Florida Panthers Thankful Patric Hornqvist Is Still Around

SUNRISE — Whenever a Florida Panthers player has needed to rehab an injury, a familiar face has been there to join them.

The recently-retired Patric Hornqvist joined the Panthers’ hockey operations department as a development consultant and a scout at the start of training camp and his presence has already been felt.

As he had been doing after sustaining the concussions which ultimately cut his career short in the middle of last season, Hornqvist has been skating with every injured player who takes the ice for Florida’s unofficial injured skate.

The Panthers had a crowded group for him to work with as soon as the season started.

Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour and Jonah Gadjovich were all recovering from injuries they sustained in the previous season.

Hornqvist’s presence was very welcome, indeed.

“We had ‘Horny’ out there pushing the pace,” Ekblad said. “We do a good job maintaining a culture here of working hard and he fits right in.”