2005 Florida Panthers Preview
Welcome to the 2005 Florida Panthers Preview page. The NHL Hockey Season is around the corner and what better way to remind the public how exciting the NHL can be with a 2005 season preview from Maddux Sports. Remember if you are betting on NHL hockey look no further, as we are one of the few sports handicapping services that offers NHL picks against the hockey betting line and can help you be a winner this NHL betting season.
2005 Florida Panthers Hockey Season Preview
The Panthers may finally be tired of being the other hockey team in Florida, especially since the Stanley Cup presently resides across the state in Tampa Bay. In August the team added numerous quality players, including Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts from Toronto and Martin Gelinas, Josef Stumpel and Chris Gratton. The question is will these veterans be the key to a new Cat team defined by winning?
Nieuwendyk and Roberts are known as winners. Both have played on Stanley Cup Championship teams and both have been All Stars. Nieuwendyk, a center, has won the cup three times, while Roberts, who plays wing, helped the Flames earn the trophy during the 1988-89 season.
Panthers GM Mike Keenan, who has been on a hunt for quality veterans, signed a total of 10 experienced and skilled players who've been in a total of over 6,000 NHL games. The theory is that these vets will set a standard for and influence the play of the younger players on the team.
Add to this Roberto Luongo, one of the top net minders in the league, and Keenan may have a great team in the making or at least one better than the one that finished twelfth during their last season. Luongo was a star on that Panther team placing third overall among all NHL goalies and posting a single season league record of 2303 saves.
If Keenan's ten-pack of veterans along with a savvy, reactive Luongo can combine with some of the Panthers younger talent, that Cup may not have to travel very far to get to its next home.
