Are patient Panthers the cat’s meow?
Underlying numbers hint that Florida may be more pretender than contender
The sun shines in Florida and it seems to be particularly shining these days on the Panthers.
They are the hottest team in the NHL.
Yes, the Panthers: the team with more alligators in their neighbourhood than fans in their seats, the focus of persistent on-the-move-toQuebec rumours, and the club that has missed 13 of the last 14 post-seasons.
Heading into Monday night’s game in Vancouver, Florida . . .
Had won 12 game in a row, a club record. It’s also the longest streak in NHL history among teams that failed to make the playoffs the previous season.
Had won six in a row on the road, also a club record.
Was 22-3-2 when scoring first. Yes, the Panthers score first a lot.
Had lost just four times in regulation since Nov. 10, during a 21-4-1run.
The secret to the Panthers’ success is talent-hunting general manager Dale Tallon. When you’re as bad as the Panthers have been, you’re bound to get some high draft picks. To his credit, Tallon has rarely missed since arriving in May of 2010.
Their core today — outside of the ageless, mullet-reviving Jaromir Jagr — is a who’s who of recent firstrounders: Aaron Ekblad (first overall, 2014); Aleksander Barkov (second, 2013); Jonathan Huberdeau (third, 2011); Erik Gudbranson (third, 2010) and Nick Bjugstad (19th, 2010). Throw in a mid-round gem in Vincent Trocheck (64th overall, 2011) and you have the recipe for the tankand-build-through-the-draft logicians.
Of course, Tallon has something else going for him: the ability to be patient. It’s not like the Florida fan base was clamouring for quick fixes by trading picks or rushing players. That’s because there really wasn’t a Panthers fan base.
The team was always on the edge of financial despair, playing to more empty seats than full ones. Their financial struggles got a boost when Broward County provided $86 million in relief on their arena lease. Crowds are better this year, but not great. The Panthers are 26th in attendance, but trending higher, with two recent home sellouts. The question is: Are they for real? Puck possession hockey is all the rage, and the 5-on-5 Corsi analytics that go with it. By those standards, the Panthers are not a very good hockey team, 26th at 47.2 per cent, according to war-on-ice.com.
The logic? Their flaws — mainly, an inability to control the puck — will catch up to them, especially if their goaltending, led by 36-year-old Roberto Luongo, collapses.
To that end, they might not ultimately be any better than the Avalanche, Leafs and Flames, whose most recent trips to the playoffs were, as Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy pointed out recently, the result of shooting and save percentages that were deemed to be unsustainable.
But let’s think outside the box. Everyone started playing the neutral zone trap when it ended fire-wagon hockey. Now everyone is aboard the puck-possession train that got around the neutral zone trap. Some brand of hockey will eventually beat puck possession as the game continues to evolve.
Maybe the talent-laden Panthers have the formula to make high shooting and save percentages more sustainable. Like the Maple Leafs of 13 months ago, the Panthers are being outshot regularly by wide margins, and winning anyway.
“It doesn’t bother me one bit,” coach Gerard Gallant told reporters in Edmonton on Sunday. “We’re in a good position right now. So if somebody says our analytics aren’t good and we’re still in first place, I’m pretty happy.”