Can and will the Florida Panthers take the next step and finally qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs? It’s unreal to believe that it’s been nine years since they’ve qualified for the post season, furthermore they’ve missed 11 out of the past 12 years. As soon as Wednesday they will have a leader behind the bench in former NHL veteran Kevin Dineen.
Six years of AHL coaching experience
For the past six years, Dineen has been the head coach of the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, in five of those seasons his team was over .500 having a minimum of 39 wins in those seasons. The former Hartford Whaler legend will bring his fierce intensity behind the bench of Florida, obviously hoping to enjoy similar success.
Dineen played 1188 games in the NHL over 18 seasons. He played with five teams, scoring 355 goals, 405 assists for 760 points with 2229 penalty minutes.
No easy task in taking over
The Panthers next season will be heading into year two of their latest rebuild. With the hockey club making several of moves at the trade deadline, the Panthers likely next year can have as many as seven to eight first or second year players. They will count largely on David Booth to have a bounce back season, same thing can be said for Stephen Weiss. They have a very young defenseman, so much so that veteran Mike Weaver (six years experience) is the only experienced de-man. Out of the seven de-man, as many as three rookies are expected to be in the lineup.
Panthers need to be more abrasive
Over the past several seasons, the Panthers have played a very soft, non-checking game. They need to get more aggressive through and through the lineup, they cannot be as soft as they have been. To often the team has been taken advantage of, they need to start protecting their best players. Dineen will see going forward the rough and tumble Panthers will be back and ready for action.
No comments:
Post a Comment