Panthers Go Down Swinging!

I have been a hockey fan for an awfully long time and have watched probably more than 2,000 games in my life and I have never seen a play like I saw last night.  Ilya Kovalchuk  had a breakaway midway through the first period and after Panther goalie Tomas Vokoun made the first save, Kovalchuk put away his own rebound and the Thrashers had a 1-0 lead.  Immediately following the play Panther defenceman Keith Ballard swung his stick like a baseball bat out of frustration, striking Vokoun in the side of his head.  It was apparent that Ballard was attempting to hit the post or crossbar and on his second swing, he completed his task without hitting Vokoun.  Again.

Meanwhile, Vokoun lay in obvious pain in the crease with his mask off and blood coming from his ear.  Vokoun lay on the ice for seven minutes as the training staff carefully attended to him, finally removing him by stretcher and taking him to hospital for treatment.  It was reported later that Vokoun suffered a laceration of his ear and would end up flying home, and possibly would dress for Wednesday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.

Here’s a video link  to the play.

At this point one would believe that the Panthers would have just melted away, but for some reason they hung in there and continued to somehow stay in the game.  Until the end, when the icing on the cake for Ballard happened as free agent signee Maxim Afinogenov ripped a one-timer past goalie Scott Clemmensen, for his eleventh goal of the season with only 5.5 seconds left for the winning goal.  The shot by Max had been slightly deflected off of Ballard’s stick as it went by Clemmensen.  Prompting the wife to say and I quote “That’s just like the old way the Panthers used to lose”.

And so it goes.  The Panthers have now lost five games in a row, are desperate for scoring, are desperate for improved special teams, and are so desperate for turning things around they are taking their frustrations out on their own teammates.

Things of note:  Big Mac had 1:33 of ice time.  Shawn Matthias had just over four minutes of ice time.  Maybe Detroit knew something when they traded him for Todd Bertuzzi.  So far, I haven’t seen anything from this kid other than a player feeling sorry for himself.  Granted you can’t do much with 4 minutes of playing time, but after 31 games of NHL play Matthias has a whopping 3 goals, and two of them came in one game.  Is he the new Stripper?

Speaking of fourth lines, Atlanta’s Chris Thorburn had a goal and local tough guy Eric Boulton had two assists.  The Panthers fourth line? As usual DeBoer shortened the bench and was  not using/playing them.  Don’t worry though, Soup is back in the lineup and will surely help the powerplay!

Mistakes happen.  Things go wrong and when it rains it pours.  You don’t catch breaks, and sometimes the game just isn’t kind to you.  This Panther team is NOT, I repeat NOT a playoff team nor is it built as one for the future.  Other teams in the league that have been as bad or worse than Florida are now getting better, and they are more fun to watch.  Last night’s accidental, yet ridiculous play fits right into what has been happening with the Panthers over the last nine seasons of not making the playoffs.

If I were Tomas Vokoun, and I’m not, I would be asking my agent to tell GM Randy Sexton to get me the hell out of here as fast as you can.  I’ve had enough.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers