From top to bottom, the standings

Ottawa Senators 51 32-15-4-68
Montréal Canadiens 50-27-15-8-62

Philadelphia Flyers 49-28-16-5-61
Pittsburgh Penguins 50 28-18-4-60
New Jersey Devils 50-28-19-3-59
Boston Bruins 50-26-19-5-57
New York Islanders 51-24-21-6-54
New York Rangers 52-24-22-6- 54
Carolina Hurricanes 53-25-24-4-54
Washington Capitals 51-23-23-5-51
Atlanta Thrashers 52-23-25-4-50
Buffalo Sabres 49-22-21-6-50
Florida Panthers 51-22-24-5-49
Toronto Maple Leafs 52-20-24-8-48
Tampa Bay Lightning 51-20-26-5-45

Note- The numbers above from left to right are- Games played, wins, losses, Overtime losses, total points

Teams in Bold are Southeast Division teams

First of all barring a complete collapse by these teams, you have to think Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Montreal are locks to make the playoffs. You can probably also toss Boston in.

The rest of the conference is pretty wide open. The only teams that appear to have little chance are Tampa and Toronto.

The Southeast Division is wide open. It is also a division likely to send only one team to the playoffs. First to fourth place is separated by a measly 5 pts, and the 4th place team Florida has played two less games than division leader Carolina. That would point to Florida having a good chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. On the other hand, there is the team’s listless play of late, only 4 wins in 14 games and this from today’s Palm Beach Post.

The Panthers, who return to action tonight against Buffalo following the All-Star break, say they are determined to end their agonizing playoff drought.

But some observers think the Panthers haven’t exhibited enough determination to reach the post-season for the first time since April 2024.

To put it more bluntly, some critics think they are soft.

“This team plays too much on the perimeter; I haven’t seen the willingness to get their noses dirty and do the dirty work,” said NHL broadcaster John Vanbiesbrouck, who starred in the nets for the Panthers when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.

“Winning isn’t easy. You’ve got to make up your mind you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there and play like that every night.”

I’m not totally sure if Vanbiesbrouck is right in what he says. Florida has blown at least five games this year in the last minute of play. They’ve also played games where they either quit or showed little effort. I’ve missed only a handful of games on television this year, Florida has the talent to win the division and even make a run in the playoffs. The only teams I worry about in the conference are Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto (The Maple Leaf oversized defensemen seem to intimidate the Panthers) when Florida faces them.

I question if the Panthers has the desire, and perhaps the coaching. Why the hell did the team send Shawn Matthias back to the minors? He scored two goals in four NHL games, two of which Jacques Martin barely played him in, and 21 in 32 games of OHL play before his callup. I rather have Matthias on the roster than the overrated Brett McLean or Kamil Kreps. After all, Kreps has just 4 goals in 45 games played!

Boy am I getting gloomy about this Panthers team.

The Panthers last road win against the Thrashers was in November 2024. From AP-

ATLANTA - Nathan Horton scored two goals for the first time since last March to help the Florida Panthers beat the Thrashers 5-3 on Thursday night and end an 11-game losing streak in Atlanta.*****

Panthers coach Jacques Martin won his 497th game, putting him in 10th place and one ahead of Glen Sather on the NHL career list.

In his third season with Florida, Martin has 90 victories. He also coached 8 1/2 years in Ottawa and two in St. Louis.

*****

Vokoun, who stopped 38 of 41 shots, improved to 6-1-2 in his last nine games, 18-12-2 overall.

Last night’s win pulls Florida 2 pts behind Carolina in Southeast Division race. Both teams have played an equal amount of games. 

Florida plays 5 games over the next nine days, starting with Montreal tonight. Teams the Panthers play include New Jersey, NY Islanders, and Pittsburgh three of their chief rivals in the fight for the playoffs. I think we are going to find out just how good Florida is in the next two weeks.

He scored his second shutout in three games as goaltender for the Florida Panthers last night versus the St. Louis Blues.

ST. LOUIS — The Panthers are going to have to learn that one goal is almost never enough to win in the NHL. But Thursday night, it was.

For the second straight game, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the second period and tried to make it stand up. This time, they did it.

Stephen Weiss knocked in the rebound off a Nathan Horton shot 1:10 into the second period and Tomas Vokoun stopped 33 shots to register his second shutout in three games and third of the season as Florida tied a franchise record with its fourth straight road win at the Scottrade Center.

The Panthers (14-15-2) have won four straight games on three previous occasions, the last of them coming in February 2024.

