Hello again Litter Box Cats readers and Panthers fans. My name is Nathan Wells and I'm the assistant editor over at SB Nation Minnesota. One of the things I do is cover Gopher hockey and get the chance to see and talk to Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau.

Instead of giving an update on both Florida prospects like I normally do, I thought with tonight's game against Denver being nationally broadcast on NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) it would be nice to give a quick scouting report on what to look for. With the Panthers off, it's still a good night to watch some hockey (unless you're cool and have Friday night plans) because almost every Florida college prospect is on national TV. My focus is on the Minnesota-Denver game but Connor Brickley (Vermont) plays in the early NBC Sports Net game, Corban Knight (North Dakota) and Joe Basaraba (Minnesota Duluth) face off on CBS Sports Net and Zach Hyman (Michigan) is on BTN if that's available.

The Gophers-Pioneers game is the biggest, however, with five Florida prospects playing. Denver has Drew Shore, Sam Brittain and John Lee with Rau and Bjugstad playing for Minnesota.

More on Minnesota-Denver after the jump discussing how to spot and what to look for in the players.

Ed. Note: Feel free to utilize this post as an Open Thread for this evening's games.

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Spoke with the Panthers Season Ticket account sales, and apparently for me to receive my Playoff Tickets for my seats (Section 101) I am forced to purchase my season seats for next year at $250 a game (new RedZone area).

This Organization is a Joke. I've had season Tickets since 1993, and still kept buying for the passed 10 year playoff drought, and now the team is Screwing over their fans by blackmailing them with Playoff tickets! What a way to turn on your fans!

Now that things have gone awry with the upstart Panthers for now I decided to look into the past of South Florida hockey and discovered the WHA Miami Screaming Eagles.

via www.authenticsportscollectibles.com

With talk of a new alternate being introduced next season at the soonest I decided to take inspiration from their uniform designs.

This is how the original Screaming Eagles' sweaters looked like.

via www.whahockey.com

The Heat have decided to come out in the ABA Miami Floridians Jerseys again this season.

via a.espncdn.com

All this despite having no direct connection to the four-year 1970's franchise. Why not the Panthers for the team that never played a single game?

Tough times in BC; how'd this poor dude make it past Game Seven?

Hello once again Panther fans and Litter Box Cats readers. With the first half of the season over and everyone (hopefully) getting a chance to watch both Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau play for Team USA during the World Juniors, I figure it's time to give a quick update on their play at the University of Minnesota. If you don't know, I write about the team as the assistant editor over at SB Nation Minnesota and have gotten the chance to see and talk to both.

In addition, there are some observations about Rocco Grimaldi and Corban Knight from their game against the Gophers a couple months ago at the end of this.

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This is my concept for a Winter Classic game at Marlins Ballpark in Miami. Threw a lot of colors out there cause I'm guessing the Fish will want them, also placed signage and logos in both English and Spanish. It's totally possible to have this game even if it isn't a New Year's Eve type of event, maybe a Hispanic Heritage Night (already do a Jewish Chanukah Night). The Panthers could do it for their 20th anniversary season. Florida may be the only southern team with the best chance to host the game due to the snowbirds that come here, the retractable roof negates any weather problems short of Cloverfield monsters, and our team might just be good enough in the future to be that big of a draw.

Ed. Note: (Click the pic to embiggen)

While I have been enjoying every moment of this season, I can not help but look forward to next season. I am not rushing this season to end in any way but I am looking forward to more relevancy at home games. There are far too many games when the arena feels like a library from our own fans and not a huge following from away team fans.

This past week has been amazing at the Bank Atlantic Center (though I have had to miss the past two) and South Florida is starting to buzz hockey again. It will take time for our fan base to build again but the new divisions will certainly assist with that along with winning. Gone will be the days of barely drawing against teams like Carolina, Atlanta(Though Winnipeg has been a great/annoying draw) and Islanders. Instead there will consistently be fierce rivalries between the Canadians, Leafs, and Bruins, at least from a fans perspective. While yes these games traditionally feature far too many fans from the opposing teams but it sure feels great when we send them home with a loss. It feels like this team feeds off of us and if there is a buzz among the clashing fan bases, the harder our boys play. In turn, the more we win, the more bandwagon fans will show, and hopefully the less we will see of the obnoxious and classless visiting fans like what was experienced by our Canadian fans up North booing our team. It will take time and individual effort to rebuild our once promising fan base but we (the franchise and fan base) are taking the right steps to doing that and building these rivalries will only help.

Consider the fan bases who will now be part of our division; Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Buffalo, Ottawa, and in-state rival Tampa(should be our smallest draw) compared to Tampa(second largest draw in the division), Atlanta(I am leaving out Winnipeg because they spurred the new divisions and would never be part of our division if not for the current circumstance), Washington(I will miss Ovi a ton), and Carolina. The draw for the new division will be significantly better and its a no lose situation. If we are winning then hopefully tickets will become much more scarce for visitors to invade our barn and if we are losing and the fair weather fans are not coming then we can at least secure our teams future with the attendance from the visitors. Oh by the way did I mention that more games will be TARP FREE!

One way or another the new divisions will only be a positive for the future of South Florida hockey. The Redvolution is growing and clashing with other fans is one of the best parts. I am looking forward to throwing many rats on the ice and sending plenty of visitors home for seasons to come.

Rampage netminder Jacob Markstrom keeps it light in an eventual 4-2 victory over the Texas Stars, December 18, 2011. Is this kid sick or what?

Video courtesy of hockeyfan1986 via YouTube. Thx to BReynolds for the hookup.

Very rare Florida Panther reversible leather jacket.

Can't buy this anywhere. This is probably one of only a dozen ever sold.

Jacket is the softest leather you'll find. Practically perfect condition.

Size is medium but it's a big medium. The reverse side is has red sleeves, a blue body with yellow collar. Has the Florida Panthers name in yellow on the back with the word Florida over the word Panthers.

$5000

via i847.photobucket.com

via i847.photobucket.com

Anyone familiar? From the Marriott Harbor Beach, December 14th. Video courtesy of the club.