Really, do you blame the man? Quite honestly I had no idea this guy worked for the Panthers. That doesn’t make me a bad fan does it?

Naaaah.

Via Deadspin

It was only a matter of time but the Panthers finally did the inevitable and traded the rights to Jay-Bo to the Calgary Flames for a decent return, but not as much as they could have gotten in return if traded during the season. Here is the haul…

Jay Bouwmeester is gone to Calgary as defenseman Jordan Leopold comes to Florida along with the Flames third round pick.

I’ll let George Richards give you his take on this as I have better things to do, such as sit at the pool.

The Panthers are done. But check out this shootout goal by Mike Ribeiro. Utterly insane. Everyone grab your free tickets next year!

I always keep hope when the numbers say there is still hope but after watching last nights “Mess on Ice” I have lost hope for this Florida Panthers hockey team and quite possibly have lost hope on the organization as a whole. What happened last night is the epitome of Florida Panthers hockey for the past 10 years. A bunch of hope with a big wet stale fart at the end of the season. After going up 3-1 in the third period, the Panthers, in the course of 2+ minutes gave up 3 goals and the lead before you could even blink your eyes. I know I was amazed when I changed the channel to check the Heat score, only for my friend to say, hey check the Panthers score. I turned to him and said, do you really think they blew a 2 goal lead in the third? Low and behold they did. What happened afterwards was an act of a desperate team that knows they blew it. Sour grapes is what is was. Check the videotape…

The problem with this team is they can’t handle pressure. They always seem to play well when the chips aren’t stacked against them. They need a new team philosophy. They need to take a page out of the Florida Marlins and improve scouting and improve drafting. I feel like I am watching a hockey team run by Rick Speilman and Randy Mueller.

After the playoff guarantee given by Coach Pete Debour, it’s a shame the only thing people are going to be rooting for now is the fact they can get four free tickets for next year. This organization may need to do some serious damage control with the fans, and it may start from the top.

“We were in control of the game,” said Vokoun, his eyes fixed on a nearby wall. “This is a tough loss for us. I still don’t realize what really happened.”

Oh you will realize when you are giving out thousands of free tickets to fans who still have a bad taste in there mouths from this year.

The Panthers are doing everything they can to stick around and sneak into the playoffs. It doesn’t look like this year is the year and the Panthers organization may be giving out quite a few free tickets next year. Let’s get to the link dump…

• Speaking of the Cats. Raffi Torres scored twice late in the third period to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. Torres scored his first goal of the night with 2:46 remaining in the third. He tied it at 1 and ruined Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun’s bid for his seventh shutout of the season.
• The Marlins got good news Saturday: Commissioner Javier Souto, who had been leaning against supporting the stadium project, said he now leans toward voting yes in Monday’s final Miami-Dade County Commission vote. If that’s the case, there will not be enough no votes to kill the project, barring a last-minute surprise. ”I think it will pass,” Souto said.
• A good sign: Dwyane Wade, eligible for free agency in 2010, loves playing for Erik Spoelstra. Besides ”doing an unbelievable job of keeping guys fresh,” Wade said, ”the thing that’s been surprising to me is how he hasn’t been the guy that loves to hear his own voice in practice every day. He makes it efficient. Sometimes young coaches like to hear their own voice and make the day longer.” And Wade likes that Spoelstra “is not a yeller. Once you have the respect of guys, you don’t have to yell. And everybody on the team respects him.”
• Last night Shaq proclaimed he would Twitter from his locker during half time of his game last night.
  

  Attention all twitterers I’m a tweet at halftime and not get fined like vill a new wave a whteva his name is. about 16 hours ago from TwitterBerry

  Shhhhhhh about 11 hours ago from TwitterBerry

  And he did just that.

• Tony McDaniel passed his physical Friday, making his trade from the Jaguars to the Dolphins official. McDaniel wound up on injured reserve in December, so Miami made the trade contingent on his passing a physical.

Tonight marks the first time Richard Zednik and the Florida Panthers have traveled back to Buffalo since Dr Z was sliced in the neck in a near fatal accident last year with then teammate Olli Jokinen. I can still remember the feeling of sickness I had when seeing this live on TV with some friends last year. Horrifying is the word I can best describe the feeling I had. It’s good to see Zednik back playing at a high level. He has been on a tear the last few weeks as the Cats make that last push to secure a playoff spot.

The above video was from Zednik’s first press conference when he returned from the injury. To keep the mood light for tonights game, you can check out the 2nd video of Randy Moeller goal calls put together by the Dan LeBatard show. Also check out some quotes from Buffalo players at On Frozen Pond regarding last years event.

Tonights game starts at 7:00 PM. Go Cats!