George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers are about two months out from starting their 32nd NHL season so perhaps it is time to start talking about how the franchise can begin to honor some of the top players in their history.
Right now, the only player in Florida Panthers history who has his number retired is Roberto Luongo and his No. 1.
The franchise has also retired No. 93 for original team president and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Bill Torrey, and No. 37 for founder and original owner H. Wayne Huizenga.
Now, after the run of success the Florida Panthers have had, plenty more numbers will be retired — that, you can be sure of.
Aside from captain Sasha Barkov and No. 16, it is probably safe to say that no one will ever wear No. 5 (Aaron Ekblad) or No. 72 (Sergei Bobrovsky) with the Panthers again.
Others could join them in the Sunrise rafters someday as well.
The Panthers, after all, might just be getting started on their road to a dynasty.
Bill Zito and Paul Maurice will likely be honored in the same way Torrey and Huizenga are.
But what about for the other standouts in franchise history who probably do not rise to the level of getting a number retired?
A number of teams, including the Vancouver Canucks, have come up with a way to honor players who played a huge role in their franchise and need to be recognized in some way.
The Canucks have a ‘Ring of Honor.’
The Panthers could go with a ‘Den of Honor,’ where big names from their past can be honored.
Think Pavel Bure.
Bure was perhaps the most electric player to even don a Florida Panthers jersey, but he was only here for a short time.
Should the No. 10 be retired for Bure?
Probably not.
But with a ‘Den of Honor,’ the Panthers could certainly recognize players of his ilk while reserving the jersey retirement for players such as Barkov.
With the Panthers celebrating — OK, we don’t know if they’re doing anything specific, but they should — the 30th anniversary of the 1996 Panthers team that put hockey on the map in South Florida, we present the inaugural Florida Panthers ‘Den of Honor.’
This is the Florida Hockey Now class, with six former Panthers (five players, one builder) getting in first, with more to come through the years.
Who would you like to see in a Florida Panthers ‘Den of Honor?’
Leave your suggestions in the comment section.
INAUGURAL FLORIDA PANTHERS
‘DEN OF HONOR’
FHN CLASS OF 2026
PLAYERS
Pavel Bure
1998-99 / 2001-02
The ‘Russian Rocket’ put a jolt into the Panthers from the moment he arrived in a blockbuster, midseason trade with the Vancouver Canucks in 1999.
Bure, who was holding out for a new contract with the Canucks, came to the Panthers along with Bret Hedican and Brad Ference for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, and Kevin Weekes along with draft picks.
Bure was fantastic from the start, scoring two goals in his first game against the Islanders on Jan. 20, 1999, then scoring again in a win at Madison Square Garden the following night.
Although he only played in 10 games that first season due to injury, Bure scored 13 goals.
In his first full season with the Panthers, Bure set the franchise record with 58 goals and 94 points in helping Florida back to the playoffs for the first time since 1997.
Bure is the first and only Florida player to win the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals in a single season — a feat he repeated in the 2000-01 season when he scored 59 goals.
The Panthers ended up trading Bure to the Rangers in 2002 but knee problems held him to just 51 games in New York before he ended up retiring.
Bure scored 152 goals with 251 points in 223 games with the Panthers over parts of four seasons; his goal total currently ranks sixth in franchise history, his points 16th.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.
Olli Jokinen
2000-01 / 2007-08
Jokinen arrived along with Luongo at the 2000 NHL Draft when the Panthers acquired the two players from the Islanders in a trade that turned out to be one of the best moves in franchise history.
Although the Panthers went on a serious decline following the 1999-2000 season, it is hard to blame either Luongo or Jokinen for that.
Jokinen became a prolific scorer in his time with the Panthers, and by the time his run was over after a spat with then-GM Jacques Martin in 2008, he owned the franchise record for games played (567), goals (188), assists (231), and points (419).
The fourth captain in franchise history, many of Jokinen’s records remained intact until players such as Jonathan Huberdeau and Barkov passed him.
