Comments on: Dineen says Panthers deserve the worst record in the NHL

By: LampyB

LampyB — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:16:11 +0000

What’s wrong with jacob markstrom? If goaltending is that bad (which it was last year too) markstrom is ready and has big potential…

By: z561

z561 — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 20:21:41 +0000

Not winnin’ for Mackinnon.

Btw, trading for Luongo does NOTHING for us….

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:25:06 +0000

Well, actually they would have fallen to 7th if they didn’t win the division since they would have swapped spots with Washington. Their division being weak last year is my point though – would they have made it in if Washington hadn’t crapped the bed, if Tampa had had some goaltending, if Winnipeg hadn’t had to travel so much, or if Carolina hadn’t been, well, Carolina?

Going on points alone, Florida would have been 6th in the East. They were 6 points behind New Jersey (who ended up 6th by virtue of the division winners guaranteed a top 3 spot) but only 5 points ahead of Buffalo, who were in 9th. Florida would have been just ahead of Washinton and Ottawa for the last playoff spots. The other three Southeast teams were 10th, 11th and 12th in the East – hardly a division where anyone was pushing the other top teams in the East, or even the top teams in the Atlantic division.

Sure, someone has to win the Southeast and get that guaranteed playoff spot. But if the difference between 3rd last year and 7th was 2 points for Florida, that’s hardly even a strong indication of 8th or better this year.

By: misterchainbluelightning

misterchainbluelightning — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:10:13 +0000

They weren’t a guarantee but they did win their division last year, and at worst would have been 6th seed in the East if they didn’t win their weak division.

By: misterchainbluelightning

misterchainbluelightning — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:06:40 +0000

And people thought that trading for Roberto for a season or two was a bad idea. Good thing they didn’t allow Markstrom to be playing with this hot mess in front of him. It may have ruined him.

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:56:50 +0000

But what is the problem causing them to be outscored so badly? Is it their goaltending not being good enough? Is it the defence (team defence or the actual defencemen) that is letting their goalies down? A combinaton?

As a Canucks fan for years and years, I’ve seen all three scenarios. In the Luongo era, it’s been team defence just as much if not more than the goalies being responsible, so changing goalies wouldn’t be a solution unless the team also tightens up.

I think Florida certainly are missing what they lost when Garrison left (which isn’t replaced defensively by Kuba) and having Gudbranson out doesn’t help either. They weren’t a guarantee to be a repeat playoff team since they only got in by so much last year, so it isn’t unexpected for them to have a drop in performance. But they certainly might benefit in on ice performance from improving their team in a deal like one that’s been suggested for Luongo.