Tag Archives: Sergei Bobrovsky

Florida Panthers – Florida Panther

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Throughout the year, the Sip Advisor will alphabetically travel the National Hockey League (NHL), discovering the best and worst each team has to offer in a variety of subjects. We will also feature a drink based off the franchise. Today, we make our way to the Sunshine State to learn about the Florida Panthers and their ratty history:

Establishment Story: The Panthers joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1993, along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The franchise’s original owner was Wayne Huizenga of Blockbuster Video, who also founded Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins and owned a share of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. Panthers was chosen as the team’s nickname because the big cat is an endangered species of the Florida Everglades area.

Stanley Cups: The Panthers have no Stanley Cups to their name. Twice in their history, they have made Cinderella runs to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to be swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and defeated in five games by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. Florida won their first Presidents’ Trophy in 2022, given to the team who finishes the regular season with the best overall record.

Celebrity Fan: Musician Ariana Grande has been a fan of the Panthers since childhood, when she attended games with her father. Grande even sang the U.S. National Anthem prior to a Florida game when she was only eight years old. Apparently, Grande was twice hit with pucks at Panthers games as a kid. She was also photographed by a newspaper riding the Zamboni at a game when she was five.

Ariana Grande

Super Fan: Matt Fagan, known as x-Superfan on Twitter, has been a Panthers supporter since the earliest days of the franchise and a season ticket holder since 2000, where he can be easily recognized by the red cape he wears to games. When the team is on the road, he watches from his viewing room, dubbed the Panther Den. Fagan was named the Panthers first 7th Man honouree in 2003.

Mascot: The Panthers have a rare pair of costumed crowd pleasers with Stanley C. Panther and Viktor E. Rat. Stanley C. is named as a reference to the Stanley Cup and debuted with the rest of the team in 1993. Victor E. is a play on the word victory, with the rodent joining the franchise in 2014. While the two mascots differ on most subjects, one thing they agree on is their affection for the movie Slapshot.

Tradition: Prior to the Panthers opening game of the 1995-96 season, a rat scurried across the team’s dressing room, before it was killed by forward Scott Mellanby. That night, Mellanby scored two goals in a winning effort. Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck called the performance a Rat Trick, playing off the hat trick hockey feat. That season, the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals featured thousands of toy rats rained onto the ice after each goal.

Appearances in Media: It ain’t much, but in the 2010 film Tooth Fairy, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the Panthers are the opposing team when Johnson’s character finally makes the NHL as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. Not only that, but Johnson scores a goal against the Panthers. Other than that, I can’t find any other popular culture appearances for the franchise.

Panthers Mascots

Events/Scandals: While the Chicago Blackhawks sex assault scandal was emerging in 2021, Joel Quenneville was coach of the Panthers. He was the coach of the Blackhawks at the time of the 2010 assault and was cited as being vocal about keeping the incident quiet. Quenneville, who had led the Panthers to a perfect 7-0-0 record to start the season, was forced to resign from his post and has remained outside the NHL since.

Rivalry: The Battle of Florida, between the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, has always existed, but it’s heated up in the last couple seasons, as the Lightning made three straight Stanley Cup Finals from 2020-2022, winning two championships in that time, while the Panthers have risen to the top of the league and become top contenders. At times, the team that wins the season series has received a trophy with varying names.

Tragedy: The 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida didn’t directly affect members of the Panthers, but it shook the entire community. Members of the organization lived in Parkland and the team’s practice facility is located nearby. At the Panthers next home contest, a pre-game memorial was held for the 17 victims, capped by goalie Roberto Luongo delivering an emotional speech.

Player Nicknames: When center Noel Acciari joined the Panthers for the 2019-20 season, he was dismayed to learn there were no cookies offered as part of the team’s pre-game meal catering. The nickname ‘Cookie’ was then bestowed upon him by teammate Keith Yandle. Acciari got in on the new moniker, dressing as the Cookie Monster for the team’s Halloween party, while his wife went as a cookie.

