Welcome back to the LBC All-Time Panthers Roster Countdown, Volume XIII. For a full rundown of the creative process behind the list, click here.
Yesterday, we recapped the Panthers careers of former (and some possible future) players Kristian Kudroc, Jon Matsumoto, Jim Campbell, Jeff Taffe, and Jeff Greenlaw. Today, we will examine two defensemen, a left winger, and two centers.
For more on friends from long ago and some more recent friendly faces, follow the jump.
229. Igor Kravchuk
Kravchuk was a 6’1″ defenseman from Ufa, USSR with CSKA Moscow. He was drafted at the age of 24 by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fourth round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft with the 71st overall pick. He would join Chicago in February, 1992 for the last 18 games of the season, scoring a goal with eight assists and a minus-3 rating. The Blackhawks made a run at the Stanley Cup that season, as Kravchuk scored two goals and six assists in 18 playoff games that season.
After 38 games with Chicago through the 1992-93 season, Kravchuk, along with Dean McAmmond, was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers for Joe Murphy. He would remain an Oiler until halfway through the 1995-96 season, totalling 27 goals and 61 assists with a minus-48 rating and 57 PIM through 160 NHL games. He was traded along with Ken Sutton to the St. Louis Blues for Jeff Norton and Donald Dufresne just after the new year.
Kravchuk would finish out the campaign with the Blues, and played in 82 games in 1996-97 for the franchise. In total, he played 122 games, scoring seven goals and 36 assists with a plus-1 rating and 59 PIM. St. Louis traded him to the Ottawa Senators just prior to the 1997-98 season for Steve Duchesne.
In just over four seasons as a Senator, Kravchuk appeared in 239 games, scoring 19 goals with 65 assists, 74 PIM and a minus-6 rating. Ottawa waived him just 15 games into the 2000-01 season, where the Calgary Flames picked him up.
In 115 games with the Flames, Kravchuk scored four goals and 30 assists with a minus-9 and 23 PIM through the 2001-02 season.
After sitting out most of the 2002-03 season, the Panthers signed Kravchuk as a free agent on March 11. In seven Panthers games, the team posted a 1-6-0 overall record. Kravchuk’s only point came in Florida’s only win with him in the lineup. He collected an assist in a March 16th win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2. He would later go on to coach for Harrington College.
All-Time Statline: One season, seven games, zero goals, one assist, one point, minus-3 rating, four PIM, 0.0 APS.
228. Greg Rallo
Rallo (pictured above, #37) is a 6′ center from Gurnee, IL. He skated on the Ferris State University Bulldogs for four seasons, graduating with the Class of 2006. In 152 career matches, he scored 46 goals and 62 assists. Undrafted after college, Rallo signed on with the Idaho Steelheads, the ECHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars. In 83 games with the Steelheads over three seasons, Rallo scored 32 goals and 39 assists. He also made a 28 game stop with the Stars AHL team, the Iowa Stars in 2006-07.
In 2007-08, Rallo started with the Steelheads (39 games), moving on to AHL teams the Albany River Rats (Carolina Hurricanes, five games), the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks, two games) and the Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks, 13 games). He would remain with the Moose through the 2008-09 season, scoring nine points in 55 games.
Starting in 2009-10, Rallo played two seasons with the AHL Texas Stars, scoring 45 goals and 53 assists in 147 contests. He joined the San Antonio Rampage for the 2011-12 season, scoring 22 goals and 20 assists in 72 regular season games. He made his NHL debut at the age of 30 with the Panthers on December 18th, skating for three and a half minutes and taking one shot on goal. He played in four Calder Cup Playoff games after returning to the Rampage, collecting two assists.
All-Time Statline: One season, one game, zero goals, zero assists, zero points, even rating, zero PIM, 0.0 APS.
227. Grant McNeill
McNeill was a 6’2″ defenseman from Vermillion, Alberta. He was playing for the WHL Prince Albert Raiders when drafted by the Panthers in the third round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft with the 68th overall pick.
