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LBC’s All-Time Florida Panthers Roster Countdown: 114-112

Welcome back to your Thursday edition of the all-time Panthers Roster Countdown, Chapter XLI. For all the details, click here.

In yesterday’s article, we recapped C Len Barrie (76 games, nine goals, 24 assists), RW Tomas Kopecky (80 games, 10 goals, 22 assists), and C Bob Kudelski (83 games, 20 goals, 19 assists). For today, we have a Finnish goaltender, a defenseman from Alberta, and a right winger from Toronto to share with you.

To read more, click the link below.

114. Jani Hurme

Hurme was a goaltender from Turku, Finland. He was originally selected by the Ottawa Senators in the third round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft with the 58th overall pick. He split two seasons (and most of a third) between four IHL franchises. The Detroit Vipers (9-5-3), the Indianapolis Ice (11-11-3), the Cincinnati Cyclones (14-9-2), and the Grand Rapids Griffins (29-15-4).

Hurme made his first NHL appearance with the 1999-00 Senators, earning a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 4th, 5-2. In parts of three Ottawa seasons, he compiled a 25-14-5 record, with a .905 save percentage and a GAA of 2.48. As hard is it may be to believe, he ranks 10th on Ottawa’s all-time wins list. The Senators traded him to the Panthers just before the 2002-03 season for Billy Thompson and Greg Watson.

As a Panther, Hurme was Roberto Luongo’s only backup, starting around a third of Florida’s matches. In spite of his overall 4-11-6 record, he turned in 15 quality starts. After starting the season 1-1-0, Hurme turned in his only shutout as a member of the Panthers on November 9th against the Calgary Flames in a 3-0 victory.

The Carolina Hurricanes claimed Hurme in the Waiver Draft prior to the 2003-04 season and immediately traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for a fourth round pick. After hurting his back in training camp, he missed the next two complete seasons rehabbing his back and fighting off various hospital infections.

2005-06 would see Hurme split the first part of the season between the ECHL Columbia Inferno (6-7-2, 3.49) and the AHL Chicago Wolves (2-4-0, 3.63). After the Thrashers sent him to the Anaheim Ducks for Joel Stepp on March 6, he played the rest of the season with the AHL Portland Pirates (11-5-0, 2.29). He played in 2006-07 with TPS Turku in Finland (21-16-11, 2.51).He has since appeared with the Malmo Redhawks in Sweden and most recently with Ilves Tampere.

All-Time Statline: One season, 28 games, 1,376 minutes, 4-11-6 record, one shutout, 707 shots faced, 641 saves, 66 goals allowed, 2.88 GAA, .907 save percentage, 3.0 APS.

113. Greg Hawgood

Hawgood was a 5’10” defenseman from Edmonton. He was picked in the 10th round of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft with the 202nd overall pick by the Boston Bruins. In five WHL seasons with the Kamloops Jr. Oilers and the Kamloops Blazers, he racked up 147 goals and 326 helpers in 310 games. The Blazers retired his number four jersey when he moved on to the pros. After the WHL season ended in 1987-88, he would make his pro debut with the Bruins in a 6-5 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on February 13th. He also appeared in two playoff games as the Bruins won the Eastern Conference Championship.

Hawgood totalled 27 goals and 51 assists in 134 Bruins games, with a plus-15 rating and 160 PIM. He later played with the Edmonton Oilers (55 games, seven goals, 25 assists) and the Philadelphia Flyers (59 games, nine goals, 34 assists). The Flyers traded him to the Panthers for cash on November 30, 1993.

As a temporary member of the expansion season Panthers, Hawgood had four multi-point games, including two in a row on December 7th and 8th in victories over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (3-2, one goal, one assist), and the Los Angeles Kings (6-5, two assists). Despite only playing in 33 games with the club, he tied for fourth on the team with a plus-8 rating. Florida sent him on to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jeff Daniels on March 19.

Tony Amonte vs Greg Hawgood (via igotregistered)

After Pittsburgh (33 games, two goals, six assists), Hawgood joined the San Jose Sharks (63 games, six goals, 12 assists), the Vancouver Canucks (95 games, seven goals, 22 assists) and the Dallas Stars (two games). After several AHL seasons, he joined Tappara Tampere and TPS Turku before rejoining the Kamloops Blazers as an assistant coach, eventually coaching the team.

All-Time Statline: One season, 33 games, two goals, 14 assists, 16 points, plus-8 rating, nine PIM, 3.0 APS.

112. David Nemirovsky

Nemirovsky was a 6’1″ right winger from Toronto. He was picked up by the Panthers in the fourth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft with the 84th overall pick. In three seasons in the OHL between the Ottawa 67’s and the Sarnia Sting, he collected 66 goals and 87 assists in 149 contests.

After 26 games with the Sting, 1995-96 would see Nemirovsky join the AHL Carolina Panthers (five games, one goal, two assists). He also played in nine games for Florida, not scoring on six shots while making two assists (in his first two games) with a minus-1 rating. The team was 8-1-0 with him in the lineup.

1996-97 would see the Carolina Panthers change their name to the Monarchs, and Nemirovsky again spent a substantial chunk of the season with the AHL club, scoring 21 goals and 21 assists in 34 games. He was called up to Florida in January, and ended up playing in 39 of the Panthers remaining games. He enjoyed three multiple point games, including two goals and one assist in a 7-4 loss to the New York Islanders on March 19. He ended up scoring seven goals on 53 shots, making seven assists and finishing the season with 32 PIM and a plus-1 rating. He appeared in three postseason games for Florida, scoring a goal on four shots.

In 1997-98, Nemirovsky reported directly to the Panthers, making the club out of camp. During the course of the season, he put up multiple points on six occasions, thrice before getting sent to the AHL Beast of New Haven (29 games, 10 goals, 15 assists), and thrice after getting called back in April. Through the season, he managed to score career highs with nine goals on 62 shots, along with 12 assists. He finished the season at minus-3.

Nemirovsky played in 44 games with the Fort Wayne Komets in 1998-99 (22 goals, 13 assists). He only saw action in two Panthers matches, in November. Florida ended up trading him to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 17 for Jeff Ware.

Nemirovsky skated with Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the St. John’s Maple Leafs for parts of three seasons (88 games, 22 goals, 36 assists). He was never called back to the NHL. He has since seen action with HV71 Jonkoping (26 games, seven goals, 11 assists), Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (10 games, two goals, two assists), Ilves Tampere (40 games, 21 goals, 26 assists), Jokerit Helsinki (36 games, nine goals, 15 assists), Voskresensk Khimik (16 games, three goals, three assists), Kazan Ak-Bars (46 games, 12 goals, six assists), St. Petersburg SKA (128 games, 34 goals, 30 assists), CSKA Moscow (93 games, 23 goals, 25 assists), Astana Barys (47 games, 15 goals, 14 assists), and Minsk Dynamo (16 games, two goals, six assists) in 2010-11.

All-Time Statline: Four seasons, 91 games, 16 goals, 22 assists, 38 points, minus-2 rating, 42 PIM, 3.0 APS.

Thanks for checking back with us today. Tune in tomorrow as we go over a Minnesotan defenseman and two centers, one from Saskatchewan, and the other from the Czech Republic.

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