At the start of the season, few expected the Florida Panthers to have won the Atlantic Division and be in the thick of one of the more entertaining first-round playoff series. They were applauded for the 25-point jump from the 2013-14 season to the 2014-15 campaign, but the common belief was that they still weren’t a lock for the playoffs. The Panthers were largely labelled as a young, emerging team with a good core to build around and a few key veteran pieces, but the depth of this team, as well as their scoring abilities, were questioned.
As it turns out, the Panthers didn’t really care what the general perception surrounding them was.
“I didn’t know a lot of people wrote us off,” says 25-year old Reilly Smith, who currently leads the NHL in playoff scoring with eight points through three games. Smith was traded to the team last off-season. “As soon as I got here, that was the message: we’re going to be a tough team to play against. Our defense has been stingy and I think our offense has shocked some people.”
The Panthers have become a team to marvel at: their veteran players, including Jaromir Jagr, who led the team in regular-season scoring, and 37-year old goaltender Roberto Luongo, are enjoying renaissance-type seasons. (Luongo finished fifth in the NHL is save percentage amongst goalies who’ve played 3,000 minutes.) They’re getting scoring from unlikely sources, including Smith and 22-year old Vincent Trocheck, who, in his first full NHL season, scored 25 goals through 76 games. Trocheck could return to the lineup for Game 4 against the Islanders on Wednesday after an ankle injury.
It adds up to the Panthers being viewed as perhaps the most surprising team in the league this season.
Still, how well they’ve functioned as a unit, with no viable signs of division between their old and young factions, remains the most compelling element of this team. The key to their success isn’t some unheard-of advanced stat or the play of one singular superstar. To hear the Panthers tell it, they’re just having fun.
“It’s a pretty loose group. There’s a good mix of a young core that kind of drives the team, and the veteran guys that have experience complement them really well,” says forward Teddy Purcell, acquired by the Panthers at the trade deadline. Purcell himself has enjoyed becoming a part of the Panthers’ relaxed, easygoing atmosphere and says he can see the results.
The Panthers were the talk of the NHL recently when actor Kevin Spacey attended their game. This season, the team has handed out a “Spacey in Space” sweatshirt to the team-voted best player after a winning game. They have yet to reveal the reasoning for the sweater, which has only added to the team’s charm.
“I don’t think [the media] will ever learn,” says Smith, after being asked about the meaning behind the sweater. “And that’s pretty much all I can say about that.”
That kind of inside joke-heavy atmosphere has clearly done wonders for team morale.
“It’s a fun group,” adds Smith. “It’s a positive atmosphere at the rink all the time. That’s one thing that jumps off the page. And that’s one thing that leads to more success. There’s a lot of characters; a lot of really funny guys on this team that lighten the mood. Jagr is definitely one of them.”
The Panthers are a hockey team enjoying the game and enjoying each other’s company enough that that camaraderie leads to positive results on the ice. Many teams approach this time of year with steely resolve and a hard-nosed, no-nonsense mentality.
But Panthers entered the postseason smiling, and why shouldn’t they? They finished with 103 points, the most in franchise history. What’s more, they had an average attendance of 15,384 for home games this year, an incredible jump from the last-place total of 11,265 last season. The team’s winning ways bodes well for the future of a franchise that is often in doubt.
“Guys are having fun. And when you enjoy it, you build your confidence and it’s fun coming to the rink and that pushes you to be even better,” Purcell says.
All good things must come to an end, though – or so some would have you believe about the Panthers. According to War on Ice, the Panthers finished 20th in five-on-five Corsi For Percentage in the NHL (48.7%), meaning the Panthers opposing teams generally drive possession of the puck much more than they do. Their team shooting percentage finished at fifth best in the league, another factor that speaks more to the Panthers being lucky than good.
As a team, they’re certainly aware that there has been an element of luck involved in their game.
“Sometimes when you get outshot or when you hang your goaltender out to dry, you do talk about [getting lucky on scoring chances]. Because you can’t win like that all the time. But you don’t get lucky over 80 games,” says Purcell.
As their first round series continues, the team’s veteran leadership group could take over and we could see a more serious brand of Panthers hockey.
“Obviously every team does get lucky,” says Purcell. “At times, do we have to tighten up? Absolutely. You can’t just flip the switch as soon as you head into the playoffs.”
Regardless of how far the Panthers go in the NHL playoffs, they’ve put the rest of the league on notice: they’re having fun, but they’ve become a lot less fun to play against.