Panthers Season

Line: One of the Panthers greatest lines in franchise history was dubbed the Russian Line. The unit saw Canadian Ray Whitney (who had been nicknamed Ray Whitney-ov during his time playing with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov with the San Jose Sharks) along with Russians Viktor Kozlov and Pavel Bure. The trio was formed for the 1999-2000 campaign, with each player enjoying their best offensive outputs with the Panthers. Bure even earned a Hart Trophy nomination for his season.

Captain: Aleksander Barkov was named captain of the Panthers prior to the 2018-19 season, leading them through the most successful stretch in the franchise’s history. The Panthers have made the playoffs in four of Barkov’s five campaign’s at the helm and won their only Presidents’ Trophy during his reign. Barkov is signed to the Panthers through the 2029-30 season, so he should lead the club for some time to come.

Enforcer: Paul Laus came to Florida in the 1993 Expansion Draft, making his NHL debut that season. Laus would play the rest of his career with the Panthers, racking up a franchise record 1,702 penalty minutes. The cult favourite even co-captained the team for a season. In 1996-97, Laus set an NHL record with 39 fighting majors in 77 games. He was also the last original member of the Panthers, before retiring in 2002.

Family Values: For what would be Pavel Bure’s final season (2001-02) with the Panthers, the team brought in his younger brother Valeri. Unfortunately, both siblings suffered various injuries, limiting how much they got to play together. During the same season, brothers Jeff and Brad Norton also played parts of the year with the Panthers. For the 2022-23 campaign, brothers Eric and Marc Staal played for Florida.

Aleksander Barkov

Returning Players: Perhaps the greatest player in franchise history, Roberto Luongo returned to the Panthers after his stint with the Vancouver Canucks. Luongo first joined the Panthers in 2000-01, a mere 24 games into his NHL career. He would play the next five seasons with the team, growing into one of the best goalies in the league. Luongo would return at the 2014 trade deadline, before retiring as a member of the Panthers in 2019.

Short Stint: Two of the three pieces dealt to Florida from Vancouver, in exchange for Roberto Luongo, lasted only one season with the team. Todd Bertuzzi played a mere seven games with the Panthers, following surgery on a herniated disc, before being dealt to the Detroit Red Wings at the 2007 trade deadline. Meanwhile, Alex Auld was supposed to replace Luongo as Florida’s starting goalie, but lost the job to Ed Belfour and left the club following 27 games.

Undrafted: Defenseman Dan Boyle signed with the Panthers in March 1998, following four years of college hockey. After working his way through Florida’s developmental system, Boyle was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he would be a key component of their 2004 Stanley Cup championship. Boyle finished his career with 1,093 games played and an Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2010.

Trade: The best and worst trades in Panthers history all revolve around goaltender Roberto Luongo. Both times the team icon was brought to Florida (2000 and 2014) are among the best swaps the organization ever made, while his 2006 exit from the Panthers did little to improve the team’s fortunes. Other notable deals include the acquisition of franchise players such as Pavel Bure and Matthew Tkachuk.

Roberto Luongo

Signing: The Panthers 2023 Stanley Cup Finals run did much to repair goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s popularity in Florida, but prior to this, the seven-year, $70 million contract he signed in 2019 was much derided, as the highest paid active NHL netminder had lost the top job to other goalies. Another bad signing was Dave Bolland at $27.5 million over five years. Bolland played two injury-plagued seasons before being forced to retire.

Draft Pick: Over a four-year span, the Panthers built a team core that propelled them to their early 2020s success, selecting Jonathan Huberdeau (3rd overall in 2011), Aleksander Barkov (2nd overall in 2013) and Aaron Ekblad (1st overall in 2014). Another first overall pick for the franchise was Ed Jovanovski in 1994. Jovanovski would later be used as part of the package to bring Pavel Bure to Florida, returning to the franchise for the final three seasons of his career.

