One of the biggest questions coming into the 2011-2012 offseason was whether or not Tomas Vokoun would be back to join the Panthers for one more season. Many Panther fans felt indifferent on whether or not the organization should bring him back. Dale Tallon made it quite simple by echoing the fact that if you don’t want to be a part of this organization, he will make it happen. Tomas Vokoun clearly did not want to be a part of this team anymore and decided to take his talents some where else.
With so much anticipation on this new season, Dale knew he needed to make a move at the goaltending position. Jose Theodore seemed like the right guy for the job. A player that has proven before that he was a winner and also a player that would carry the load for a couple of years so Jacob Markstrom could get ready in the AHL.
Jose Theodore, a once Vezina and Hart trophy winner has proved that wherever he goes, he can win games. A career of 260-232-25 goaltender seems like a pretty good resume. Theodore proved on saturday night against the Islanders that he still has some juice in him.
"“Everybody came through tonight,” Theodore said. “They were clearing the rebounds (and) I was seeing the puck. We really worked well as a unit. They were letting me see the puck. We were all on the same page.”"
Interestingly enough Jose Theodore is in 40th place on the all times win list, he trails Tomas Vokoun by one game and Vokoun has played 51 more games than Theodore. He is here to prove that although he is 35, he can still be a game changing goaltender in this league. Many people criticized Dale for making this move because they thought Jose was too old and washed up. If you look at his numbers over the last 4 years, you will see that he definitely has played some great hockey. In his last 4 seasons, he has a record of 105-56-18 with a 2.70 GAA. How do those numbers not stick out when you look at that? Dale Tallon saw something that others didn’t see, and thats a winner. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you win, just as long as you do win.
Jose Theodore has proved it before and I believe he can prove it again. I’m not saying that he has to play 70-80 games, but when he’s in games, he can be pretty good. Jose Theodore is going to be a key part of this team, and if he can do what he’s done before which is win games, the Florida Panthers will have great success this season.
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