2008–09 Florida Panthers season

	2008–09 Florida Panthers
Division	3rd Southeast
Conference	9th Eastern
2008–09 record	41-30-11
Home record	22-12-7
Road record	19-18-4
Goals for	234
Goals against	231
Team information
General manager	Jacques Martin
Coach	Peter DeBoer
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Bryan Allen; Cory Stillman; Stephen Weiss
Arena	BankAtlantic Center
Average attendance	15,531
Team leaders
Goals	David Booth (31)
Assists	Stephen Weiss (47)
Points	Stephen Weiss (61)
Penalty minutes	Nick Boynton (91)
Plus/minus	Stephen Weiss (+19)
Wins	Tomas Vokoun (26)
Goals against average	Tomas Vokoun (2.49)
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Florida Panthers season was the 15th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League. The 2008-2009 season was also the eighth consecutive season in which the Panthers did not make the playoffs, missing them via tiebreaker, based upon losing the season series vs. the Montreal Canadians (1-3).

On June 14, 2008, the Panthers named Peter DeBoer head coach and signed him to a multi-year contract.^[1] Former coach Jacques Martin relinquished his coaching duties, but continues as the team's General Manager.

Pre-season[]

The Florida Panthers played seven pre-season exhibition games before the start of the regular season. The team went on a road trip across North America to play six games on six consecutive nights, winning only the first two games. The trip included the first ever NHL game played on Prince Edward Island, against the New York Islanders. After one final pre-season game at home, the Panthers finished the pre-season with a 3–2–2 record.

Regular season[]

Divisional standings[]

Southeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
y-Washington Capitals	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
x-Carolina Hurricanes	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
e-Florida Panthers	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
e-Atlanta Thrashers	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
e-Tampa Bay Lightning	82	24	40	18	210	279	66

Conference standings[]

Eastern Conference	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
z-Boston Bruins *	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
y-Washington Capitals *	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
y-New Jersey Devils *	82	51	27	4	244	209	106
x-Pittsburgh Penguins	82	45	28	9	264	239	99
x-Philadelphia Flyers	82	44	27	11	264	238	99
x-Carolina Hurricanes	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
x-New York Rangers	82	43	30	9	210	218	95
x-Montreal Canadiens	82	41	30	11	249	247	93

e-Florida Panthers	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
e-Buffalo Sabres	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
e-Ottawa Senators	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
e-Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	35	13	250	293	81
e-Atlanta Thrashers	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
e-Tampa Bay Lightning	82	24	40	18	210	279	66
e-New York Islanders	82	26	47	9	201	279	61

x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division title, z - clinched best conference record, e - eliminated from playoff contention

* – division leader

Game log[]

2008–09 Game Log

October: 4–5–0 (Home: 3–2–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 10	Florida	4 - 6	Carolina		Vokoun	18,680	0-1-0	0
2	October 11	Atlanta	2 - 3	Florida	OT	Vokoun	18,401	1-1-0	2
3	October 16	Minnesota	6 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	12,106	1-2-0	2
4	October 18	NY Islanders	0 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	16,087	2-2-0	4
5	October 20	Florida	1 - 3	Montreal		Vokoun	21,273	2-3-0	4
6	October 22	Florida	3 - 1	Ottawa		Anderson	18,952	3-3-0	6
7	October 24	San Jose	3 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	15,232	4-3-0	8
8	October 25	Florida	0 - 4	St. Louis		Anderson	19,150	4-4-0	8
9	October 30	Ottawa	2 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	13,567	4-5-0	8