Holdouts: Upon being acquired from the Calgary Flames in the 2001 off-season, Valeri Bure was in need of a new contract. He was coming off a season of 27 goals and 55 points and had tallied career highs of 35 goals and 75 points the year before that. The team and player couldn’t agree on a new deal, causing Bure to sit out the start of Florida’s training camp, before finally signing a pact.

Buyouts: The biggest buyout in Panthers history was the $4.96 million payment to Keith Yandle, to get out of the final two seasons of the seven-year, $44.45 deal he signed with the team in 2016. Yandle was chasing the NHL iron man record at the time of his release, only 42 games behind Doug Jarvis, who had held the streak record since 1986. Yandle signed with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2021-22 campaign, passing Jarvis on January 25, 2022, and retiring at the end of that season.

Bobrovsky

Unique Game: On September 23, 2006, the NHL presented a pre-season game in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The contest – the first ever NHL tilt played in the Caribbean – pitted the Panthers against the New York Rangers, with the Rangers winning 3-2. Tickets to the game sold poorly, with only about 5,000 people (many of them children bused in from housing projects to fill seats) turning out to the 18,500-seat Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.

Goal: Matthew Tkachuk scored a number of clutch goals during the Panthers 2023 playoff run. Perhaps most notable was his winner in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, in the fourth overtime period, the sixth longest game in NHL history. Tkachuk would also score the winning goal in Game 4 of that series with mere second remaining in regulation, sending Florida to the finals.

Fight/Brawl: With fighting increasingly disappearing from the NHL, it was a throwback of sorts to see Alex Petrovic of the Panthers and Evander Kane of the Buffalo Sabres battle three times during one February 2016 game. The combatants dropped the gloves twice in the second period and once more in the third. Following that final tilt, both players were ejected from the game, which Florida won 7-4.

Injury: On February 10, 2008, Panthers captain Olli Jokinen lost his balance behind the Buffalo Sabres net. This resulted in his skate coming up and cutting the common carotid artery of teammate Richard Zednik. Zednik quickly left the ice and was treated by paramedics and the Sabres team doctor, before being transported to hospital. Zednik missed the rest of the season recovering, but returned for the following campaign.

Matthew Tkachuk

Penalty: The Rat Trick tradition has stood the test of time, still being utilized by Panthers fans to this day. However, when fans celebrated the 20th anniversary of the event in 2016, littering the ice with rubber rats when the home team scored, Florida was twice assessed delay of game penalties. The Panthers still managed to win the contest 3-2, but players were frustrated that fan behaviour could cost them.

Wildest Story: The Panthers have endured a fair bit of dysfunction during their 30-year history. Imagine how much crazier things would have been if Donald Trump were the team’s owner. This almost happened in the late 1990s, when Wayne Huizenga looked to sell the franchise and the Trump Organization made inquiries. In the end, team president Bill Torrey was tasked with finding local ownership for any deal.

Blooper: After being scored on during a November 2009 game, defenseman Keith Ballard looked to take his frustration out on the goal post. Except when Ballard swung his stick, he accidentally hit his own goalie Tomas Vokoun in the head instead. Vokoun had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher and a cut on his ear required stitches to repair. Ballard apologized profusely and Vokoun later laughed off the incident.

Miscellaneous: Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey was once associated with the Panthers. During the 2015-16 season, the MVP of the game for Florida was given a hoodie that featured Spacey’s head floating in space. The team also sold the shirts at home games, donating the proceeds to charity. Spacey acknowledged the tradition and appeared at a game donning the hoodie. This all took place before Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct in October 2017.

