George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers officially clinched a playoff spot by beating the Nashville Predators 7-4 on Tuesday night.
A place in the postseason, unlike past years, was never really in doubt as these Panthers took off from the start.
Save for a few bumps in the road, this team has had its foot on the gas throughout.
Still, you could almost see the look of relief on the faces of Jonathan Huberdeau and Sasha Barkov.
If you walked outside your door in South Florida at the time Florida officially clinched, you may have heard Aaron Ekblad yelling in celebration.
These guys have been through a lot in their time with the Panthers.
They are starting to be rewarded.
”It feels unbelievable,” said Barkov, the team captain who scored twice in Tuesday’s postseason clincher.
“We knew before the last game that if we won we would clinch but it didn’t happen then. We had to grind it out. … Really happy with the result, really happy to be going to the postseason.”
Huberdeau had a big game as well, icing the game with two goals in the final minutes of the third. He ended the night with five points.
“It’s fun, we have been through a lot,” Huberdeau said. “I have been here nine years and this has just been a fun year. When you win, it’s so much more fun. I like every guy here. We come to the rink, we have fun. We know when to have fun and when to get serious. On the ice, we have been working pretty hard.
“It’s fun to have this kind of year especially with everything we’ve got. This is the second time we’ve been in the playoffs. It’s going to be a fun ride.”
This is only the second time the Panthers have officially made it to the playoffs during the Huberdeau/Barkov/Ekblad era.
Huberdeau was the first here, drafted third overall by the Panthers in 2011 but he wasn’t on the team when Florida surprisingly won the Southeast Division in 2012.
Barkov was the second overall pick in 2013 after Florida followed that division title with a bellyflop in the lockout-shortened — and injury-plagued — season.
Ekblad joined the team when he was the first overall selection of the 2014 NHL Draft, the Panthers winning the draft lottery in a season in which they fired coach Kevin Dineen following a seven-game November slide and ended up just above the last-place Buffalo Sabres with 66 points.
There have been some bright moments for the Panthers’ Big Three along the way, but for the most part, this is a team that has disappointed.
Florida made a little run at making the playoffs in 2015 under new coach Gerard Gallant as the Panthers acquired Jaromir Jagr at the trade deadline.
At that point, things were really looking up. Florida did not make the playoffs that year, but you could feel the tide turning.
The Panthers had a bright, young, talented cast featuring Barkov, Huberdeau, Ekblad, Nick Bjugstad, Erik Gudbranson and Vincent Trocheck.
Veterans like Jagr, Roberto Luongo, Willie Mitchell and Shawn Thornton offered a guiding hand.
In 2015-16, the Panthers were on fire, setting franchise records for wins and points, sending four to the All-Star Game with the Atlantic squad captained by Jagr and coached by Gallant.
Those Panthers looked different although the overall outcome was a familiar story.
Florida was bounced out of the playoffs in 6 by the New York Islanders and change came quickly.
BIG CHANGES IN SUNRISE, PHASE I
Florida ended up making a wave of changes in the front office and within the hockey operations department. Players were not happy. Gallant certainly was not. He made that known, perhaps a little too much.
On Thanksgiving weekend in 2016 after Florida got off to a 11-10-1 start (without an injured Huberdeau), Gallant was famously fired after a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Since the 2015-16 season, the Panthers have finished outside the playoffs by: 14 points (2016-17), one point (17-18) and 12 points (18-19).
Last year, the Panthers were outside of a wild card spot when the season was shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Florida was part of the expanded postseason as the 10th of 12 seeds in the east. The Panthers were knocked out of the best-of-5 qualifying series by the Islanders in 4.
Quenneville is the third guy to coach the Panthers since Gallant was fired; he is the first to coach them in the playoffs.
It hasn’t been that long, it only feels like it.
“We have a lot of fans who have been loyal to us,” Huberdeau said. “They haven’t had a lot to cheer for in the playoffs and this year will be fun.”
To NHL players in their prime, those years can feel like a career.
Luckily for the Panthers, the primes of Barkov, Huberdeau and Ekblad have not been wasted.
Some seasons have, sure.
This one has not.
But this team looks to be, under the direction of Quenneville and GM Bill Zito, heading in the right direction. It feels like 2015 again, only with a lot of success thrown in.
BIG CHANGES IN SUNRISE, PHASE II
The Panthers let longtime GM Dale Tallon go not long after they were knocked out by the Islanders and replaced him with former Columbus associate GM Zito.
He made a number of sharp offseason moves like trading for Patric Hornqvist, Alex Wennberg and Markus Nutivaara while signing free agents Carter Verhaeghe, Radko Gudas, Anthony Duclair and Ryan Lomberg.
Zito also picked up Gus Forsling off waivers from Carolina and later traded for Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour while signing college free agent Matt Kiersted and Florida prospect Spencer Knight.
The Panthers, as Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said a few weeks ago, are a completely different team.
That was a compliment, by the way.
”Training camp, we had like nine or 10 new guys,” Huberdeau said. “I came into camp and there were a lot of new faces. It was really different. The guys we brought in all fit in. Everyone liked each other.
“You could tell in training camp we were having fun and were ready to go. You never know what will happen in a season, but right from the get-go, we started playing well and playing the right way. That’s our team. That’s our identity. … We’re a hard working team with a lot of skill.”
Although he is out for the next few weeks (at least) after having surgery on his fractured leg, Ekblad is hoping a long run by the Panthers will allow him to join the team.
Ekblad was hurt March 28 in Dallas and had surgery in South Florida the following day. He could be back in June.
If the Panthers are still playing by then, that means they will have gone deeper in the playoffs than any team in franchise history save for the 1996 team.
The ‘96 Panthers, in case you had not heard, reached the Stanley Cup Finals in their third year of existence and started the whole rubber rat craze. Florida hasn’t made it out of the first round since.
The Panthers certainly would love to have Ekblad be part of this.
On the ice, anyway.
This has been a very trying time for everyone and the Panthers have at least given their fans some hope that things are heading in the right direction.
Their players feel it too.
“It’s been unbelievable, like the whole season has been very different for us — not just hockey players but everyone on this planet,” Barkov said.
“Everyone has been going through a tough time. But I think our league and our organization has done a good job allowing us to do our job the best we can. We’re always prepared for the games. Thank you to them.
“As players, we have been ready and prepared. This has been a lot of fun and it’s going to get a lot more fun.”
ON DECK: PANTHERS AT BLACKHAWKS
When: Thursday, 8
Where: United Center, Chicago
Season series: Florida leads 4-2
TV: NBCSN
Radio: WQAM 560-AM