The Florida Panthers - NHL
Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded
an NHL franchise for his native Miami in 1992. The team
played at the Miami Arena, and its first major stars
were New York Rangers goalie castoff John Vanbiesbrouck,
rookie Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored
30 goals. They had one of the most successful first
seasons of any expansion team, finishing one point below
.500 and narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot
in the Eastern Conference.
After missing another close brush with the playoffs
in 1994-95, coach Roger Neilson was fired and replaced
by Doug MacLean. They then acquired Ray Sheppard from
the San Jose Sharks on the trade deadline in 1996 and
they looked towards the playoffs for the first time.
The 1996 playoffs were a dream for the Panthers. They
upset the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh
Penguins to reach the Stanley Cup finals. South Florida
was euphoric. Against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, series
comebacks were part of the astonishment.
It came to an end in the Stanley Cup finals though.
Their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, would sweep
the Panthers on Uwe Krupp's third-overtime goal in game
4. The next season, a team ravaged by injuries would
lose to the New York Rangers on the first round. More
injuries caused the team to have their worst record
to that point in 1997-98.
The Panthers moved into the National Car Rental Center
(now known as Office Depot Center) in 1998, the new
arena being the result of bickering and threatening
to move the team. In 1999, they acquired Pavel Bure
(the "Russian Rocket"), in a blockbuster trade
with the Vancouver Canucks. They would reach the playoffs
again in 2000 riding on his 58 goals, losing in the
first round to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New
Jersey Devils.
The team slumped in the 2000-01 NHL season despite
a 59 goal season from Bure. The following season, 2001-02,
the Panthers would have their worst record ever. Bure
struggled despite being reunited with his brother Valeri,
and was traded to the New York Rangers on the 2002 trading
deadline.
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