Florida Panthers: Florida Panther

Florida Panther

  • 1 oz Tequila
  • 1 oz Orange Vodka
  • 1 oz Melon Liqueur
  • Top with Lemon-Lime Soda
  • Dash of Grenadine
  • Garnish with a Maraschino Cherry

While this cocktail is more for the animal than the hockey team, I thought I’d give it a try. Another cocktail that caught my eye was the Rumberto. Named after Roberto Luongo, the drink is a basic rum and cola recipe, which was served at all FLA Live Arena bars for Luongo’s jersey retirement in March 2020.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Blue Jacket

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Throughout the year, the Sip Advisor will alphabetically travel the National Hockey League (NHL), discovering the best and worst each team has to offer in a variety of subjects. We will also feature a drink based off the franchise. Today, we march into Ohio to find out what the Columbus Blue Jackets are all about:

Establishment Story: The Blue Jackets joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2000. Previously, the only NHL team to play in Ohio was the Cleveland Barons, which operated from 1976 to 1978. The team’s name comes from Columbus’ involvement in the American Civil War. The other name considered for the franchise, through a name the team contest held by Wendy’s restaurants in the area, was Justice.

Stanley Cups: The Blue Jackets have only won one playoff series ever, but it was notable. In the first round of the 2019 post-season, the Blue Jackets achieved the unthinkable, not only defeating the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning, but sweeping the series. It’s the only time in NHL history a President’s Trophy winner has been swept in the opening round and is known in team folklore as ‘The Sweep’.

Celebrity Fan: TV personality Erin Andrews, best known for her work as a National Football League sideline reporter, has been spotted at some Columbus games, rocking a Blue Jackets jersey. Andrews has even designed a line of Blue Jackets clothing for women, called WEAR. The line includes hoodies, pajama sets and button-up shirts. Andrews is married to former NHL player Jarret Stoll.

The Sweep

Super Fan: Described as the Blue Jackets biggest fan, Dancing Kevin (aka Kevin Schroeder) was known for his shirtless dance moves, with various slogans of support painted across his stomach and back. He would also, at times, pour beers all over his face to ignite the Columbus crowd. In 2016, Schroeder managed to lose 160 pounds over nine months, which the team he supports to this day celebrated.

Mascot: Stinger is a yellowjacket bug, so when mixed with Columbus blue, he has turned bright green with menacing red eyes. Stinger wears jersey number 00, representing the year 2000, when the Blue Jackets joined the NHL. Naturally, Stinger’s dislikes include bug zappers, raid and fly swatters. Columbus also had a secondary mascot, a cannon named Boomer, but that only lasted for half of the 2010-11 season.

Tradition: The Blue Jackets in-game experience is best known for the replica cannon inside Nationwide Arena, which was added for the 2007-08 season. The cannon is fired after each Columbus goal and also when the team takes the ice before the game and if they win the contest. To go along with the cannon blast, AC/DC’s For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) is played.

Appearances in Media: The only thing I can find for this category is a 2017 Finnish TV show called Amanda ja pelimiehet (Amanda and Gamers, according to Google translate), which saw host Amanda Harkimo interview various hockey players. The Columbus episode featured Finnish players Joonas Korpisalo, Markus Hannikainen and Markus Nutivaara, along with general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.

Stinger

Events/Scandals: On March 16, 2002, a deflected puck struck 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil in the head, as she attended a Blue Jackets home game. Although Cecil attended a first aid station under her own strength, she died 48 hours later, as doctors failed to discover a torn vertebral artery. Tragically, the tickets to the game were an early 14th birthday present. Following Cecil’s death, the NHL placed netting at each end of all arenas.

Rivalry: The Blue Jackets two chief rivals are the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, thanks to their geographical closeness to the Ohio capital city. Columbus’ hatred of all things Pittsburgh was intensified in the NHL, when the two teams were placed in the Metropolitan Division during the 2013-14 league realignment. The Blue Jackets and Penguins have met twice in the playoffs, with Pittsburgh winning both series.

Tragedy: In 2021, at a Fourth of July party hosted by Blue Jackets goalie coach Manny Legace, a firework mishap killed Columbus goalie Matiss Kivlenieks. It was later revealed by fellow Blue Jackets goaltender and Latvian Elvis Merzļikins that Kivlenieks’ death occurred as he was protecting others at the party, including Merzlikins pregnant wife. Kivlenieks had been in the Columbus system since being signed in 2017.

