The Real Picture

As Panther fans from all over South Florida wonder what will become of Olli Jokinen, new head coach Peter DeBoer, and the 2008-09 season, a larger problem once again looms.

TheStar.com, a Toronto based news website is reporting, "The union also agreed to form a committee to decide whether to opt out of its labour agreement next summer, two years before it's due to expire."

This means that the NHL may be stupid enough to be heading towards another lockout as soon as the 2009-10 season. It goes without saying that if this happens, the NHL is finished for good.

The truth is no matter how the Panthers do, I still love hockey. I go to between 20 and 30 games a season at the BankAtlantic Center, and it's the source of many dates for myself as well as outings with friends. The thought of hockey disappearing again is really more than I can take.

My ultimate goal in the next few years of my life is to make hockey popular again in South Florida. I hope to turn my internship with ESPN Radio into an eventual chance to get a show, in which my goal would be to start the first all NHL show in South Florida radio. I know it's a long shot, but I feel I can be the driving force behind a revitalization in hockey awareness in South Florida. The only hitch? Hockey needs to be around for me to have any chance of this.

If the Panthers miss the playoffs again next season I will be upset, but not as upset as I would be if the ice never freezes again for the following season.

Peter DeBoer

Peter DeBoer:
Current Winning Percentage: 67%
Number of Years in hockey: 21 years
Number of Years as head coach: 13 years
Number of Winning seasons: 12
Number of Years in NHL: 0
Number of Championships: 2(OHL)

Some early encouraging numbers of the Florida Panthers new head coach. To me, we could have done a lot worse with another emotionless guy like Andre Savard. I've heard that DeBoer is not afraid to yell at his team after a bad performance, and that he gets through mostly with younger players. That's exactly what the Panthers are made up of. I'm far from sold on the guy, but I'm certainly ready to give him a chance to prove his 12 of 13 winning seasons in the OHL were no abberation.

WTF Peter DeBoer New Panther Coach

I didn't expect them to make the wrong move at coach but they did it once again and picked the wrong guy. They won't win more than 25 games next year. Now Bouwmeester is probably not going to sign because of this. This organization is a complete mess and Joke to the NHL.


I shake my head in times like these, my head is about to fall off with this horrible organization.


ALL OF THOSE NAMES ON THE LIST AND HE'S THE ONE PICKED? IF THIS IS THE CASE THEN THEY BETTER BRING UP DUCO WHO PLAYED FOR THIS GUY LAST YEAR.



HORRIBLE ONCE AGAIN BY THE FLORIDA PANTHERS