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Significant
Team Dates
- 12-10-92 Franchise awarded to
Harry Wayne Huizenga.
- 03-01-93 Un-named team announces
they will play 93-94 season. Bobby Clarke named
General Manager and Vice President.
- 04-19-93 Panthers officially
named. Bill Torrey named president.
- 05-24-93 Team announced first
affiliation with the IHL Cyclones.
- 05-27-93 Season tickets go on
sale and lower bowl sells out soon after.
- 06-02-93 Roger Neilson named
first head coach.
- 06-03-93 Radio agreement signed.
- 06-14-93 Panthers unveil uniforms.
- 06-24-93 Panthers select and
sign first pick in expansion draft: John Vanbiesbrouck.
- 06-26-93 Robbie Niedermayer
selected with first entry draft pick.
- 07-13-93 TV agreement signed
with WBFS-33 and Sunshine Network.
- 09-07-93 Ice laid down at Miami
Arena.
- 09-11-93 First on-ice Panthers
camp.
- 10-05-93 Eric Seiden gets his
Panther Season Tickets!
- 10-06-93 The Panthers take to
the ice for first regular season game at Chicago
Blackahwks.
- 10-09-93 Panthers play to NHL's
largest crowd of 27,227 at Tampa. We win 2-0.
- 10-12-93 Panthers play first
home game and lose 2-1 to Penguins.
- 01-22-94 First Panthers play
in the All-Star game (Vanbiesbrouck, Kudelski).
- 01-30-94 Panthers break expansion
team record for unbeaten game streak (9).
- 01-31-94 Jesse Belanger is the
Panthers first Player Of The Week.
- 03-21-94 Panthers become best
NHL expansion team in its history with 74 points.
- 03-24-94 John Vabeisbrouck is
the Panthers first goalie Player of the Week.
- 03-26-94 Panthers record more
wins than any other NHL expansion team with 32.
- 04-14-94 Panthers become the
best expansion team in any professional
sports history with a 0.494 final percentage
(33-34-17 for 83 points).
- 04-14-94 Panthers and Mighty
Ducks of Anaheim tie for NHL record of most wins
(33) for any expansion team in NHL history.
- 06-15-94 Bobby Clarke returns
to Philly
- 08-01-94 Bryan Murray named
new General Manager.
- 09-11-94 Doug Barrault scores
first Panther Hat Trick (pre-season) against
Ottawa Senators.
- 06-07-95 Panthers add AHL Carolina
Monarchs as their new farm team.
- 06-08-95 Roger Neilson, first
head coach, fired.
- 06-28-94 Panthers select Ed
Jovanovski with first pick overall.
- 07-24-95 Doug MacLean named
second head coach.
- 09-29-95 Ed Jovanovski breaks
his thumb on the face of Brendan Shanahan.
- 10-08-95 Mellanby kills a rat
in the locker room and scores two goals giving
birth to the Rat Trick and the tradition of rats
being thrown on the ice after goals.
- 01-20-96 Panthers Coach Doug
MacLean coaches the East all-star team.
- 01-23-96 Johan Garpenlov scores
first Hat Trick in Panther history against Washington
Capitals.
- 02-29-96 Mike Hough takes the
Panthers first Penalty shot against the Washington
Capitals. The Capitals stopped it.
- 03-21-96 Sheppard scores all
three goals in the Panthers 3-2 win over the
Islanders and gives the crowd their first home
hat trick.
- 04-17-96 Panthers play their
first playoff game on home ice versus the Boston
Bruins and win convincingly.
- 04-25-96 Coach Dough MacLean
becomes the first member of a Panthers coaching
staff to be ejected from a game. (Game 4 of playoffs
v Boston).
- 04-27-96 Billy
Lindsay burns Ray Borque to score on Bill Ranford
in one of
the most amazing goals in hockey history and
certainly the single most spectacular goal in
Panthers history. It's now just called "The Goal".
(It easily beat runner-up Stu Barnes' storming
of two Canadiens earlier in the season, hitting
the puck between their skates, jumping over them,
recovering his own pass and scoring, thereby
being credited with the goal and the assist.)
- 05-12-96 Panthers win their
first Double Overtime game (Game 5 of playoffs
v Philadelphia) appropriately on Mother's Day.
- 06-01-96 Panthers beat the Penguins
to advance to first Stanley Cup.