Player Nicknames: Current Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner was given the nickname Bam Bam in his rookie season by team trainer Mike Vogt, thanks to his tenacity while forechecking. The moniker is a reference to the young Flintstones character, who has surprising strength. Jenner has spent his entire career with the Blue Jackets, since being drafted 37th overall in 2011.

Columbus vs. Pittsburgh

Line: One popular unit in Blue Jackets history was the PB&J Line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi ‘Bread Man’ Panarin and Josh Anderson. The trio was formed during the 2017-18 season and were dominant while together. Another top line for Columbus was the threesome of Rick Nash, Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek, who were combined during the 2010-11 campaign.

Captain: After Rick Nash was traded away in July 2012, the Blue Jackets spent a number of years without a captain, finally putting Nick Foligno in the role in May 2015. Foligno had once been offered to Columbus, in a hopeful deal for Nash, but the transaction crumbled when Nash declined to waive his no-move clause to go to the Ottawa Senators. Foligno served as captain for six seasons, until he too was dealt from the team in April 2021.

Enforcer: Jody Shelley played parts of seven seasons with the Blue Jackets and holds the team’s single-season penalty minute record with 249 in the 2002-03 campaign. Shelley earned the nickname ‘Hawk’, as teammates felt he oversaw all the action and looked after them when needed. After retiring from hockey in 2013, Shelley became a Blue Jackets team ambassador, before joining the Blue Jackets TV broadcast team in 2014.

Family Values: Brothers Kris and Ryan Russell were both members of the Blue Jackets organization in 2011, but Kris was traded to the St. Louis Blues, before Ryan made his NHL debut with the club. Another family connection for the franchise is father and son Mike and Cole Sillinger both playing for Columbus. Mike suited up for two seasons with the Blue Jackets, while Cole was drafted by the club 12th overall in 2021.

Blue Jackets

Returning Players: Jakub Voracek was drafted by the Blue Jackets 7th overall in 2007. In June 2011, Voracek was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he would spend the next 10 seasons. In July 2021, Voracek was traded back to Columbus. Sadly, Voracek’s second stint with the Blue Jackets saw the end of his career at only 33 years old, due to post-concussion issues from an injury suffered in November 2022.

Short Stint: On a couple occasions, the Blue Jackets tried to bring in a star player to the organization, with the experiment not lasting long and that player ending up with the Los Angeles Kings. First, in 2011, Jeff Carter was traded to Columbus, but lasted only 39 games before he was on the move again. In 2013, Marian Gaborik was acquired, playing 34 games over two seasons. Both players would win Stanley Cups with the Kings.

Undrafted: The Blue Jackets most prolific undrafted signees have achieved their success in other locales, with Nick Holden and Jonathan Marchessault each only playing a few games with Columbus. The future may be bright with two 2022 signings in goalie Jet Greaves and defenseman Nick Blankenburg. Greaves had a strong NHL debut in April 2023, while Blankenburg has 17 points in his first 43 NHL contests.

Trade: The Blue Jackets greatest success came with their only playoff series victory in 2018. Two players who led the charge for that club were Sergei Bobrovsky and Nick Foligno, both acquired in trades in the 2012 off-season. Bobrovsky was dealt by the Philadelphia Flyers for three draft picks, while Foligno came over from the Ottawa Senators, in exchange for defenseman Marc Methot.

Voracek

Signing: In a surprise move, Johnny Gaudreau chose to sign with the Blue Jackets during the 2022 free agency period, rather than remain with the Calgary Flames or move closer to his home of New Jersey, as had been speculated by media reports. Gaudreau’s seven-year, $68.25 million pact with Columbus was less than Calgary offered and comparable to offers from Eastern Conference squads.

Draft Pick: Despite many years of futility, the Blue Jackets have only selected first overall once, taking Rick Nash in 2002. The team has more draft blunders than successes, especially with top 10 picks. These include Nikolai Zherdev (4th overall in 2003), Alexandre Picard (8th overall in 2004), Gilbert Brule (6th overall in 2005), Nikita Filatov (6th overall in 2008), and Ryan Murray (2nd overall in 2012).

