On Friday morning, the Florida Panthers officially took the ice for the first time to start their training camp. The team was in Sunrise on Thursday for physicals, but Friday marked the beginning of the two day workouts prior to their first preseason game Sunday.
With the signing of winger Jonathan Huberdeau, 51 players are attending camp. The official roster can be found here.
The format the Panthers are using involves three groups. Two of which scrimmage. Today, groups A and B were the groups who scrimmaged. They consist of much of the roster. The most notable players from group C who did not participate in the scrimmage today include: Roberto Luongo, Brandon Pirri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Rocco Grimaldi, Jussi Jokinen, Vincent Trocheck, Dave Bolland, Willie Mitchell and Steven Kampfer. These guys and the rest of group C should be involved in the scrimmage on Saturday.
As far as the group A vs B scrimmage on Friday, group A was wearing the home Reds while group B was sporting the away whites. This scrimmage was a rather low energy, tentative display with guys mainly shaking off rust. As it went on things did pick up a little. It was organized mixing up 5 on 5, 4 on 4. and 3 on 3, with one penalty shot awarded to Garrett Wilson.
At 5 on 5, the line combinations were as such:
Group A:
Jagr – Megan – Havlat
Hawrlyuk – Bjugstad – Shaw
Rau – McKegg – Crouse
Campbell – Olsen
Gaunce – Petrovic
Regner – Sauve
Montoya
Brittain
Group B:
Booth – Barkov – McFarland
Wilson – Olson – Smith
Flick – MacKenzie – Brickley
Kulikov – Brown
Matheson – Ekblad
Racine – Gudbranson
McKenna
Stevens
During four on four and three on three scrimmages, there was an abundance of combinations. Many guys were playing with multiple guys and the combinations were mixed up. There were times with 3 forwards and one D-man. Also. there were times with three D-men and one forward. Then, in 3 on 3, we saw a group of Matheson, Racine, and Gudbranson vs a group of Shaw, Rau, and
Crouse. At a few points in both 4 on 4 and 3 on 3, former University of Minnesota linemates Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau were paired together. However, the pairing that made it together throughout the entirety of the scrimmage was the Czech connection of Jaromir Jagr and Martin Havlat. That turned out to be a wise move.
About three minutes into the scrimmage, a two on one rush broke out for group B’s starting line, and Michael Matheson found Garrett Wilson streaking down the middle and put him on a mini-breakaway. Wilson utilized a slick little backhand deke and scored 5-hole on Al Montoya to put White up 1-0.
Just over five minutes later, Logan Shaw won a battle in the corner and centered the puck towards the crease where Kyle Rau was stationed right in front of Mike McKenna and proceeded to whack it home to tie it at 1. At that point, it was just about halfway through the scrimmage. The teams swapped goaltenders and went to the 4 on 4 and 3 on 3. 4 on 4 saw some decent chances for both squads, but no goals.
About two minutes into the three on three, which in this case was a truly awful representation of what to expect for the NHL’s new overtime period, the Czechs struck for the first time. Jaromir Jagr started a play, found Martin Havlat being left alone in the slot, fed him with a nice drop pass, and Havlat shot 5-hole and beat Colin Stevens from there, giving Red the 2-1 advantage.
About four minutes later, the 3 on 3 yielded more fun. July 1st defenseman signing Cameron Gaunce found himself on a breakaway and sniped one bar down on Stevens to give Red the 3-1 lead. Then, just over one minute later, the Czechs struck again in the 3 on 3 as Jagr, Havlat, and Brian Campbell were together. Campbell took a wrist shot from up high and to Stevens’s blocker side where Havlat was stationed and he redirected the puck. It was about three and a half feet off the ground behind Stevens and solidifying the 4-1 victory for group B.
Some other notes:
- Nick Bjugstad looks pretty good for a guy who is coming off of back surgery. He used his size and skill to beat out some of the inferior minor league opponents.
- David Booth had his legs working pretty well, albeit this was a lower speed display.
- Aleksander Barkov is bigger but his hands and vision are smooth as ever.
- Watching a defensive pairing of Matheson and Ekblad was simply heartwarming to any Panthers fan as it was like looking into a crystal ball. Once they’re playing together on a nightly basis that is a pair that will be fun to watch.
- Lawson Crouse didn’t stick out of the crowd in this group. However, his linemate quality wasn’t the greatest.
- Jagr helped convince Havlat to look into the possibility of a PTO with the Panthers and those two were the best players on the ice during the scrimmage.
Two additional notes:
- Former captain Ed Jovanovski was on hand to watch the activities today and had a long chat with another former captain Bryan McCabe.
- In addition, Dale Tallon appears to have lost about 30 pounds and looks absolutely phenomenal.
Thank you for taking the time to read. As always, feedback is welcome in the comment section below. I will be back tomorrow with the wrap up of Day Two’s scrimmages. The Panthers begin their preseason Sunday with a double header in Nashville against the Predators.
Rats N' Pucks 