Welcome back to another day of our offseason-long Panther’s roster retrospective. For all the details, click here.
Yesterday, we focused on D Ivan Majesky (82 games, four goals, eight assists), D Igor Ulanov (70 games, one goal, five assists), and D Cory Murphy (54 games, two goals, 16 assists). In today’s article, we’ll check out a center from BC, a right winger from Slovakia, and a center from Massachusetts.
To read on, click below
117. Len Barrie
Barrie was a 6’1″ center from Kimberly, BC. He was initially selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft with the 124th overall pick. In five WHL seasons, (split between the Calgary Wranglers, the Victoria Cougars, and the Kamloops Blazers), he accumulated 184 goals and 216 assists in 307 games, including an incredible 185 point season in 1989-90. He appeared in one game with Edmonton, collecting a minus-2 rating. Barrie signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on February 28, 1990.
Barrie spent most of the next three seasons with the AHL Hershey Bears, racking up 99 goals and 120 assists in 199 contests. He didn’t make another NHL appearance until November of 1992, playing in eight games with the Flyers. After scoring two goals and two assists through his first three games, he did not again contribute on the scoresheet.
After the season, Barrie signed a free agent contract with the brand new Florida Panthers. He played most of his season with the AHL Cincinnati Cyclones, scoring 45 goals and 71 assists. He did manage to join the Panthers for two games in November. Florida did not retain his services, and the Pittsburgh Penguins picked him up as a free agent during the 1994 offseason.
In 1994-95 and 1995-96, Barrie split his time between the IHL Cleveland Lumberjacks (83 games, 42 goals, 73 assists), and the Penguins (53 games, three goals, 11 assists).
For the next two seasons, Barrie skated in the IHL with the San Antonio Dragons, totalling 33 goals and 53 assists in 89 games. In 1997-98, he joined the Frankfurt Lions for two seasons (71 games, 38 goals, 38 assists). He signed on as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings during the 1999 offseason.
As a King, Barrie played in 46 games, scoring five goals and eight assists. Los Angeles waived him, where the Panthers picked him up for the stretch run. He totalled 14 games with the Panthers to close out the season, averaging 13:57 TOI per game. He finished the season with four goals on only 15 shots to go along with six assists and a plus-4 rating.
Florida retained Barrie’s services in 2000-01, and he would see action in 60 contests. He scored a goal with two assists on March 7 in a 3-3 tie with the San Jose Sharks. Over the course of the season, he scored five goals on 48 shots along with 18 assists and a team second highest 135 PIM.
All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 76 games, nine goals, 24 assists, 33 points, plus-8 rating, 141 PIM, 2.8 APS.
116. Tomas Kopecky
Kopecky was a 6’3″ right winger from Ilava, Slovakia. The Detroit Red Wings selected him in the second round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft with the 38th overall pick. He picked up 56 goals with 70 assists in 109 games with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, ending in 2001-02. During the same period, he also played three games at the AHL level with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, scoring a goal and an assist. In 2002-03, Kopecky began his tenure with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. He would ultimately play four full seasons with the club, over 243 games scoring 63 goals and 75 assists with a plus-40 rating. He appeared in one NHL game with the Wings, as Detroit lost a 5-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks.
Kopecky spent the next three seasons with the Wings, scoring a grand total of 12 goals and 32 assists in 183 games. One incident stands out, according to wikipedia.org:
On December 14, 2006, in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Kopecký was injured a minute into the third period of the Red Wings’ 3–2 victory. Kopecký lost his footing and hit the boards as he approached the Chicago blue line and Blackhawks defenseman Jim Vandermeer then fell on top of him. Kopecký was motionless on the ice for a few minutes before being helped to the dressing room by members of the Detroit training staff. He had surgery the next day to repair a broken clavicle. As a result of this injury he was limited to just 26 games in 2006–07 NHL season.
He later played two seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring 25 goals and 38 assists in 155 contests. He also helped Chicago to the 2010 Stanley Cup, scoring four goals and two assists over 17 games. Chicago traded the right to negotiate with him to Florida for a handful of beans (a seventh round draft pick).
As a Panther, Kopecky was one of Florida’s most durable players, playing in 80 games and all seven playoff matches. Not the highest skilled player on the ice, Kopecky is a capable grinder with deceptive scoring upside. He collected a season high three points (all assists) in a 3-2 Panthers win over the Buffalo Sabres on October 29th. Among all Panthers last season, I remember Kopecky camped out in front of the net like few other Florida players. In 17:16 per game, he scored 10 goals on 143 shots, adding 22 assists (good for sixth on the squad), and finishing with a minus-8 rating.
Panthers @ Bruins 12/08/11 (via NHLVideo)
Kopecky will be starting the second year of a four year, $12 million contract when (if – labor agreement, Mayans) 2012-13 rolls around.
All-Time Statline: One season, 80 games, 10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points, minus-8 rating, 32 PIM, 2.9 APS.
115. Bob Kudelski
Kudelski was a 6’1″ center from Springfield, Massachusetts. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1986 NHL Supplimental Draft.
Kudelski was a graduate of Yale University. He played four seasons of collegiate hockey with the Bulldogs, lighting the lamp 78 times and adding 80 assists over 114 games. 1987-88 would see him split his time between the AHL New Haven Nighthawks (50 games, 15 goals, 19 assists) and the Kings (26 games, one assist).
Kudelski spent parts of six seasons with Los Angeles, breaking the 20 goal barrier on three occasions. He totalled 72 goals with 54 assists. The Kings traded him to Ottawa midway through the 1992-93 season with Shawn McCosh for Marc Fortier and Jim Thomson. In just 48 games with Ottawa he racked up 21 goals and 14 assists.
Kudelski opened the 1993-94 season with the Senators, scoring 26 goals and 15 assists in 42 games. The Kings traded him to the Panthers for Evgeny Davydov, Scott Levins, and two draft picks, a sixth and a fourth rounder in January. Due to there being 84 games in a regular season in those days, and the fact that Florida had played two fewer games than Ottawa at the time, Kudelski managed to appear in 86 regular season games that year, an all-time record that will probably never be broken (shared with Jimmy Carson, 1992-93, Kings/Red Wings). In the 44 games he played with Florida, he scored 14 goals on 124 shots, along with 15 assists. He scored two goals and an assist in a 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on January 19.
In 1994-95, Kudelski was limited by injury to only 26 games, scoring six goals (on only 29 shots) with three helpers and a plus-2 rating. 1995-96 would see him play in half as many games, collecting one assist in 13 games while failing to score on 23 shots on goal.
All-Time Statline: Three seasons, 83 games, 20 goals, 19 assists, two years 39 points, minus-5 rating, 12 PIM, 3.0 APS.
Thanks for choosing to spend a few minutes of your valuable time to check out today’s Panthers. Come back tomorrow for a Finnish goaltender, a defenseman from Alberta, and a right winger from Toronto.