Holdouts: Two budding stars for the Blue Jackets went through contract disputes with the organization, following breakout seasons in contract years. Nikolay Zherdev and Ryan Johansen both endured drawn out negotiations, with each player finally putting pen to paper and joining the team as training camp, in 2006 and 2014 respectively, were already in progress.

Buyouts: In the 2016 off-season, the Blue Jackets bought out the contracts of defenseman Fedor Tyutin and enforcer Jared Boll. The releases cost Columbus a total of $6.96 million, with $5.83 million going to Tyutin and $1.13 million going to Boll. Both players were long-time members of the franchise. Today, Tyutin and Boll rank sixth and eighth, respectively, in all-time games played for the Blue Jackets.

Gaudreau

Unique Game: The Blue Jackets have twice travelled to Europe for games. First, they played the 2010 NHL Premiere versus the San Jose Sharks in Stockholm, Sweden, while also facing off against the Malmo Redhawks in exhibition action in Malmo, Sweden. Next, they journeyed to Tampere, Finland for a pair of contests, dubbed the 2022 NHL Global Series, versus the Colorado Avalanche.

Goal: Rick Nash scored numerous goals for the Blue Jackets, but one tally is remembered more than all the rest. During a January 17, 2008 game against the Arizona Coyotes, Nash received the puck at center ice and came in on two Arizona defenseman, deking both out and then also the goalie. The marker was voted the second greatest goal of the 21st century in a 2020 Sportsnet tournament series.

Fight/Brawl: Bob Probert was one of the most feared fighters in NHL history, but that didn’t stop Jody Shelley from taking on the legendary pugilist three times in one 2002 game, with one bout occurring in each period. In a later interview, Shelley called the game “the longest night of my life.” When the two teams clashed again a couple nights later, it was time for round four between the two enforcers.

Injury: During a November 18, 2016 game against the New York Rangers, Matt Calvert was hit in the face with a slapshot, causing blood to stream onto the ice. The gritty forward received 36 stitches to close the wound, but returned to the contest and would score the eventual game-winning goal, while shorthanded. The incident earned Calvert the nickname Stitches.

Calvert

Penalty: In the 2011 pre-season, James Wisniewski was suspended for a hit to the head of Minnesota Wild player Cal Clutterbuck. The incident cost Wisniewski the remaining pre-season games and eight regular season contests. Wisniewski had been suspended four previous times. It should also be noted, both Jared Boll (four games in 2016) and Nick Foligno (three games in 2019) were suspended for hits to the head of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

Wildest Story: In a business where teams are hesitant to let assets walk away for nothing, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen made some against-the-grain decisions at the 2019 trade deadline, when he not only held onto his top goalie and player, when both were on the cusp of unrestricted free agency and likely to leave the team, he added rental players. This led to the surprise sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but ended with Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene all fleeing for greener pastures.

Blooper: Line changes in hockey can be chaotic, sometimes resulting in a too many men on the ice penalty. The Blue Jackets went another direction during a 2019 game against the Boston Bruins, when they only sent out four players for a faceoff in their zone, when they should have put out a full line. The result: Boston scored two seconds after the puck was dropped. Luckily for Columbus, they still won the contest 7-4.

Miscellaneous: The Blue Jackets have always done things differently and that was perhaps most evident with the club hiring Jarmo Kekalainen in 2013 as the first European GM in NHL history. Kekalainen had previously served in executive roles with the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues. He was leading Finnish Elite League club Jokerit, when hired for the Columbus gig. A decade later, Kekalainen is still at the helm of the Blue Jackets.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Blue Jacket

Blue Jacket

  • 1 oz Gin
  • 1 oz Blue Curacao
  • Dashes of Orange Bitters

The first martini recipe for the project. I don’t think this cocktail has any connection to the hockey team, other than sharing a name, but it’s the best I could find amongst the vast internet world.