George Richards, FHN Publisher
It has been one year since the Florida Panthers kicked off their 2019-20 season with the first day of training camp.
In normal times, the Panthers would be close to or would have already started camp.
In normal times, the Panthers would be looking ahead to their first exhibition game (likely a doubleheader against the Predators at BB&T/Truist Center) of the 2020-21 season.
Yet here we are.
It most definitely is not normal times.
The Sunrise arena sits empty with only a handful of workers mulling around, the only thing on the building’s upcoming schedule is the made-for-TV Billboard Latin American Music Awards show next month.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2019-20 NHL season isn’t even complete yet.
The Stanley Cup Finals could start as early as this coming weekend; the draft and free agency are on deck in October.
So, when will the next season start?
The NHL has previously said they would like to open training camps in November with regular season games starting Dec. 1 — yet even NHL deputy commissioner Bill Day says that is probably optimistic.
While team president Matt Caldwell says the NHL has not canceled the jewel of the Panthers’ marketing work for the next season, it does not look like the 2021 NHL All-Star Weekend will be held in South Florida either.
We don’t even know who will be on the Panthers the next time they hit the ice what with the draft and free agency still to come in the next few weeks.
Back on Sept. 13, 2019, the Panthers were filled with optimism as they kicked off a season in which it was hoped the franchise had finally turned a corner.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, the team’s prized free agent catch who signed the biggest contract the team had ever doled out, was one of the first players on the Coral Springs ice.
Coach Joel Quenneville was, perhaps, the team’s biggest free agent signing in 2019. He skated a quick lap with his new team before gathering them together along the boards for a little pep talk.
Who knew what the next year would bring?
The Panthers did not live up to their lofty expectations and changes have already begun.
When the NHL put its season on ice March 12, the Panthers were three points out of a playoff spot but they were trending in the right direction and had 13 games left to try and make up that real estate.
After a few months of quarantine, the NHL announced 24 teams would be part of an expanded postseason.
The Panthers had new life.
The players who left town returned and a special only-in-2020 summer training camp opened in Coral Springs on July 13.
A few weeks later, the team flew to Toronto to be part of a safe-zone bubble where they ended up playing in just five games. The first one was an exhibition against old friends Tampa Bay and it was a disaster, the 5-0 loss setting the tone for what would be a quick exit for the Panthers.
Florida lost the first two games of the best-of-five series against the Islanders before earning a spirited 3-2 victory in an elimination game.
The comeback cats didn’t have much left, however, and lost 5-1 in Game 4 and quickly packed their stuff and flew back to Fort Lauderdale.
An hour after the Panthers lost, word started to leak that general manager Dale Tallon would not be coming back.
Tallon’s contract expired July 1 and, based off their quick exit as well as an inconsistent regular season, the team did not renew it.
Earlier this month, the Panthers ended a lengthy and wide-ranging search, hiring Columbus associate GM Bill Zito as his replacement.
Zito has apparently been busy in his first days on the job with various reports saying the Panthers will be bringing in former Florida GM (and interim head coach) Rick Dudley and former Minnesota GM Paul Fenton to their front office.
Dudley is expected to be named to Florida’s scouting staff. Peter Mahovlich is no longer listed as a pro scout on the Panthers’ website.
Fenton’s son PJ has been working as an amateur scout in the Minnesota front office with Mike Russo of the Athletic reporting PJ Fenton has been released from his contract by the Wild (he is still listed on that team’s website) and would be coming to Florida to run the team’s draft.
If PJ Fenton comes south and is placed in charge of Florida’s draft, it would have to be assumed he would replace Jason Bukala as the team’s director of amateur scouting.
None of those reported hires have been confirmed yet more moves, on and off the ice, are expected.
Now, let’s look back to that first day of training camp in 2019. It felt kind of like the first day of school after a long and eventful summer.
The Panthers, after a huge day of signings on July 1 not to mention landing Quenneville as the previous season was ending, were ready to get to work.
“We’re ready. It is that time of year,” Quenneville said. “It is a fun time and we’re looking forward to it.”
A large crowd packed into the IceDen in Coral Springs to see the team get its work in as they utilized all three ice surfaces.
The team held a scrimmage on the stadium rink, with Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger getting the work in the nets.
That would end up being Florida’s goalie tandem at the end of the season.
“That was a lot of scrimmaging for one day,” Aaron Ekblad said. “I have to let my ankles rest after that one. But it was good, good to feel speed again, good to pick up the timing.’’
Said Bobrovsky: “It was fun to be around the guys, build up the relationships and get back to work. Everything was great.”