1 – MARCHAND DEBUT: At long last, Florida Panthers fans and NHL fans around the world will get their first look at newly-acquired forward Brad Marchand in a Cats uniform Friday night versus Utah at Amerant Bank Arena. Acquired March 7 from Boston, Marchand has yet to suit up with Florida due to injury. However on Wednesday head coach Paul Maurice reported that if all goes according to plan, following a full practice on Thursday, the 36-year old from Halifax, NS should be good to go Friday night on home ice. It’ll be Utah’s first-ever visit to Sunrise.
2 – BOBBY LU: Wednesday’s Panthers practice at the Baptist Health Iceplex in Fort Lauderdale got tongues wagging across the NHL for another reason. Hockey Hall of Famer and Panthers hockey executive Roberto Luongo participated in the skate – as he occasionally does – and shared friendly words with Marchand on the ice. The pair were foes in the legendary 2011 Stanley Cup Final with Marchand’s Bruins coming out on top in a seven-game series against Luongo’s Vancouver Canucks.
3 – THE FUTURE IN GOAL: It’s been debated in local hockey circles ever since the Panthers shipped the seemingly Next One, Spencer Knight, to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenceman Seth Jones on March 3; who is the heir apparent to Sergei Bobrovsky? It’s not going to be newly-acquired Vitek Vanecek, who was shelled for six goals on 33 shots in his last start, a 6-3 Cats loss at Washington on Saturday. Can’t see it being Kaapo Kahkonen, who was acquired from Winnipeg for fellow goalie Chris Driedger at the deadline and is currently in AHL Charlotte. However GM Bill Zito and Luongo are never without a plan so fans are advised to sit tight, and enjoy the current play of Bobrovsky. The 36-year old is near the top of the NHL in most key stats this season such as Goals Against Average (6th), Shutouts (2nd), and Wins (4th). Bob’s in his prime and that window isn’t closing anytime soon.
4 – KOOCH: Speaking of being in their prime, Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov notched three points in the Bolts’ 6-1 rout of Pittsburgh Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. That reached 100-points for the Russian sniper for a third straight season and the Lightning great has had the most 100-point seasons (5) of any winger in the NHL since the lockout in 2013.
5 – HEATING UP: Things are heating up mightily in the NHL’s Atlantic Division with three weeks to go in the regular reason. How much so? Toronto and Florida are tied for first-place with 89 points, while Tampa Bay is just two back at 87! For a brief period last week, the Bolts nudged their way into second-place which was the first time since November 4 that Florida/Toronto weren’t 1-2 in the standings. It’s useless to compare schedules the rest of the way, or look at analytics to see who has the most difficult road. It’s a game-by-game thing but if the playoffs began today, the Panthers and Lightning would meet in Round 2, which would be the Battle of Florida Round IV! It’s mind-boggling to think these two teams never met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs till 2021, and now they seemingly do every year.
6 – HOT CHYCH: A hearty congratulations to Boca Raton’s Jakob Chychryn of the Washington Capitals, who signed an eight-year, $72-million extension with the club on Tuesday. The 26-year old is having a career season with the Caps, and his 18 goals are more than all the other Washington defencemen combined, and are 3rd-most in the NHL among blueliners. To top it all off, he was married in Scottsdale during the Four Nations Faceoff break. Add to that his father Jeff Chychrun earning a Stanley Cup ring as part of the Panthers TV crew last season, and these are great times to be a Chychrun!
7 – THE GREAT 8: Jakob has had a front row seat for Alexander Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career NHL goals record. The Washington Capitals captain scored his 889th career goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 Caps OT loss at Washington, moving him within six goals of breaking Gretzky’s mark. “He’s like nothing I would have expected in the best way possible,” Chychrun said of Ovechkin. “A guy that’s really loved here, and really is the life of this group. Watching him growing up — great memories — and to be here now with him, and playing with him and getting to know him has just been a blast.”
8 – OWLS FLY: A huge congratulations from the South Florida Tribune and Cats N Bolts Podcast to the Florida Atlantic University Mens Hockey Team for capturing the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) D2 National Championship on the weekend in Jacksonville. The Owls defeated the High Point Panthers (North Carolina) 5-2 in the final. It’s the first championship in program history, and comes under the tutelage of head coach Chris Long.
9 – POWER RANKINGS: With three weeks to go, the race is truly on for playoff positioning and we’ve seen some great head-to-head match-ups among the leaders, establishing regular season dominance! Here’s our weekly ranking of the Top 5 & Bottom 5 teams in the NHL – 1) Winnipeg, 2) Washington, 3) Dallas, 4) Vegas, 5) Florida, and 28) Philadelphia, 29) Buffalo, 30) Nashville, 31) Chicago, 32) San Jose.
10 – STAR GAZING: Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson, Vegas centre Jack Eichel and St. Louis centre Dylan Holloway were named the NHL’s three stars of the week. … Gustavsson went 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average, .976 save percentage and one shutout to propel the Wild to a perfect week. … Eichel tied for the NHL lead with seven points (two goals, five assists) in three games as the Golden Knights also went undefeated last week. … Holloway also had seven points (one goal, six assists) in four contests to help the Blues extend their winning streak to six games and move into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
See you at the rink!
(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV & Streaming)
