Jokinen traded

[Thundergod]

The Panthers traded Olli Jokinen to the Coyotes. It's shit like this that frustrates the hell out of me as a fan. First Luongo, now this. Eventually I was cool with getting rid of Luongo... but, WTF? It's as if this management doesn't really care about contending for shit.

FUCK!!!!

Question for my fellow Panthers fan, what say you Brian?


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/hockey/panthers/sfl-0620jokinentraded,0,685694.story

[YoFuggedaboutit]

I find it hard to believe that this team has managed to operate for so long, claiming they've lost as much money as they have. 

I've been to a few Panthers games at the National Car Rental/Office Depot/BankAtlantic Center...... and the crowds are sparse. 

[SportsChick]

I had heard it was coming but it makes me sad anyways. Olli always got the fans going.

[Brian Fein]

I challenge Tommy - you haven't been to a Panthers' game in years.  Crowds are NOT sparse at all.

Thunder - I am sad to see Olli go.  He was the only hope on offense for us.  But, I gotta hope the front office knows what they're doing and got back something in return.  I haven't heard the details of the trade, just that he left for Phoenix.

I wish Olli well.  I am happy with the way the Luongo deal went down only because I liked Belfour and now Vokoun is brick-wall-esque.  The problem isn't the skill level, its that these guys are the fan favorites...

[Thundergod]

I hear ya, but sometimes you just can't take your leading scorer for who knows how long, and trade him away for "hopes". Vokoun is a monster, get him some D, and build around Jokinen. Of course, we'll just have to wait and see if this was good for us. Hindsight (in '06) shows that we traded one the leagues best goaltenders (Luongo) for damaged goods (Bertuzzi) and a one of the worst goaltenders (Auld). At the moment it just looks like Keenan is just a big douche in a Matt Millen way (Luongo didn't want to be traded). I wish Jokinen the best. 

Let's hope we got somethin good.   

I challenge Tommy - you haven't been to a Panthers' game in years.  Crowds are NOT sparse at all.

Very true.

[SportsChick]

From what I've heard, it was a problem with Olli and management. They just didn't see eye to eye

[Brian Fein]

Cause Olli wanted to win and the management didn't care?

The funny thing is, this happened only 2 weeks after they announced they are raising ticket prices like $25 a seat across the board.

[SportsChick]

Not across the board - just when a good team comes to town. You want to see a crappy team, it's still cheap to go

[MaineDolFan]

Miami still has a hockey team?  Does Miami know that or are they all busy going to Marlins games? 



Sorry Brian...I couldn't resist.

[BingeBag]

Seriously, fuck Jokinen. He has all the potential in the world, and can never get anything together. I am not the least bit sad to see him go. Salary Cap dump. We are going to be picking up some solid players in the FA with the money we just saved off that bum. Don't get me wrong, He's going to score 45-50 goals with Phoenix and is a solid pickup for them, but I am just bitter on the fact that Jokinen was a huge cause of the panthers mediocrity the last couple of years as well as his shitty leadership. If we can resign Bouwmeester, and pick up some solid front line talent. We are going to be looking at a pretty solid team that can emphasize defense without a underperforming Captain and a big year from Horton.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Move the Panthers to Hamilton. The market in Florida is dogshit for the Panthers and the NHL can't just keep absorbing crap teams without fans.

[Brian Fein]

Move the Panthers to Hamilton. The market in Florida is dogshit for the Panthers and the NHL can't just keep absorbing crap teams without fans.

wow, thanks for that insightful response...

It is absolutely imperative to keep Bouwmeester around.  Him, Vokoun, and Horton will be the center-pieces of the team, but it would be nice to add another power goal-scorer to the front line.

Let's hope they can pull it together in the next few months cause I'm eagerly anticipating the return of hockey season, and it'd be nice if the Panthers could compete for the division for once.  Their division is weak as hell, and it'd be nice to run away with it early.