Alex Auld got his first glimpse of his new life in Florida this week as the threat of hurricane Ernesto had residents bracing for the worst.
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Auld, his wife and their three dogs drove from Thunder Bay to Florida over a week ago, settling in to their new house. They bought a home north of Fort Lauderdale near Bertuzzi and Allen, the three former Canucks settling together in the same area.

"It's a nice area, close to a golf club," Auld. "I guess I need to pick up golf now."

''I can't say that I had looked at being a general manager,'' Martin said. ''Maybe a long-term goal could have been that, but not short term.''

Todd Bertuzzi's troubles in his final season with the Vancouver Canucks stemmed from more than just the fallout from the Steve Moore incident.

In an interview from Sunday's Vancouver Sun, the new Florida Panther revealed a myriad of problems with his former team, including former Canucks coach Marc Crawford.

Man I miss Rusty...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Florida Panthers goalie Ed Belfour was arrested at a popular South Beach bar early Monday after a scuffle with a police officer.

Belfour and teammate Ville Peltonen were at the bar when security guards from the club asked police to make Belfour leave, police said.

The 41-year-old goaltender from Carman, Man., refused and walked towards the officer "in a fighting stance" and pushed him, a Miami Beach police report said.

Eddie still hasn't figured out what rehab is for. Can't the guy just retire already?

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Florida Panthers goalie Ed Belfour was arrested at a popular South Beach bar early Monday after a scuffle with a police officer.

Belfour and teammate Ville Peltonen were at the bar when security guards from the club asked police to make Belfour leave, police said.

Game reunites 'Rat' pack

The Panthers reach back into their past to celebrate their finest hour this weekend when they host a "Year of the Rat" alumni game at 2 p.m. Saturday at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise.

At least 19 members of the 1995-96 team that reached the Stanley Cup finals plus coach Doug MacLean have committed to participate.

The opposition will be made up of another alumni/celebrity squad that will include ex-Panthers Valeri Bure, Bret Hedican and Mark Parrish.
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Notable absentees will be Rob Niedermayer, who is getting married this weekend and will be on his honeymoon, as well as Robert Svehla, Radek Dvorak and Rhett Warrener, who had previous commitments.
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The Panthers will unveil their 2007-08 uniforms designed by Reebok during one of the intermissions. Doors will open at 1:30, and players will sign autographs before and after the game.

The Florida Panthers hope a new brand identity will translate into a growing fan base that buys season and individual game tickets, packs BankAtlantic Center and snaps up jerseys and caps, even if the hockey team isn't winning.

The brand positioning statement, "The Florida Panthers: The Puck Unites," which the team plans to use for years, will appear with a new sales tagline for this upcoming season, "See it. Get it. Love it." in radio, TV and print ads and in the Sunrise arena.

Mike Keenan's recent comments insulting Stephen Weiss, Jay Bouwmeester, and the rest of the Panthers organization is just another example of a runaway train of imbecility. It's not bad enough that he traded away the team's franchise goaltender for peanuts, but then spews this stupidity in the pages of The Hockey News.

He actually said Stephen Weiss shouldn't be playing the NHL, and that Bouwmeester still had pimples (which, not that it matters, doesn't have a one) Apparently, face acne is a major deterrent to playing good hockey in Mike's world. Is this all he's got? ... Calgary fans are going to detest the look of him as well very soon.

Bouwmeester pleads guilty to DUI charges

Florida Panthers defenceman Jay Bouwmeester pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges in an Edmonton Provincial Court on Tuesday.

He was given a one-year driving probation and a $1,000 fine.

Chad Kilger still hasn't reported to work with the Panthers, a week after being granted a leave of absence.
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Kilger took a personal leave from Toronto, missing six games from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13. He returned Feb. 14 and played in six games (one goal, two assists) before the trade. The Panthers assumed Kilger had worked things out, although that appears not to be the case. Kilger has missed Florida's past four games.

