The Cats will wrap their season-opening road trip tonight on the Red Mile, facing off against two familiar faces whose legacies in Florida are best summarized as just short of controversial. No need to travel that route yet again.
Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (2gp 0p 3sog) and center Olli Jokinen (2gp 0p -1) are once more under the microscope in Calgary; the former looking to improve on a disappointing 2009-10 debut season with the Flames, the latter trying to – once more – resurrect a career.
The “novelty” of facing former players tends to last longer among Florida fans; given that many ex-Cats left the club on less than amicable terms – and little on-ice success with which to fill the void – getting fired up for an evening featuring a Bouwmeester appearance is understandably easy.
Onward: the Panthers’ lines have reportedly been tweaked; as of Wednesday afternoon, here’s the lowdown:
- Chris Higgins – Stephen Weiss – Michael Frolik
- David Booth – Shawn Matthias – Rusty Olesz
- Cory Stillman – Marty Reasoner – Radek Dvorak
- Kenndal McArdle – Mike Santorelli – Steve Bernier
Anyone care to bet against center Steven Reinprecht – evidently benched yet again – being actively shopped? If so, he’s going to be a bargain for whatever club has interest. His value can’t be too high having no game action since the season began…
Floor’s yours; Live Game Chat tonight at 9pm.