March 15, 2012: Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Mike Weaver (43) reacts after suffering an apparent injury during the first period against the Boston Bruins at the BankAtlantic Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

With the 2011-12 season sadly in the rear-view window, it’s once again time for The Rat Trick to take a look back at those who had the biggest impact on the the Florida Panthers. Over the coming days, we’ll look at review everyone who had key roles in the past season and give them the dreaded letter grade.

A traditionally unfortunate and downtrodden team like the Florida Panthers does not often find diamonds in the rough for their team.  In perhaps a sign of the new direction of the franchise or just by plain luck, the Panthers now have found two on the blue line: Jason Garrison and Mike Weaver.

The latter has turned into possibly the Panthers’ steadiest player.  His stats speak for themselves:

Games Played: 82

Goals: 0

Assists: 16

Points: 16

PIM: 14

Hits: 114

Blocked Shots: 137

My favorite number there is the top one – 82 games played.  Mike Weaver is a man that will lay down big hits, make diving poke checks, and throw his body in front of shots.  And even with all that wear and tear on his body, Dream Weaver still gets right back up and is ready for his next shift.  The man is borderline-invincible: he played all 82 games the year before for the Panthers doing the same gritty stuff.

If there is one stat up there that would hurt Weaver, it would be that big goose-egg the the goals column.  But people familiar with his playing style know thay scoring goals isn’t at all necessary.  The solid defense he provides from the blue line more than makes up for what he lacks on offense.

But that’s not to say that Weaver is inept in the offensive zone.  On many different occasions over the year, he pinched the zone well, put pucks on net, and played pitch-and-catch with his fellow defenseman just fine.  I get the sense that Mike Weaver could score goals, but that would go against the grain of his hockey philosophy.  Weaver is a shamelessly defense-first guy.  That made it even more of a shock when Weaver scored the game-tying goal in the Panthers’ comeback victory over the Devils in Game 3.  The man works so hard, so he deserves every goal he happens to score.

Considering the small cap hit Weaver takes up (900k last year), Weaver brings great bang for his buck.  He’s not flashy, but he’s responsible, and Dale Tallon loves this guy.  Point and case, Weaver was awarded a new two-year deal during the season, paying him $1.1 million a year for two more years.  It’s a well-deserved contract that will pay off for this playoff team.

Final grade: A

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Florida Panther Player Rating: Mike Weaver - The Rat Trick - The Rat Trick - A Florida Panthers Blog

April 24, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; Florida Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) makes a save during the third period of game six of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

 Games Played: 30

Save %: .913

Wins-14

Loses-6

OT- 6

SO-1

Scott Clemmensen was drafted in the 1997 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils at 215^th overall. He played for the Boston College Eagles hockey team from 1997-2001 and ended up winning the NCAA National Championship his final year there. He spent most of his years with the New Jersey Devils. He had a brief tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2007-2008 season but returned to the Devils the summer of 2008. Clemmensen has bounced up and down from the AHL to the NHL throughout his career. Whenever Scott did come up to the NHL he spent his time as a backup to Martin Brodeur with a few starts here and there. He was signed by the Florida Panthers on July 1^st, 2009. He again was the backup to Tomas Vokoun this time. This season, while he was the backup to Jose Theodore, he played in the most games he has so far as a Panther.

With years of being a backup, he is comfortable in his role to come in when a goalie is playing poorly or in a moment’s notice when a sudden injury occurs. Clemmensen remains calm and cool when put into situations. Whenever he was called upon, the team could be sure he would put in a solid performance. His strong performance gives confidence to the team knowing that they have a backup goalie that can make some huge saves. This team knew this year that they would be in good hands with either goalie that started and that is something that is important in this league.

Clemmensen stands at a good 6’2” making him a pretty tall goalie so his big presence in the net can make it harder for a team to find an opening. While not known for any one part of his game being spectacular he excels at good basic positioning and playing the angle to frustrate the other team.