- 06-10-96 Panthers lose their
first Stanley Cup series 0-4, in one of the longest
hockey games ever played: triple OT or almost
two complete hockey games. It started
at 7:30pm on 6-10 and ended at 1:06am on 6-11.
Playing time of 5h36m was the tally with 119
shots on goal.
- 06-12-96 The "thank you" bash
at Miami Arena overflows stranding thousands
outside because there's no room inside.
- 09-18-96 The Panthers file an
IPO, offering 49% of the stock to the public.
- 11-19-96 The Panthers trade
Stu Barnes and Jason Woolley to the Penguins
for Chris Wells, in what is one of the worst
trades in hockey history and definitely the worst
trade in Panthers history. The team never recovers.
- 11-06-97 Ray Whitney is claimed
off waivers from Edmonton.
- 11-24-97 Panthers second coach,
Doug MacLean, fired and replaced in the interim
with Bryan Murray. The fans and players never
forgive Murray. The famed "NO
BM" button appears. (62K image will
open in its own window.)
- 12-27-97 John Vanbeisbrouck
records his 300th NHL win.
- 03-15-98 Beezer allows five
goals in one period in the midst of negotiating
a new contract. Booed off the ice, he will leave
the Panthers a few weeks after the season ends.
- 04-16-98 The
Panthers play their last game at Miami Arena.
In a poll taken of
the most important moment in the Panthers tenure
at Miami Arena, "The Goal" wins by a landslide.
- 06-18-98 The Panthers name the
newly formed ECHL Miami Matadors as their primary
affiliate. The Matadors will move in to the Miami
Arena vacated by the Panthers' move to the new
Broward County arena. The team will not survive
to see a second season.
- 06-21-98 The Florida Panthers
introduce Terry Murray, brother of current General
Manager Bryan Murray as their new head coach.
- 07-05-98 Ex-Panther Tommy Fitzgerald
is named captain of the expansion Nashville Predators
(by way of Colorado).
- 07-06-98 John Vanbiesbrouck,
the cornerstone of the team signs with the Philadelphia
Flyers as an unrestricted free agent. Fans are
disconsolate.
- 09-27-98 The Florida Panthers
play their first game (pre-season) at the Broward
County Arena (National Car Rental Center) against
the Boston Bruins.
- 10-09-98 The Florida Panthers
open their regular season at BCA/NCRC with a
4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- 12-17-98 The Florida Panthers
sign an agreement with the AHL's Louisville Panthers
(which they co-own) for an affiliation agreement
to commence with the 1999-2000 season.
- 01-17-99 Panthers make their
biggest trade ever, acquiring Pavel Bure and
Bret Hedican for Ed Jovanovski and Dave Gagner.
Several minor leaguers are also included in the
trade along with a conditional draft pick.
- 12-13-99 Peter Worrell crashed
Trevor Kidd, dislocating Kidd's shoulder. Trevor
who was having a league-leading season never
fully recovers. Kidd would remain atop of the
league for two more months before any other goalie
catches his stats.
- 12-30-99 Panthers trade original
Panther Billy Lindsay and fans are disconsolate.
- 12-29-00 Bill Torrey cans Terry
Murray after he wins 6 games out of 36. Fans
continue to wonder why it took so long. In another
move, slightly less popular, but barely, Bryan
Murray was fired as GM, reportedly because he
wouldn't fire Terry, his brother.
- 12-29-00 After the bloodletting,
Duane Sutter was named as coach, and Bill Torrey
named as interim GM.
- 02-09-01 Original Panther and
current Captain, Scott Mellanby was traded to
the Saint Louis Blues for a conditional draft
pick, leaving only two original Panthers.
- 06-05-01: Group of Nine purchases
Panthers from H. Wayne Huizenga.
- 06-23-01 Original Panther Rob
Niedermayer is traded to the Calgary Flames for
Valeri Bure, brother of Panthers' super-star
Pavel Bure. Jason Weimer and several draft picks
also exchange hands.
- 06-23-01 This is the first year
in which the Panthers make two first round
picks in the draft. The draft is also held in
Florida for the first time.
- 08-23-01 In a one-day late birthday
present for your FAQ-keeper, the Panthers re-sign
former prodigal son Billy Lindsay to the team
on a two year contract. He was an unrestricted
free-agent.