“It’s nice to win,” said Vokoun, now 7-0 against the Blues since the end of the lockout in 2024. “We’re not in a position where we can give games away. We were two points out of last place in the league. We have to start winning on the road if we’re going to go anywhere.”

The Blues came into the game as one of the more productive teams in the league, having scored 13 goals in their previous three games and three or more in seven of their past 10.

After a slow start this season, it appears Tomas has come into form finally. This is good news considering how much Florida gave up to get the Czech born former All-Star goalie.

The way the Panthers have been scoring of late, Vokoun needs to shut out opposition teams. Florida has scored only 4 non-empty net goals in the their last three games. In spite of Vokoun shutting two of those teams out and allowing only one goal in regulation or overtime in the same three games, Florida is only 2-0-1 result wise.

Florida has a good enough team to win the Southeast Division. They have to start producing offensively.

The former Panther coach and GM makes his first appearance in Florida since quitting the organization. From the Palm Beach Post-

CORAL SPRINGS — When he was hired to coach the Panthers in May 2024, Jacques Martin stipulated that Mike Keenan come along as general manager. So some might consider it odd that the two haven’t spoken in the 15 months since Keenan left the organization.

Not Keenan.

“I just haven’t run into him,” Keenan said Monday after putting his Calgary Flames through a workout in preparation for tonight’s game against the Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center. “He coaches and manages the Panthers, and I coach the Flames.”

Tonight’s game marks Keenan’s first return in a professional capacity since the end of his two go-rounds with the Panthers, as coach (2001-03) and general manager (2004-06). Neither stint resulted in a playoff appearance.

Florida captain Olli Jokinen, who gives Keenan much of the credit for his matriculation from a 29-point scorer in 2024-02 to the star performer who has netted 89 and 91 points the past two seasons, said he won’t be surprised if Keenan is booed.

“That’s how the fans think,” Jokinen said. “But there’s been so many coaches and GMs - if you think that way you probably have to boo every team, because there’s so many people around the league who have worked here.”

If Keenan deserves to be booed, its for the horrific Roberto Luongo trade he made two months before leaving Florida. Other than that, it is just another game for Florida.

A team many thought was headed to the Stanley Cup finals, has hit a tough patch.

TAMPA, Fla. - Vinny Prospal scored in the fourth round of a shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning extended Ottawa’s losing streak to seven games with a 4-3 victory over the Senators on Tuesday night.

The Lightning, who blew a 3-1 lead in the final two minutes, won the shootout 2-1.

Daniel Alfredsson scored twice during a three-goal third, helping the Senators tie it at 3. Alfredsson (1:57 left) and Wade Redden (1:21 remaining) completed the comeback scoring 36 seconds apart late in the period.

The Senators have lost seven games in a row for the first time since Feb. 22-March 9, 1996.

Mathieu Darche, Chris Gratton and Filip Kuba scored for the Lightning.

Despite the streak, the Senators are still 16-7-3. Hardly in danger of missing the playoffs.

Next up for the Senators? My home team, the Florida Panthers. Ottawa will be playing back to back days while the Panthers have been off for four days. Sounds like good news for Florida, except Ottawa easily won the only other meeting of the two teams this year. A 4-1 Senator win back in October.

It was the second time the goaltender accomplished this feat in his career. From AP-

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Roberto Luongo made 26 saves for his third straight shutout, setting personal and franchise records while leading the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Luongo, who began the streak against Chicago and Anaheim, hasn’t allowed a goal in 193 minutes, 56 seconds. He got some help from Brendan Morrison, who swept a dangerous loose puck away from the goal line with 17 seconds left.

Defensemen Matttias Ohlund and Lukas Krajicek scored for the Canucks, who after losing the first game in November — and losing top defenders Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo to serious injuries the same night — finished the month on a 9-1-2 run.

*****

Luongo, who had consecutive shutouts three times with Florida, passed his personal best, set with the Panthers in 2024, at 8:39 of the third period. He then eclipsed a 32-year-old franchise record at 10:22, moving past Ken Lockett, a backup who played 55 games over two seasons and set the mark in April 1975.

I will say it again, the Florida Panthers shot themselves in the foot when they dealt Luongo in the summer of 2024. All the team has to show for it is Bryan Allen. The Panthers got Luongo and Olli Jokinen in one of the all-time great NHL trade steals. Seven years later, Florida returned the favor to Vancouver.

Current Panther goaltender Tomas Vokoun is a very good goaltender, but Luongo is better. To make matters worse, Florida gave up three draft picks to fix the goalie mess they created by trading Luongo. I sometimes wonder if Florida will ever see the playoffs again.