The Florida Panthers are locking up general manager Jacques Martin to a long-term deal.

The NHL team announced Friday the two sides have reached an agreement for Martin to remain as GM through the 2011-12 season.

Yet it is reasonable to wonder whether Martin, who didn't work out as the last coach, is the ideal guy to pick the next one.
Will he recognize that a still-young team could benefit from a young, energetic voice? A communicator? Someone with a style and philosophy quite unlike his own? And if he does hire such a person, who works so differently, how will they work together? Will they co-exist? Clash? Will Cohen regret the creation of another unconventional and potentially uncomfortable structure?...

’More than anything, we needed a change as coach,’’ Cohen said. ``Jacques has done a good job as GM. That’s the bottom line.’’

Nice job by the Florida Panthers to further deepen their hold on "worst-run franchise" in the NHL honors. Jacques Martin, a coach who failed to get the Senators beyond a conference final during his nine years in Ottawa and failed to get the Panthers into the playoffs for three straight seasons, is out as coach.
But Martin will remain as GM, a post where he has accomplished little and has almost nothing on his résumé to suggest he has the tools be a successful NHL GM. Worse for the hapless Panthers, according to TSN analyst Bob McKenzie, Joe Nieuwendyk, the classy longtime NHLer who was acting in an advisory role for the Panthers after he retired, has left the team.
Team officials did not respond to requests for confirmation, but we can only assume Nieuwendyk believed the team is headed nowhere fast, which has pretty much been its destination for more than a decade... Scott Burnside

THN.com Blog: Is Jay Bouwmeester worth the hype?

When exactly does Bouwmeester himself begin to accept some of the responsibility for the on-ice fortunes of the Panthers? If he’s supposed to be their undisputed No. 1 defenseman, shouldn’t he be expected to have a major part in leading the way to the Panthers becoming a playoff team? He has been there for five seasons and they haven’t played a playoff game yet. Isn’t he at least partly responsible for that?

Quite frankly, I’ve never understood the fascination with this guy. Ever since he came onto the scene as a 16-year-old he has been surrounded by hype, with much of the pom-pom waving generated by Hockey Canada. When he was a junior player, I kept hearing how great Bouwmeester was, then I watched him have absolutely no effect on any of the games in three straight World Junior Championships. He scored a total of zero goals and four assists in 21 games in those three tournaments and Canada came away with two bronze medals and a silver medal.

Here’s a guy who didn’t play a single playoff game in junior hockey and hasn’t played one as an NHL player. There have been serious concerns about his approach to conditioning and his off-ice lifestyle and he has proven time and again he lacks the take-charge personality required to be a true team leader on and off the ice.

Yes, Bouwmeester has talent. He led all NHL players in ice time last season and tied for fifth among defensemen with 15 goals. However, he was also just 24th in points, not great for a defenseman who was expected to be one of the league’s elite offensive rearguards by this stage of his career.

The book on Bouwmeester is he skates the puck out of his zone well enough, but his first pass, which was supposed to be one of his strengths, is not very good. He’s not terribly physical and doesn’t use his size to shut down opponents. Link

... He is, in short, a stud. At 6-foot-4, 212 pounds, he skates well, is physical and his offensive game is starting to round into shape as his goal totals have gone from five, to 12 to 15 since the end of the lockout. He led all players in average ice time last season with 27:28, a number made even more impressive given that Bouwmeester played in all 82 games for the third straight season.

The Edmonton-area native was a member of Canada's gold-medal Olympic team in 2002 and will be a significant element of the Canadian blue line in Vancouver in 2010. He might possess the personality of a freshly caught grouper, but Martin should be able to obtain good even great value for Bouwmeester before next February's trade deadline if he can't get him to sign on long-term.... Link

MCCABE TO UNDERGO MRI ON POSSIBLE BROKEN BACK

What appeared to be an awkward fall could turn out to be a serious injury for Florida Panthers' defenceman Bryan McCabe.
Early indications suggest McCabe may have broken his back after colliding with Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Dennis Seidenberg into the boards. McCabe will have an MRI on Saturday to determine the full extent of the injury.
McCabe left Friday's game midway through the second period and did not return. X-rays showed at least one fractured vertebrae. TSN

No one had to remind Richard Zednik late Tuesday morning that it was a year ago today that he nearly lost his life in Buffalo when his neck was lacerated by a teammate’s skate.

