.



So I'm wondering when Huberdeau will show up ?

He'll be there Sunday according to George Richards

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

He'll be there Sunday according to George Richards

Thank you. I might go to that one and maybe more. We'll see how work schedule plays out.

 

[johano90]

Hey guys, I attended practice this morning and thought I would share some of my observations. Pretty sparse crowd, probably more media than fans there... Tallon was standing off the side of the bench for part of the practice joking with Jovo and some of the other guys.

As far as attendance the big surprise for me was Matthias. I've read on here that he was supposed to be hurt but he looks fully recovered and was skating really hard throughout. He was probably our best player on the ice, followed by Mueller. The 15 or so guys spent part of the practice scrimmaging, and goal scorers were Skille (2), Upshall (2), and I think Mueller. Matthias assisted a real beauty to Skille that set him up for an open net not even he could miss. Interesting that the first 3 or 4 shots went in, neither Theo nor Clemm looked particularly strong.

Gudbranson looked strong, though not much contact even during the scrimmage, but his one timers and slapshots went off without a hitch.

Mueller looked great out there. If he stays healthy I think he can have a great year. He's also a lot bigger than I expected him to be, think Matthias size but a harder shot. Really looking forward to more of him.

As for the new guys... they were alright... Kovalev worked a lot on his own doing puck handling drills and shooting. His hands are still really smooth, though both his one timers and passes were atrocious. Svatos was fairly invisible, even when I paid attention to him. Looks like a strong shot though. He raced Campbell in a suicide type skating drill and got sorely beat, not sure if he's in great shape. Oh, and when GR asked Svatos for an interview I'm pretty sure he accidentally called him Matt instead of Marek...

Besides that it was pretty low tempo. Weiss was apparently battling some flu, he barely played at all. I'll probably be going the rest of the week so let me know if you have questions or want me to look at someone in particular.

 

[MillarWithASave]

Hey guys, I attended practice this morning and thought I would share some of my observations. Pretty sparse crowd, probably more media than fans there... Tallon was standing off the side of the bench for part of the practice joking with Jovo and some of the other guys.

As far as attendance the big surprise for me was Matthias. I've read on here that he was supposed to be hurt but he looks fully recovered and was skating really hard throughout. He was probably our best player on the ice, followed by Mueller. The 15 or so guys spent part of the practice scrimmaging, and goal scorers were Skille (2), Upshall (2), and I think Mueller. Matthias assisted a real beauty to Skille that set him up for an open net not even he could miss. Interesting that the first 3 or 4 shots went in, neither Theo nor Clemm looked particularly strong.

Gudbranson looked strong, though not much contact even during the scrimmage, but his one timers and slapshots went off without a hitch.

Mueller looked great out there. If he stays healthy I think he can have a great year. He's also a lot bigger than I expected him to be, think Matthias size but a harder shot. Really looking forward to more of him.

As for the new guys... they were alright... Kovalev worked a lot on his own doing puck handling drills and shooting. His hands are still really smooth, though both his one timers and passes were atrocious. Svatos was fairly invisible, even when I paid attention to him. Looks like a strong shot though. He raced Campbell in a suicide type skating drill and got sorely beat, not sure if he's in great shape. Oh, and when GR asked Svatos for an interview I'm pretty sure he accidentally called him Matt instead of Marek...

Besides that it was pretty low tempo. Weiss was apparently battling some flu, he barely played at all. I'll probably be going the rest of the week so let me know if you have questions or want me to look at someone in particular.

Pretty sure Matthias only had a concusion, everyone was unsure when he would return, but he suffered it in early December anyways. Keep an eye on Svatos for me, really want to know how he does. Was Dvorak there?

Thanks for the update by the way

 

[Dread Clawz]

If Weiss has the flu he should stay the hell away from everyone. Where did you hear that?

 

[johano90]

Pretty sure Matthias only had a concusion, everyone was unsure when he would return, but he suffered it in early December anyways. Keep an eye on Svatos for me, really want to know how he does. Was Dvorak there?

Thanks for the update by the way

Dvorak and Sturm were there in black NHLPA jerseys. Everyone else, including Kovalev and Svatos, were in Panthers gear. Yeah, I'm not a doctor but Matthias looked healthy to me.

 

[johano90]

If Weiss has the flu he should stay the hell away from everyone. Where did you hear that?

I thought Harvey said it but I could be mistaken. Weiss was probably first guy off the ice as well, didn't look good.

Edit: Here it is: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...rs-kevin-dineen--0110-20130109,0,789179.story

 

[PanthersHockey1]

I dont expect the caliber of hockey across the league not just our own team to be that particularly high for the first 10-15 games just because of the lack of time of training camp and working with nhl coaches and trainers.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

That's interesting. GR had us playing the Caps on the 19th in his latest blog entry... and now it doesn't specify a team. Hopefully they release a schedule Thursday.

Gary Bettman said the schedule will be released as soon as the players ratify the CBA, per NHL.com. The players will finish ratifying Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

 

[Ghoste]

There's a small clip of Mules scoring on a breakaway. Click on the link and you'll find it:

http://video.panthers.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=93

-ghoste

 

[albator71]

Hi guys, I can't believe we are actually talking hockey here, I'm so excited!!! I would like to know if you guys think Jakob Markstrom will start the season with the Panthers? Thank you.

And I wish you a great season!!!

 

[MillarWithASave]

Hi guys, I can't believe we are actually talking hockey here, I'm so excited!!! I would like to know if you guys think Jakob Markstrom will start the season with the Panthers? Thank you.

And I wish you a great season!!!

Nope, he won't even back-up I don't think. One more year in the AHL and he will be set to possibly start, if not back-up to Luongo or Theodore.

 

[Laus723]

Saw on I think Twitter, or maybe here, that he'll be at camp. He'd have to steal the show to stay, I'd think.