Stephen Weiss surpassed Jokinen in games played before he left as a free agent in 2013.
Jokinen, whose relationship with the organization was strained after a soured business deal relating to youth hockey at the Ice Den in Coral Springs, is currently the coach of HIFK in his Helsinki.
Scott Mellanby
1993-94 / 2000-01
Mellanby was not the team’s first captain — that honor goes to Brian Skrudland, who deserves to be honored by the Panthers, and will be in Round 2 of this Den of Honor exercise — but he remains one of the most influential players to pull on the Panthers sweater during those early days in Miami.
An original Panther who was selected in the 1993 Expansion Draft from Edmonton, Mellanby spent eight seasons with Florida and was part of the team’s first three trips to the playoffs including the 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Mellanby held the franchise record for goals (157), assists (197), and points (354) until he was surpassed by Jokinen and he still ranks in the top 5 in goals and is in the top 10 in points and assists.
Oh, and those rubber rats y’all love to throw on the ice?
Thank Mellanby for that.
If he did not one-time a wandering rodent in the Miami Arena locker room before the 1995 home opener against the Flames, the whole Cats & Rats things would not be.
Robert Svehla
1994-95 / 2001-02
The Panthers have had some strong defensemen over the years, but few as good — or as tough — as Svehla.
Originally drafted by the Flames, Florida acquired Svehla in a 1994 trade. Svehla played a handful of games in Florida’s second season, but became a regular as a rookie during the 1995-96 campaign where he scored eight goals with 49 assists in 81 games.
Svehla spent parts of eight seasons with the Panthers and scored 61 goals which led all Florida defensemen until Ekblad passed him a few years ago.
Although his best years were played in the 90s — Svehla retired in 2002 only to be cajoled to sign a nice deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he played one final season — he was named to the Panthers’ All Quarter-Century second team along with Jay Bouwmeester.
Despite his hard-nosed style of play, Svehla played all 82 games in four seasons with Florida and aside from his first year, did not play fewer than 79 in his time with the Panthers.
John Vanbiesbrouck
1993-94 / 1997-98
When original Panthers GM Bobby Clarke won the coin flip at the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft, the fate of the early days of the team were set when Florida selected Vanbiesbrouck — the former New York Rangers Vezina-winning goalie.
Vanbiesbrouck had a long career with the Rangers and gave the Panthers immediate credibility.
A three-time All-Star in his five seasons with the Panthers, Vanbiesbrouck was so good in his first season with the expansion team that he was a second-team All-Star at the completion of the year, and finished second in voting for the Vezina and third for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.
Vanbiesbrouck’s biggest moments with the Panthers came in the third season when he helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Final with rousing playoff series wins against the Bruins, Flyers, and Penguins before running into the Colorado Avalanche in the Final.
He got off to a great start the following season as well — one in which he was on the cover of the EA video game NHL97 — and was named to the All-Star team for the third time.
After the Panthers lost in 5 to the Rangers in the first round of the 1997 playoffs, the team started to falter and the final season at Miami Arena was a rough one for both the team and Vanbiesbrouck.
He ended up leaving the team and signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Future consideration: Stephen Weiss, Brian Skrudland, Tomas Vokoun, Jaromir Jagr, Jay Bouwmeester, Radek Dvorak, Ed Jovanovski, Viktor Kozlov, Ray Sheppard, Rob Niedermayer, Paul Laus, Bill Lindsay
BUILDER
Doug MacLean, Coach
1995-96 / 1997-98
Roger Neilson, the original coach of the Panthers, is enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame and was honored by the team when they named the press box after him.
MacLean replaced Neilson in 1995 and had immediate success, leading the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season.
MacLean, who later went on to run the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets, spent parts of three seasons with the Panthers — taking them to the playoffs twice.
Future consideration: Dale Tallon, Bryan Murray, Bobby Clarke, Randy Moller, Jeff Rimer, Denis Potvin, Steve Goldstein