Offseason is upon us (a little earlier than we would have liked), and what better time for offseason material? What follows is part 2 of a 99 part list that we’ll be counting down over the next three months. Yesterday we went over Peter Worrell, Rob Globke, Craig MacDonald, Dave Morriset and Mike Duco. Today, we have a left winger, a right winger, two centers and a defenseman for your viewing pleasure. For all the gruesome details on how this list was built, click here. If you tuned in yesterday, read on…
284. Kenndal McArdle
McArdle, a left-handed shooting left winger, was selected by the Panthers in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry draft, with the 20th overall pick. In 2005-06, he scored 71 points in 72 games for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. He spent 2006-07 between two WHL franchises, the Warriors and the Vancouver Giants. 2007-08 would see him split time between the AHL Rochester Americans and the ECHL Florida Everblades.
In 2008-09, he spent most of the season with the Americans, but joined the Panthers for his NHL debut, playing three games in December. He earned a minus-1 rating and two penalty minutes.
McArdle played 19 games for Florida in 2009-10. He collected eight hits in a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in November, and later scored his first (and to date only) NHL goal in a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in January. He also ended up with two assists, a minus-4 rating and 29 penalty minutes.
As in seasons past, McArdle spent the balance of the season with the Americans, joining the Panthers for 11 games over three callups to the NHL. He racked up 27 hits over his final six games with the club, finishing the season at minus-3, with 16 penalty minutes.
McArdle was traded to the Winnipeg Jets on July 9th, 2011 for Angelo Esposito. See video:
McArdle levels Kris Versteeg [HD] (via NHLArchive)
All-time statline: Three seasons, 33 games, one goal, two assists, three points, minus-8, 47 PIM, -0.4 KAPS
283. Scott Timmins
Timmins was drafted in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Panthers. He scored 54 points in 56 games for the OHL Windsor Spitfires in 2009-10.
The left handed center spent the first half of the 2010-11 season in the AHL Rochester Americans before joining the Panthers for his NHL debut in February. He scored his first career goal in only his second game with the club, a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. After 19 games, he had just that one point, along with a minus-8 rating and eight penalty minutes.
This season, he has scored 27 points in 70 games for the San Antonio Rampage, and is currently skating in the Calder Cup playoffs, still sporting a playoff beard.
Timmins on the perfect Playoff Beard (via sanantoniorampage)
All-time statline: One season, 19 games, one goal, zero assists, one point, minus-8, eight PIM, -0.4 KAPS
282. Serge Payer
Payer, a center for the OHL Kitchener Rangers, signed a free agent contract with the Panthers in 1997. He would remain with the Rangers through 2000, including for a spell in 1999 when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition which nearly ended his hockey career.
After starting the 2000-01 season with the AHL Louisville Panthers, Payer joined Florida in November, playing 43 NHL games. He scored his first career goal on November 18th, in a 5-2 loss to Ottawa. He would finish the campaign with five goals and one assist, an even rating and 21 penalty minutes.
After missing most of the 2001-02 season with a back injury, he spent the balance of the 2002-03 season with the AHL San Antonio Rampage. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a ninth round pick after the season. Payer only played five games for the Senators that season, and Florida resigned him just prior to the never played 2004-05 season as a free agent for the 2005-06 season.
Payer played 71 games for Florida that year, scoring two goals and four assists with a minus-7 rating and 26 penalty minutes. After the season, he signed again with Ottawa, again playing only five games with the parent club in 2006-07.
After spending the 2007-08 season with the Minnesota Wilds’ AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, Payer went on to Germany, playing two seasons with Krefeld Pinguine, then one season with a Norwegian team before retiring after the 2011 season. He currently works as an agent for high-end hockey talent through his company, Unlimited Sports Management.
Daymond Langkow vs Serge Payer 12/27/00 (via jayc948)
All-time statline: Two seasons, 114 games, seven goals, five assists, 12 points, minus-7, 47 PIM, -0.3 KAPS
281. Jeff Ware
Ware, a 6’4″ defenseman, was originally selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft with the 15th overall pick. He spent most of his first season with the OHL Oshawa Generals. He would make his NHL debut for the Leafs on opening day of 1996, ultimately playing a grand total of 13 games with the club before spending most of the season with the Generals.
In 1997-98, Ware spent all but two games with the AHL’s St. John’s Maple Leafs. Toronto traded him to Florida for David Nemirovsky in early 1999. Nemirovsky played in his Panther debut in April of 1998-99, playing six games at the end of the season. He posted one assist, a minus-6 rating, and six penalty minutes.
Ware would never return to the parent club, instead spending 1999-00 with the AHL Louisville Panthers. He signed a free agent contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, spending two seasons with their AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch before announcing his retirement in January, 2002 after five knee surgeries.
All-time statline: One season, six games, zero goals, one assist, one point, minus-6, six PIM, -0.3 KAPS
280. Jason Podollan
Podollan, a right winger, was drafted by the Panthers from the WHL Spokane Chiefs in the second round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft with the 31st overall pick. He scored 146 points over the next two seasons with Spokane in 128 games.
He opened the 1996-97 season with the AHL Carolina Monarchs before making his NHL debut with the Panthers in November. He scored his first career goal in a 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on December 10th. It was the only goal he would score as a member of the Panthers. He returned to the Monarchs for the month of January, again earning a recall to the Panthers in February. After a total of 19 games, he had collected one goal and one assist with a minus-3 rating and four penalty minutes. He was traded in March to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with whom he played 14 games over two NHL seasons.
Podollan later played seven games with the Los Angeles Kings and one game for the New York Islanders. He then played four professional seasons abroad, three in Germany and one in Japan.
All-time statline: One season, 19 games, one goal, one assist, two points, minus-3, four PIM, -0.3 KAPS
Let’s hear what you think, and check back Monday to see numbers 279-275.
Of these five, who had the most impact with Florida?
| Kenndal McArdle | 13 |
| Jason Podollan | 2 |
| Serge Payer | 17 |
| Jeff Ware | 0 |
| Scott Timmins | 19 |