Welcome one and all to Litter Box Cats. Yes, those in Carolina too.

What a fun trip this crazy odyssey has been. It was my version of Amateur Hour when I began covering/critiquing/flogging the Florida Panthers over two years ago on MySpace Blogs, moving along to Blogger, and now finally settling in at SBNation, but so well worth the effort.

I'm Whale4ever, aka Donny, and it is my distinct pleasure and honor to present you with Litter Box Cats, or unoffially, The Litter Box. We've had a lot of fun over at Blogger the past few months, probably more than we should have considering the Panthers' record, but all the same, I couldn't be more thrilled to be hosted at SBNation. I was awed when I learned the identities of those I'd be working alongside in the hockey section, and promise you'll find this network becoming the #1 hockey blogging resource on the interwebs.

Before we get rolling covering the Cats, I'm going to do the obligatory thank-yous and call-outs to a few wonderful people whose assistance and support has been truly monumental in the eyes of this Panther fan:

• The uber-capable and professional staff of SB Nation, who treated me with respect and dignity when I asked a multitude of hair-pulling amateur questions in the development of this site - a great bunch of folks.
• Sean Leahy, Greg Wyshynski, and Jon Press, among so many others in the blogosphere, without whose strategically-placed links and kind words about The Box I would have easily half the readership. For those merely reading the myriad of hockey blogs out there, I assure you a more dedicated group of fans-turned-writers does not exist in all of sports. We're puck fanatics. We get it.
• The family members and friends who have been there since day one, challenging me to get through the night with "just one more post". Not always an easy task...but no less difficult than boring those same people with the everyday minutia of running not just a blog, but a hockey blog. Heroes. CLG ... don't know how you've remained sane.
• From the Rink's James Mirtle. You all know him and you know his work. The man's a stats-king and number-crunching master. You may not know that he is also extraordinarily kind with his time and supremely helpful (and persistent!). I thank him sincerely for this opportunity.
• So many sites, from the Battle of California to The Pensblog to Barry Melrose Rocks to a dozen others and all of our readers...thank you.

And I still managed to turn this into a rambling Julia Roberts-esque Golden Globe acceptance speech. My apologies to some. For everyone else, let's get to the Panthers. Thank you for reading, and please...bear with me! I'm still learning this stuff!

Make sure to use the FanPosts and FanShots on the right side of the screen...they allow you t ointeract and be every bit as much a part of this - and all SB Nation - blogs. Enjoy!