Post Game Wrap up From Finland

The Florida Panthers won their final exhibition game of the preseason beating Jokerit 4-2.  The victory earned the Panthers a split on their European preseason tour.

Led by Cory Stillman’s two goals plus one each from Michael Frolik and Dennis Seidenberg, the Panthers ended the preseason on a positive note with a 5-4 record.  Jokerit which has a few former NHL players on their roster like Juha Lind, Jani Rita, in addition to a bunch of guys named Tommi, fell short in their effort to give the Panthers their second consecutive defeat.  Let it be known that the Panthers were playing without number one (really?) center Stephen Weiss who is still nursing a yeast infection slight groin pull, and is also suffering from the flu.

Roster decisions still need to be made with the future’s of Jason Garrison, Christian Backman and recently signed Dmitry Kulikov to be determined.  I would bet that Kulikov stays for at least 9 games and that if Garrison isn’t going to see regular action, then he’ll probably go back to Rochester so he can get steady minutes.  No need to keep him as the 7th defenceman if he’s not going play.

In an unrelated story former Panthers coach and General Manager Jacques Martin was asked about a captain in Montreal, much like when asked about what the Panthers will do with Jay Bouwmeester at the trade deadline last March:

Well, for the first time in the storied history of the Montreal Canadiens, they will begin their season without a captain.  Realizing that Saku Koivu is tough to replace, what’s wrong with Andrei Markov?

That’s all from Finland Fort Lauderdale for now. 

Thanks for reading.