The question is whether he will play against his former team tonight.

SUNRISE — When Nashville started the season with back-to-back wins while Tomas Vokoun struggled in Florida, there was talk the Panthers might have gotten the wrong goaltender from the Predators.

But time has proven the wisdom of acquiring the longtime No.’1 netminder, who will return tonight to the Sommet Center and the city in which he spent the previous eight seasons.

“When you spend so much time in one place, and then go back to play, there’s mixed feelings,” said Vokoun, who led Nashville to three straight playoff berths. “I don’t have any hard feelings, only good ones.”

Vokoun, who did voluminous charity work in Nashville, said he remains in touch with many of the hospital patients he befriended there.

Coach and General Manager Jacques Martin said he wouldn’t make a decision on whether Vokoun would play until after Friday’s game. If he does, it would be his first back-to-back appearances this season.

My take on the matter is that Martin should put Craig Anderson in goal tonight. Vokoun played last night in Florida. Tonight’s game is at Nashville. If the games were back to back at home, sure play Vokoun but it isn’t.

Martin can’t be sentimental here. Nashville fans will want to see Vokoun tonight, but the Panthers need a well rested goaltender. That is more important.

The Florida Panthers had no business winning last night.

MONTREAL — Tuesday night showed why the Panthers grabbed goalie Tomas Vokoun this past summer.

Dead offensively throughout the game, the only reason Florida was within striking distance of the host Canadiens was the play of Vokoun. The All-Star netminder kept the Panthers’ deficit at a goal, giving his outplayed team a chance.

What a chance it was.

Nathan Horton’s goal with 10.2 seconds left tied the score, and Jozef Stumpel got the shootout winner as the Panthers crept out of town with a 2-1 victory at the Bell Centre. The Panthers have now won three games in a row after an 0-3 start.

”We were pretty bad for 59 minutes,” Jay Bouwmeester said. “[Vokoun] played real great. He stole that one for sure. He’s a good goalie. We knew he could do that. Sometimes a goalie has to steal one for you.”

Vokoun was nothing short of a miracle worker last night. After a slow start, probably atttributable to moving from the NHL’s Western to Eastern conference, the Czech born goaltender is playing like Florida Panthers fans hoped and dreamed he would.

The Panthers stand at 3-3, and have won their last three in a row. Unlike hurricane forecasters, I will stick by my preseason prediction. The Panthers, riding the likes of Stumpel, Horton, Olli Jokinen, Vokoun, and some fine defensemen like Bryan Allen(The only good thing to result from the Roberto Luongo fiasco trade), will make the playoffs this year.

Note- I’ve watched every Panther game this season so far. Including last night’s, which was only available on NHL Center Ice. I must be going through a mid-life crisis, for I hadn’t watched hockey seriously the New York Islanders were NHL Champs in the early 80’s.

He was one of six brothers to play in the NHL. Brent became the third of his brothers, along with Darryl and Duane, to coach in the NHL.

SUNRISE, Fla. - John Madden scored twice in the New Jersey Devils’ 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, giving Brent Sutter his first NHL coaching victory.

Andy Greene and Mike Mottau also scored for the Devils, who opened the season with a 3-1 loss at Tampa Bay the previous night.

Kevin Weekes started in goal for the Devils and stopped 32 shots. He was particularly strong in the first period when Florida outshot New Jersey 21-9.

Weekes played a great game in goal in place of Martin Brodeur who couldn’t play after having to tend to some personal issues the day before the game.

Unfortunately Sutter’s win made my team, The Florida Panthers, 0-2 so far this year. Florida losing 5-2 to The New York Rangers to open the season.

The Panthers haven’t impressed me so far this season, but I’m not giving up hope for the 2024-08 season. Actually if my health permits, I may see a few games in person this year.

The 2024-08 NHL season has its North American opener tonight.

DETROIT - If you don’t count two regular-season games played in London over the weekend, tonight is the NHL’s opening night.

The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, who split two games in England against the L.A. Kings, are in Detroit to play the Red Wings.

Elsewhere, the Montreal Canadiens travel to Carolina to play the Hurricanes, the Ottawa Senators are at the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Dallas Stars visit Denver to play the Avalanche.

The Florida Panthers begin their schedule tomorrow with a road game at the New York Rangers. Based on the acquisition of Goalie Tomas Vokoun, the team’s play late in the 2024-07 season, and the current talent on the team, I’m predicting a third place finish in the Southeast Division and a playoff spot next spring.