McNeill was a notable fighter, and in 260 games with the Raiders accrued 929 penalty minutes while scoring 11 goals and 21 assists. He would join the San Antonio Rampage as a 20-year old in 2003-04, not collecting a point but earning 110 minutes in the box through 33 AHL games. He earned a callup to the Panthers in November, playing three games with the Panthers, skating 10 shifts, and getting in one fight (see video).
Simon vs McNeill Nov 26, 2003 (via hockeyfightsdotcom)
Beginning in 2004-05, McNeill started a minor league hockey odyssey that has seen him through to the present day. He has since skated one more season with the Rampage, followed by stops in the ECHL with the Texas Wildcatters (24 games), the Florida Everblades (31 games), the Wheeling Nailers (63 games) and the South Carolina Stingrays (93 games). He has also logged time in the AHL with the Rochester Americans (two games), the Wilkes-Barre Penguins (two games), and the Hershey Bears (87 games).
All-Time Statline: One season, three games, zero goals, zero assists, zero points, even rating, five PIM, 0.0 APS.
226. David Brine
Brine was a 6’1″ center from Truro, Nova Scotia. He skated three seasons with the QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads, totalling 70 goals and 128 assists in 207 career games, including a 100 point season in 2005-06.
Brine got his big break when he participated in the Canadian reality series, “Making the Cut: Last Man Standing.” Although he was not the last of the 68 players “standing,” he did impress Florida’s then GM Mike Keenan enough to offer him a minor league deal.
Making the Cut – Brine & Mushaluk in Keenan’s Office (via MakingTheCut)
Brine split the 2006-07 season between the ECHL Florida Everblades and the AHL Rochester Americans, scoring a total of 13 goals and 25 assists in 74 games.
2007-08 would see Brine open the season in Rochester, earning his first NHL callup in February. In nine games, he tallied one assist, to Steve Montador in an 8-0 blanking of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He totalled 54 minutes of ice-time, taking three shots on goal over 80 shifts.
Brine would spend the next three seasons with Florida’s AHL affiliates the Americans and later the Rampage. He would total 105 AHL points over 303 games. Last season, Brine skated with Zagreb Medvescak KHL in Austria.
All-Time Statline: One season, nine games, zero goals, one assist, one point, minus-1 rating, four PIM, 0.0 APS.
225. Dave Duerden
Duerden was a 6’2″ left winger from Oshawa, Ontario with the Peterborough Petes when selected by the Panthers in the fourth round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft with the 80th overall pick. In 198 total games over three seasons with the Petes, he scored 91 goals and 116 assists.
In 1997-98, Duerden split the season between the UHL Port Huron Border Cats (seven games), the IHL Fort Wayne Komets (seven games) and the AHL Beast of New Haven (36 games). 1998-99 would see more of the same, as Duerden spent 13 games with the ECHL Miami Matadors and 36 games with the AHL Kentucky Thoroughblades.
In 1999-00, Duerden spent 74 AHL games with the Louisville Panthers, scoring 25 goals and 38 assists. He earned his only NHL callup in January, going scoreless in two games. He played a total of three minutes and 11 seconds, taking one shot on goal.
Duerden split 2000-01 between AHL franchises Louisville (34 games) and the Hartford Wolf Pack (43) games. Florida traded him to the New York Rangers for future considerations in the 2001 offseason. He spent the entire 2001-02 season with the ECHL Charlotte Checkers, scoring 31 goals and 47 assists in 68 games.
All-Time Statline: One season, two games, zero goals, zero assists, zero points, even rating, zero PIM, 0.0 APS.
Thank you for reading today’s entry, let us know what you’re thinking, and vote! Tune in tomorrow for a right winger, two goaltenders, a left winger, and a center, including two players from this seasons team, as well as the debut of positive adjusted career point shares.
The five players above averaged under five Florida Panthers appearances apiece. We may get a further peek at Rallo down the road, but for now who deserved a longer look in Sunrise?
| Igor Kravchuk | 9 |
| Grant McNeill | 2 |
| David Brine | 11 |
| Dave Duerden | 3 |