Welcome to the Tuesday edition of your Florida Panther’s Roster Countdown. Today, we start tracking three players per day as the numbers get smaller (and the stats get bigger) for the details on how this list was standardized, click here.
Yesterday, we focused on past and present Panthers D Mathieu Biron (91 games, four goals, 18 assists), D Keaton Ellerby (116 games, two goals, 15 assists), C Matt Cullen (86 games, 12 goals, 19 assists), and C Marty Reasoner (82 games, 14 goals, 18 assists). In today’s dispatch, we will focus on three defensemen, a Czech, a Russian and a Canadian.
To read on, click to follow below.
120. Ivan Majesky
Majesky was a 6’5″ defenseman from Bystrica, Czech Republic. He was chosen with the 267th overall pick, in the ninth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, by Florida. In two pre-North American seasons with the Finnish team Ilves Tampere, he scored eight goals with 20 assists in 98 games.
In 2002-03, Majesky made his first NHL appearance with Florida. Along with Marcus Nilsson and Jay Bouwmeester, he saw action in each of the Panthers 82 games. He totalled four goals (two of them game winners) on 52 shots through the season, adding eight assists and finishing with a minus-18 rating and 92 PIM. The Cats traded him to the Atlanta Thrashers after the season for a second round draft pick (Kamil Kreps).
After spending 2003-04 with Atlanta (63 games, three goals, seven assists), he would join the Czech Sparta Praha in 2004-05, rejoining the NHL in 2005-06 with the Washington Capitals (57 games, one goal, eight assists).
Majesky has spent the last six seasons between Swedish, Finnish, and Czech professional leagues.
All-Time Statline: One season, 82 games, four goals, eight assists, 12 points, minus-18 rating, 92 PIM, 2.7 APS.
119. Igor Ulanov
Ulanov was a 6’2″ defenseman from Krasnokamsk, Russia. He was picked in the 10th round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets, 203rd overall. He spent 1990-91 and part of 1991-92 with Voskresensk Khimik in Russia before splitting the rest of the season between the AHL Moncton Hawks (three games, one assist) and the Jets (27 games, two goals, nine assists).
After parts of four seasons with the Jets, (176 games, five goals, 43 assists), Ulanov made NHL appearances with the Washington Capitals (three games, one assist), the Chicago Blackhawks (53 games, one goal, eight assists), the Tampa Bay Lightning (115 games, five goals, 15 assists), the Montreal Canadiens (80 games, three goals, 10 assists), the Edmonton Oilers (81 games, three goals, 21 assists), and the New York Rangers (39 games, six assists). The Rangers traded him to the Panthers along with Flip Novak and a first, second, and fourth round draft picks for Pavel Bure and a second round draft pick on March 18, 2002.
Ulanov finished out the 2001-02 season with the Panthers, playing in Florida’s last 14 games (3-8-3). He managed four assists, not scoring in his nine shots on goal, along with a minus-3 rating and 11 PIM. He averaged a robust 20:50 TOI.
In 2002-03, Ulanov missed several games to injury in November and February. He did manage to play in 56, totalling one goal on only 20 shots with one assist. His productivity couldn’t be measured in simple points accumulated, as his real value became apparent on the defensive side of the ice. He finished the season with a team second best plus-7 rating (on a Panther’s squad that finished 21 games below .500) while averaging 16:42 TOI and 39 PIM. The Panthers parted ways with him after the season, and he elected to sign on with the Oilers for a second tour with Edmonton.
Ulanov closed out his NHL career in Edmonton, appearing in 79 games over the next two seasons, scoring eight goals and 19 assists. He would sign on with Lokomitiv Yaroslavl in the Russian league (62 games, one goal, 10 assists), later skating for Dynamo Minsk (36 games, one goal, four assists).
All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 70 games, one goal, five assists, six points, plus-4 rating, 50 PIM, 2.7 APS.
118. Cory Murphy
Murphy ws a 5’10” defenseman from Kanata, Ontario. He was a four year letterman at Colgate University, scoring 28 collegiate goals along with 83 assists in 138 games. After not being selected in the NHL draft out of college, he signed on with the Finnish Elite “Blues,” scoring 20 goals with 19 assists in 91 games over two seasons, ending in 2002-03.
Murphy joined a second team in the Finnish Elite League for the next two seasons, Ilves Tampere (112 games, 30 goals, 49 assists). He later joined the Swiss Fribourg-Gotteren (44 games, 13 goals, 22 assists) and the Finnish HIFK Helsinki (45 games, 13 goals, 37 assists).
2007-08 would see Murphy join the Panthers for his first North American action since college. He scored his first NHL goal just two games into the season, in a 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on October 6. Later that month, he earned two assists in consecutive games (both wins). On February 5, Murphy enjoyed his first ever three point game with a goal and two assists in an 8-0 drubbing of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored two goals on 65 shots, adding 15 assists and an even rating while averaging 15:23 TOI per game.
In 2008-09, Murphy spent the first part of the season with the Panthers (seven games, one assist) and the AHL San Antonio Rampage (five games, two goals, four assists). The Tampa Bay Lightning claimed him off waivers from the Panthers on January 19. He collected five goals and 10 assists in only 25 games with the Bolts. He played in 12 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2009-10, scoring twice with one assist. He spent most of the season with the AHL Lowell Devils, scoring six goals and 38 assists in 64 games.
Murphy has spent the last two seasons with Zurich in the Swiss “A” League, scoring 13 goals and 32 assists in 73 contests.
All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 54 games, two goals, 16 assists, 18 points, minus-1 rating, 24 PIM, 2.8 APS.
Thanks for reading today’s countdown entry. Leave comments below (please) and check back tomorrow for three more great hockey players. Two centers, an American and a a Canadian, and a Slovakian right winger with a plate in his head.