Welcome back to your daily fix of Florida Panthers history. Click here to find out more about how the list came to be.
Yesterday, we looked at C Byron Ritchie (111 games, 10 goals, 15 assists), LW Wojtek Wolski (22 games, four goals, five assists), D Tyson Strachan (15 games, one goal, two assists), and RW Donald Audette (28 games, six goals, seven assists).
Today, we get a shot at a Czech defenseman, a Russian left winger, a Canadian center and an American defenseman.
To read more, follow along after the jump (don’t worry we’ll get there I promise!)
152. Filip Kuba
Kuba was a 6’3″ defenseman from Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The Panthers selected him in the eighth round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft with the 192nd overall pick. He would make his North American debut with the AHL Carolina Monarchs in 1996-97, racking up 12 assists in 51 games. When the Panthers changed their AHL affiliate to the New Haven Beast in 1997-98, Kuba scored four goals with 13 assists in 77 contests.
1998-99 would see Kuba opend the season with the AHL Kentucky Thoroughblades, eventually playing in 45 games and scoring two goals with eight assists. He joined the Panthers in April for his first NHL action, playing in five games and making one assist, in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on April 14th.
In 1999-00, Kuba would start the season with the Panthers, totalling 13 games with the NHL club. He scored his first career goal, a game winner on October 27th in a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders. He would total one goal and five assists with a minus-3 rating. The Panthers traded him to the Calgary Flames for Rocky Thompson on March 16th.
Kuba never appeared with the Flames, and was left unprotected in the 2000 Expansion Draft. He was picked up by the Minnesota Wild. He ranks ninth on the Wild’s all-time list, with 357 games played, scoring 33 goals and 99 assists with a minus-61 rating and 161 penalty minutes. The Tampa Bay Lightning signed him as a free agent during the 2006 offseason.
Kuba spent two seasons with the Bolts, scoring 21 goals and 47 assists in 156 contests. He has spent the last four seasons on the Ottawa Senators, racking up 14 goals and 102 assists, a minus-1 rating and 98 PIM.
All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 18 games, one goal, six assists, seven points, minus-1 rating, two PIM, 1.1 APS.
151. Sergei Samsonov
Samsonov was a 5’8″ left winger from Moscow. He made his debut in North America with the IHL Detroit Vipers in 1996-97, scoring 29 goals and 35 assists in 73 games. Afterward, he was picked in the first round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins with the eighth overall pick.
Samsonov opened the 1997-98 season in Boston (winning the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year), and would spend the next seven and a half seasons with the club. As part of Boston’s first and second line, he scored 164 goals and 212 assists in 514 games with a plus-41 rating and 103 penalty minutes, making the All-Star team in 2001. He added nine goals with 15 assists in 35 playoff games. The Bruins traded him to the Edmonton Oilers for a second round pick, Marty Reasoner and Yan Stastny on March 6th, 2006.
After scoring five goals and 11 assists in 19 games to close out the season with the Oilers, (along with four goals and 11 assists in 24 playoff games, losing in the finals to the Carolina Hurricanes), Samsonov went on to play for the Montreal Canadiens (63 games, nine goals, 17 assists), the Chicago Blackhawks (23 goals, four assists), and the Hurricanes (249 games, 54 goals, 81 assists). Carolina traded him to the Panthers for Bryan Allen on February 28, 2011.
Samsonov played in 20 games to close out the year with the Panthers, scoring three goals (see video, ff to 0:45)with 11 assists. He had five games where he scored multiple points. After completing the season, he became a free agent and did not sign anywhere. He has not officially announced his retirement. (Anybody heard anything about this guy? Leave in the comments.)
Panthers at Sabres – March 25, 2011 (via mcskyns)
All-Time Statline: One season, 20 games, three goals, 11 assists, 14 points, minus-2 rating, two PIM, 1.1 APS.
150. Dominic Moore
Moore was a 6′ center from Thornhill, Ontario. He was picked out of Harvard by the New York Rangers in the third round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft with the 95th overall pick after his freshman season with the Harvard Crimson. In four collegiate seasons he ended up with 64 goals and 83 assists in 128 games, graduating with the Class of 2003.
2003-04 saw Moore make his NHL debut, playing five games with the Rangers and making three assists. He spent most of the year with the AHL Hartford Wolfpack, scoring 14 goals and 25 assists in 70 games. He spent the 2004-05 season with Hartford (78 games, 19 goals, 30 assists), graduating to the Rangers in 2005-06 and scoring nine goals and nine assists while playing in every game.
Moore afterward spent time with the Pittsburgh Penguins (59 games, six goals, nine assists), the Minnesota Wild (40 games, three goals, two assists), the Toronto Maple Leafs (101 games, 16 goals, 39 assists), and the Buffalo Sabres (18 games, one goal, three assists). Buffalo let him go after the 2008-09 season, and Florida signed him to a free agent contract when the 2009-10 season began.
Moore played in 48 games with the Panthers, earning two points on three occasions with Florida. He scored eight goals and nine assists while with the club. The Panthers traded him to the Montreal Canadiens on February 11th for a second round pick.
From The Goalline (12/27/09) (via theultimategoalcom)
Since his trade to the Habs, Moore has played with Montreal (21 games, two goals, nine assists) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (133 games, 22 goals, 29 assists) before finishing last season with the San Jose Sharks (23 games, six assists).
All-Time Statline: One season, 48 games, eight goals, nine assists, 17 points, minus-7 rating, 35 PIM, 1.1 APS.
149. Jeff Norton
Norton was a 6’2″ defenseman from Acton, Massachusetts. He was originally selected by the New York Islanders in the third round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, 62nd overall. Instead of joining the Islanders organization, he elected to attend college at the University of Michigan. In three seasons with the Woverines he ended up with 35 goals and 82 assists in 113 collegiate contests.
Norton joined the Islanders for 15 games late in 1987-88, ultimately sticking with the club through the 1992-93 season. After skating with the Islanders (282 games, 22 goals, 166 assists), he would play in parts of two seasons with four teams. The San Jose Sharks (84 games, eight goals, 42 assists), the St. Louis Blues (64 games, six goals, 25 assists), the Edmonton Oilers (92 games, six goals, 27 assists), and the Tampa Bay Lightning (50 games, four goals, 11 assists. The Panthers picked him up in a trade with the Lightning along with Dino Ciccarelli for Mark Fitzpatrick and Jody Hull on January 15, 1998.
Norton appeared in 19 games from January through March for Florida, making seven assists and finishing the season with a minus-7 rating. After three games with the club the following season the Panthers traded him to back to the Sharks for Alex Hicks and a fifth round choice on November 11. In his second tour of duty in San Jose he totalled 131 games with four goals and 38 assists.
Norton joined the Pittsburgh Penguins for 32 games in 2000-01, scoring two goals and 10 assists before Pittsburgh sent him back to the Sharks for Bobby Dollas and Johan Hedberg on March 12. He would play in 10 games for the Sharks to close out the season with one assist.
Norton resigned a free agent contract to join the Panthers again in 2001-02. After collecting four assists in 29 games the team shipped him off to the Boston Bruins for a sixth round pick on March 19. He would only play in three games for Boston, never again to appear in the NHL.
Norton appeared in 799 professional games, all in the NHL.
All-Time Statline: Three seasons, 51 games, zero goals, 11 assists, 11 points, minus-12 rating, 28 PIM, 1.3 APS.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing a few minutes looking over some old friends. Tune in tomorrow, as we get a gander at two Swedes, a goaltender and a defenseman, and two Canadians, a center and a left winger.