Clemmensen will become a free agent in July. With a young Jacob Markstrom playing great in San Antonio, we may not see Clemmensen next season in a Panther uniform. If that becomes the case, Clem will be a solid goaltender for another team and they will know that.  He is a sweet guy, always being generous to the fans. Whether it is signing something, taking a picture or just chatting with a fan, he takes the time to do it. He is a player that is looked up to with the upmost respect and I think this season was his best season in a while playing goalie.

Final Grade- B.

Thanks for reading and all comments are welcome!

Follow the Rat Pack on Twitter: me @chrissaay44, Frank Rekas @TheRatTrick , David Lasseter @davidlasseter , Josh Luecht@joshluecht, Patrick McLaughlin @PatrickRattrick, Scott Mullin @GreatScottsman, David Rodriguez @davidbub_2, Paige Lewis @RatTrickLewiz Gabby Kiger @gabbykiger, and Adam Reid@AdamReid. Also, please join our Facebook Fan Page and hit the like button, send us photos, and make some comments.

Florida Panther Player Ratings: Scott Clemmensen - The Rat Trick - The Rat Trick - A Florida Panthers Blog

With the series tied at 1 game apiece, the Oklahoma City Barons and San Antonio Rampage headed to the AT&T Center in San Antonio for games 3, 4, and 5 this week. The week started with Game 3 on Monday and the Barons wasting no time getting their first goal. A little over a minute into the game, Anton Lander gave Oklahoma City an early 1-0 lead. That score would hold until midway through the third period when Chris VandeVelde took a slashing penalty for the Barons, allowing James Wright to net his third goal of the playoffs to tie the game at 1. This goal would be the Rampage’s sixth power play goal of the series. Just like game two, this game would need extra game to be decided. With about 4 minutes remaining in the first overtime period, VandeVelde got the puck past Jacob Markström to win the game 2-1 for the Barons, and giving them a 2-1 series lead.

Thursday night, all eyes were on San Antonio as the Barons and Rampage played the only professional hockey game in North America. Both goalies were able to turn away all shots for the first 50 minutes of play. Finally halfway through the third, Hunter Tremblay got the first goal of the game for Oklahoma City. With 5 minutes left to tie the game up, Mike Caruso shot the puck from the blue line which was given some help from Bracken Kearns and Bill Thomas to find its way behind Barons goaltender Yann Danis. The two teams headed to over time once again, but in this game only 65 extra seconds would be needed. Chris VandeVelde was able to slip the puck over a sprawled out Markström to give the Barons the 2-1 win and a 3-1 series lead.

The two teams would only have to wait a day to take the ice for the fifth and possibly final game of the series. The teams were scoreless for all but the last four seconds of the first period of the tilt when Oklahoma City took a 1-0 lead. Midway through the second, the Barons added to their lead to make it 2-0, with both goals coming on the power play. At the end of the second, the Rampage’s power play found the back of the net again, with Michal Repik scoring his first goal of the post season to cut the Barons lead in half. When the third period started, Oklahoma City regained their two goal lead then proceeded to lose it moments later. Scoring his first goal of the playoffs, Scott Timmins got the puck past Danis to bring the Rampage within one goal of tying the game. 22 seconds later, Mark Cullen would score for the Rampage to tie the game. The score would remain tied at 3 until late in the third. A goaltender interference penalty was assessed to Michal Repik and Ryan Keller was able to score his second goal of the night while the Barons had the man advantage. Oklahoma City would go on to win the game 4-3 and the series 4-1.

The Rampage fought hard to the end, and although it would have been nice to see them go further, the team and fans should be extremely proud of the way they played from the first game of the season up until the final buzzer. As defender Mike Caruso said they were “Team Adversity” — they always kept going at 110% and never gave up, no matter what, until the end.

The Rampage Report: May 14, 2012 - The Rat Trick - The Rat Trick - A Florida Panthers Blog