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LBC’s All-Time Florida Panthers Roster Countdown: 188-185

Welcome back to the LBC All-Time Florida Panthers Roster Countdown. For an easy to understand explanation, check here.

Last time out, we went over the Florida tenure of Eric Cairns, Jeff Norton, Janis Sprukts, and Matt Bradley. Today we’ll hit up a goaltender from Toronto, a Swedish right winger, a forward from Ontario, and a Slovakian center.

Follow the jump to read more, vote, and comment.

188. Kevin Weekes

Weekes was a 6’2″ Goalie from Toronto.He was selected by the Panthers in the second round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft with the 41st overall pick.

Weekes made his professional debut with the AHL Carolina Monarchs in 1995-96. He would spend the next two seasons exclusively with the Monarchs as the teams number one goaltender, posting a 41-53-12 record.

In 1997-98, Weekes started the season as Florida’s number two goaltender, eventually getting sent down to the IHL Fort Wayne Komets. He would spend the season going back and forth between the two teams. For the Panthers, he posted an 0-5-1 record on the season, with a .870 save percentage and a 3.96 GAA.

While with the IHL Detroit Vipers in 1998-99, Weekes was traded to the Vancouver Canucks along with Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown and a first round draft choice for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and a third round pick.

Weekes played for six teams after parting ways with the Panthers. Along with the Canucks (6-15-5), he also appeared with the New York Islanders, (10-20-4), the Tampa Bay Lightning (23-42-3), the Carolina Hurricanes (39-54-20), the New York Rangers (18-20-5), and the New Jersey Devils (9-7-1).

Weekes officially retired prior to the 2009-10 season. He is currently an analyst with the NHL Network, broadcasting games and hosting Hockey Night in Canada.

All-Time Statline: 11 games, 0-5-1 record, 485 minutes played, 247 shots faced, 215 saves, .870 save percentage, 3.96 goals against average, 0.4 APS.

187. Niclas Bergfors

Bergfors was a 5’11” right winger from Sodertalje, Sweden. He was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft with the 23rd overall pick. He made his professional debut later that year, with the 2005-06 Albany River Rats, scoring 17 goals and 23 assists in 65 AHL games.

In 2006-07, the Devils new AHL affiliate was the Lowell Devils. Bergfors spent 60 games with the club, scoring 13 goals with 19 assists. He spent most of the following two seasons with Lowell, playing a total of nine NHL games with the Devils, and scoring one goal with a minus-2 rating.

In 2009-10, Bergrors was promoted to the NHL full time. After scoring 13 goals and 14 assists with the Devils through 54 games, he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier, and a first and second round draft pick for Ilya Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela and a second round pick. In parts of two seasons with the Thrashers, he played in 79 games, scoring 19 goals and 27 assists.

The Thrashers sent him to the Panthers on February 28th, 2011 along with Pat Rissmiller for Radek Dvorak and a fifth round draft choice. In 20 Florida games, he scored one goal on 53 shots with six assists. His only goal was in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the season, he signed on with the Nashville Predators. After 11 games in Nashville, Bergfors elected to join the KHL as a member of the Kazan Ak-Bars, later joining the Cherepovets Severstal.

All-Time Statline: One season, 20 games, one goal, six assists, seven points, plus-2 rating, two PIM, 0.4 APS.

186. Mike Foligno

Foligno was a 6’2″ forward from Sudbury, Ontario. He was playing with the OMJHL Sudbury Wolves when the Detroit Red Wings picked him up in the first round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft with the third pick overall. In his four total seasons with the Wolves, he totalled 165 goals and 182 assists in 258 contests.

After getting drafted, Foligno joined Detroit, never appearing in a minor league match. He would spent two and a half seasons with the Wings, scoring 97 goals, 114 assists, and 347 penalty minutes in 186 games, never missing a start. He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres with Dale McCourt and Brent Peterson for Danny Gare, Jim Schoenfeld and Derek Smith on December 2nd, 1981.

Foligno would spend most of the next 10 seasons with the Sabres. He is tied for 10th on the all-time list with 664 games played with the club. He ranks sixth with 247 goals, 10th with 264 assists, eighth with 511 points, and second with 1,450 penalty minutes. He made 39 playoff appearances with Buffalo, scoring 13 goals and 11 assists. On December 21, 1991, the Sabres traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs with an eighth round draft pick for Brian Curran and Lou Franceschetti.

A five-time 30 goal scorer with the Sabres, Foligno would not approach the same level of production with the Leafs, missing half of the 1991-92 season with a broken leg. When all was said and done, he had played in parts of four mostly fruitless seasons with Toronto, appearing in 129 games and scoring 27 goals with 20 assists and 203 PIM. On November 5th, 1993, the Maple Leafs traded him to Florida for cash.

Foligno finished his 15 season NHL career with the 1993-94 Panthers, scoring four goals on only 32 shots over 39 games. He also collected five assists and a plus-7 rating. He managed to earn 49 penalty minutes at the ripe old age of 35.

After retiring, Foligno joined the coaching ranks, serving as an assistant and a head coach for the St. John’s Maple Leafs, and an assistant with Toronto and with the Colorado Avalanche. He would sign on as head coach of the Hershey Bears in 1998-99, leaving after five seasons with a 186-154-60 record. He would then coach the Sudbury Wolves for six years starting in 2003-04, posting a 163-194-51 record. In 2010-11, he joined the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant, serving in the position until fired on November 30, 2011.

All-Time Statline: 39 games, four goals, five assists, nine points, plus-7 rating, 49 PIM, 0.4 APS.

185. Vaclav Nedorost

Nedorost was a 6′ center from Treninton, Slovakia. He was with Ceske Budejovice HC when chosen by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft with the 14th overall pick.

Nedorost opened the 2001-02 season on the Colorado roster, and scored a goal and an assist in his first ever match, a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He totalled two goals and two assists in 25 games, spending 49 games that year with the AHL Hershey Bears, scoring 12 goals and 22 assists.

In 2002-03, Nedorost spent over half the season in Colorado, in 42 games collecting four goals and five assists. During the offseason, he was traded to the Panthers with Eric Messier for Peter Worrell and a second round draft pick.

Nedorost began the 2003-04 season with the San Antonio Rampage, first joining the Panthers in November. He was eventually called up to the NHL three times that season, eventually finishing with 32 Florida games played, scoring four goals and three assists. He averaged almost 12 minutes a night during his short stay with the Panthers.

Like a lot of other players, Nedorost joined an overseas league when the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled, with HC Bili Tygri Liberec in the Czech league. He played in the Czech League for the next five seasons, and is currently with Poprad Lev of the KHL.

All-Time Statline: 32 games, four goals, three assists, seven points, minus-6 rating, 12 PIM, 0.4 APS.

Thank you for stopping by and spending a few minutes checking out some Panthers you may not have heard too much about. Please, leave comments below (am I alone in here?), and vote. Check back right here on Monday to hear about four guys from Canada, two defensemen, a left winger and a right winger.

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