- 12-3-01 The
Panthers fire original team President, and
legend, Bill Torrey. At the
same time, they fire coach Duane "Dog" Sutter,
replacing him with Mike Keenan. Fans are skeptical.
- 03-18-02 The Panthers dump Pavel
Bure whose escalating laziness and inability
to play two-way hockey exceeds his goal scoring
ability. Fans generally feel were robbed in this
trade.
- 03-19-02 Billy Lindsay is claimed
off waivers by Les Habitants. The list moderator
is inconsolable.
- 04-16-02 The Panthers win the
draft lottery and will ultimately pick Jay Bouwmeester
with the pick.
- 05-10-02 Chuck Fletcher, GM
in waiting, is dissed and Rick Dudley from Tampa
gets the job. Fans are confused.
- 06-03-02 The San Antonio Stampede
is named a few weeks after San Antonio was announced
as the Panthers new AHL affiliate under a five
year agreement. Eleven days later it is renamed
the Rampage as embarrassed officials realize
there already is a professional team in San Antonio
with the same name (football).
- 02-01-03 The Florida Panthers host their first
All-Star weekend, and it is by all accounts an
amazing success and decreed universally to be one
of the best ever. Local fans are livid when management
orchestrates a trade of the only elected Panther
(Sandis Ozolinsh) two days before the game in an
obvious salary dump.
- 08-28-03 The Florida Panthers name the ECHL Augusta
Lynx as their new ECHL affiliate.
- 10-??-03 COO Jeff Cogen leaves
the Panthers for MLB's Texas Rangers paving the
way for Michael Yormark to appear
- 11-09-03 The Florida Panthers
show Mike Keenan the door. Fans are pleased with
his
depature. Rick Dudley slowly starts to turn the
team around.
- 05-24-04 Panthers offer Rick Dudley a different
position and annouce a new coach and GM are forthcoming.
Message boards, mailing lists overflow with ire
as the rumour is Keenan was to return.
- 05-26-04 Keenan returns as GM with Jacques Martin as
coach. Fans are livid. Media pokes fun. Other teams
ridicule Panthers. The media circus surrounding
inept NFL Dolphins management is sidetracked by
inept Panthers management.
- 9-7-04 The ECHL Lynx are replaced with
the ECHL Texas Wildcatters as affiliates of the
Panthers.
- 09-16-04 The myopic NHL management
butts heads with the even more myopic NHLPA management.
Sharing half of a brain between them, they allow
the season to be postponed and ultimately cancelled.
The biggest enemy of the NHL is the owners who
need only look in the mirror to find the source
of their misery. The players fail to understand
that the NHL is falling fast and their unwillingness
to come to terms will cost them their livelihoods.
- 07-13-05 The morons in charge apparently
finally settle their differences. Hockey is expected
to resume the new season on schedule, despite
the fact many fans no longer care.
- 08-22-05 Today, my 40th birthday coincidentally,
the Panthers sign a one-year affiliation agreement
with the Florida Everblades. Keenan originally
refused to sign them during his tenure as coach
thinking it was bad idea having an affiliate
so close despite the fact other teams do it.
Fans welcome his flip-flop.
- 09-06-05 Office Depot Center renamed
to BankAtlantic Center, its fourth name. When
built it was named Broward County Arena and opened
as National Car Rental Center.
- 11-25-05 Olli Jokinen records his first NHL Hat Trick.
Fans celebrate by pretending not to notice and
throw no hats.
- 12-11-06 Nathan Horton becomes the youngest Panther
to record a hat trick.
- 9-3-06 The media circus resumes with
the resignation of Keenan. Of course he had a loaded
gun pointed to his head. I don't care and am really
damned happy he's gone.
- 3-3-07 Jacques Martin coaches his
1000th NHL game and Martin Gelinas plays in
his 1200th NHL game. And to wrap it up, the
Panthers paste Tampa 6 to 2 including a penalty
shot by Ville Peltonen -- the first on home
ice.
- 6-22-07 Panthers fans are thrilled
as Vokoun is signed from Nashville to replace
troubled Belfour.
- 7-1-07 Radek Dvorak returns as a Panther
and fans are excited. Local dogs are not.
- 7-28-07 Panthers have a reunion game
for the 1996 Panthers
- 11-16-09 Alan Cohen turns reins of team
over to Stu Siegel and Cliff Viner
- 3-20-10 New and vastly improved Den
of Honor opens.
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