Couple of quick notes that I’m getting to rather late:
- Center/left wing Jeff Taffe, signed by the Panthers to a two-way deal earlier this summer, has been placed on waivers. Almost certainly a formality, the former point-a-game Baby Pen will most likely begin the season in Rochester unless claimed by another club. This is a guy the organization should wish to hold tightly, if only for the good of the Amerks.
- Nine-year veteran and recent Florida tryout Martin Skoula was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a one-year contract. No room with the Cats but essentially walks on to the defending Stanley Cup champions. Don’t know if that says more about Florida or Sid’s Kids.
- On Frozen Pond’s Richards on the acquisition of Scott Clemmensen: “Starting with John Vanbiesbrouck, the Panthers have been solid in goal for all but a few seasons. Goalies who have played for the Panthers — and put up good numbers in doing so — include Vanbiesbrouck, Roberto Luongo, Trevor Kidd, Mark Fitzpatrick, Mike Vernon, Ed Belfour, Anderson and Vokoun.”
- Covers.com’s Dustin Nielson: “This year’s best under bet: The Florida Panthers will be a team to follow closely on the under this season. Last season, the Panthers finished under the total 43 times including a record of 14-24-2 over/under on home ice. In the offseason, the Panthers lost power-play quarterback Jay Bouwmeester to the Calgary Flame,s which is not good for a team that ranked 24th with the man advantage. They also added Scott Clemensen to back up Tomas Vokoun, which means there will fewer weak nights between the Panthers’ pipes.” Punctuation and Craig Anderson bitch-slap courtesy of Covers.com.
- The New York Times‘ Jeff Klein pushes aside some valuable advertising space for a few bloggers to spout grand things about their teams.
Remember kids: Cats vs. Jokerit tomorrow. And yes we’ve done it a few too many times but here’s the warmup: it’s not often Florida plays the best-marketed sports team on the planet. These guys are slick.