But it’s on this anniversary that the Panthers find Zednik playing some of the best hockey of his career. In the past two weeks, Zednik has scored a pair of goals by jumping over a defender and soaring through the air.

And when the Panthers play host this evening to the Toronto Maple Leafs at BankAtlantic Center, Zednik will be a healthy, happy and confident player.
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Zednik said he doesn’t like to think about the accident. “I’m looking forward.” Asked if he appreciates things more since the accident, Zednik replied, “About everything.”

“You enjoy everything a little more,” he said. “You enjoy your times with your family, the guys in the locker room, and (that I’m) still playing hockey.

A publicly held company formed last year to acquire sports properties has agreed to purchase the Florida Panthers hockey team for $240 million, a source familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

Sports Properties Acquisition Corp has agreed to buy the National Hockey League team; its home, BankAtlantic Center; an arena management company and some land surrounding the arena, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the deal has not been announced.

SUNRISE - Panthers' general manager Jacques Martin is leaving to become head coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

"It didn't take me a long time to make up my mind," Martin said at a news conference in Montreal on Monday to introduce him. "I think the challenge, the opportunity to come back to my roots, French Canadian, knowing the passion that exists in this market…is a great opportunity."

Martin and Panthers' owner Alan Cohen couldn't be immediately reached for comment. This will be the fourth head coaching job for Martin, 56, who just finished his third season as the Panthers' GM. Martin coached the team for three seasons before Cohen asked him to relinquish those duties last summer after the team again failed to reach the postseason.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Sunrise Sports & Entertainment and Rosenhaus Sports jointly announced today that the Florida Panthers and super agent Drew Rosenhaus – representing Cats fans in the club’s new marketing campaign – have come to terms on a new season ticket pricing structure for the 2009-10 NHL regular season. The new pricing structure is highlighted by the incredible value of a $35 lower level season ticket and a $7 upper level season ticket. Limited seats are available at both price points, which include parking, so fans are encouraged to call 954.835.PUCK now for more information. Concession prices at the BankAtlantic Center will also remain flat for the 2009-10 season.

“The Panthers’ willingness to ‘negotiate’ their season ticket pricing structure means that Cats fans won’t have to ‘show the money’ – or at least too much of it – to experience NHL hockey during the 09-10 season,” Rosenhaus said. “When you consider that for just $35 a game, you get admission, parking and special player-related benefits, that’s a super value courtesy of the super agent.”

Don't look now, but there is another Phoenix Coyotes situation on the National Hockey League horizon.

The Florida Panthers were supposed to be sold this summer, but quietly no deal was ever agreed to with the difficult owner Alan Cohen, and those who know the situation best wonder what comes next.

The current owners clearly want out. They didn't even bother to replace Jacques Martin as general manager this summer. They are operating on a shoestring budget and rumblings are the owners may consider abandoning ship if need be.

This isn't the kind of news the NHL wants to hear as another season is about to begin, especially considering what this summer in bankruptcy court has been like for the league.

Make no mistake, the trouble is there, even if commissioner Gary Bettman won't readily admit it.

But then, this past winter, he wouldn't say anything was wrong in Phoenix either.

Link

I'd like to see what the turn out would be if the panthers had a successfull season and judge it by that.

Single successful seasons have not done much to drive the Panthers, teams in smaller southern hockey markets need sustained winning in order to maintain viability and the Panthers ownership and management to me hasn't demonstrated the ability to accomplish this at all.