November: 5–6–3 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 3–5–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
10	November 1	Florida	2 - 3	Nashville	SO	Anderson	14,909	4-5-1	9
11	November 2	Florida	3 - 5	Atlanta		Vokoun	10,584	4-6-1	9
12	November 6	Florida	2 - 3	Los Angeles		Vokoun	11,267	4-7-1	9
13	November 8	Florida	1 - 4	Phoenix		Vokoun	14,807	4-8-1	9
14	November 9	Florida	3 - 1	Anaheim		Anderson	16,951	5-8-1	11
15	November 12	Tampa Bay	0 - 4	Florida		Anderson	12,104	6-8-1	13
16	November 14	Detroit	3 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	18,637	6-9-1	13
17	November 18	Florida	4 - 3	Tampa Bay	SO	Vokoun	16,176	7-9-1	15
18	November 20	Florida	1 - 3	New Jersey		Vokoun	14,291	7-10-1	15
19	November 21	Florida	2 - 4	Boston		Vokoun	16,878	7-11-1	15
20	November 24	Carolina	2 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	11,117	8-11-1	17
21	November 26	New Jersey	3 - 2	Florida	OT	Anderson	14,932	8-11-2	18
22	November 28	NY Rangers	4 - 3	Florida	SO	Anderson	18,106	8-11-3	19
23	November 30	Florida	4 - 0	NY Rangers		Anderson	18,200	9-11-3	21

December: 7–5–2 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 4–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
24	December 2	Florida	5 - 3	Washington		Anderson	16,792	10-11-3	23
25	December 4	Buffalo	1 - 2	Florida		Anderson	13,123	11-11-3	25
26	December 6	Boston	4 - 0	Florida		Anderson	16,213	11-12-3	25
27	December 8	Florida	4 - 3	Ottawa	OT	Anderson	17,947	12-12-3	27
28	December 11	Florida	2 - 0	Edmonton		Anderson	16,839	13-12-3	29
29	December 12	Florida	3 - 2	Calgary	SO	Vokoun	19,289	14-12-3	31
30	December 14	Florida	3 - 5	Vancouver		Anderson	18,630	14-13-3	31
31	December 18	Florida	1 - 2	Carolina	OT	Vokoun	14,533	14-13-4	32
32	December 21	Colorado	0 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	16,132	15-13-4	34
33	December 23	Nashville	0 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	14,703	16-13-4	36
34	December 26	Tampa Bay	4 - 3	Florida	SO	Vokoun	16,961	16-13-5	37
35	December 27	Florida	4 - 6	Tampa Bay		Vokoun	18,226	16-14-5	37
36	December 29	Montreal	5 - 2	Florida		Anderson	20,741	16-15-5	37
37	December 31	Florida	2 - 4	NY Islanders		Vokoun	12,211	16-16-5	37

January: 7–2–3 (Home: 4–1–2 ; Road: 3–1–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
38	January 3	Florida	6 - 1	Pittsburgh		Anderson	17,042	17-16-5	39
39	January 4	Florida	5 - 6	Montreal	SO	Anderson	21,273	17-16-6	40
40	January 6	Florida	4 - 2	Toronto		Vokoun	19,197	18-16-6	42
41	January 8	Carolina	2 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	10,323	19-16-6	44
42	January 10	Atlanta	4 - 8	Florida		Vokoun	14,323	20-16-6	46
43	January 16	Philadelphia	3 - 2	Florida	SO	Vokoun	17,827	20-16-7	47
44	January 17	Florida	4 - 3	Tampa Bay		Vokoun	17,217	21-16-7	49
45	January 19	Buffalo	3 - 2	Florida	SO	Vokoun	12,480	21-16-8	50
46	January 21	Dallas	4 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	11,200	21-17-8	50
47	January 27	Philadelphia	2 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	13,904	22-17-8	52
48	January 29	Montreal	1 - 5	Florida		Vokoun	16,334	23-17-8	54
49	January 31	Florida	1 - 3	NY Islanders		Vokoun	13,336	23-18-8	54

February: 8–5–0 (Home: 5–2–0 ; Road: 3–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
50	February 3	Florida	4 - 3	Toronto	OT	Anderson	19,095	24-18-8	56
51	February 5	NY Islanders	2 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	14,206	25-18-8	58
52	February 7	Florida	1 - 3	Washington		Vokoun	18,277	25-19-8	58
53	February 10	Toronto	4 - 5	Florida	OT	Vokoun	13,764	26-19-8	60
54	February 12	Florida	5 - 0	Carolina		Vokoun	18,680	27-19-8	62
55	February 13	NY Rangers	1 - 2	Florida	SO	Vokoun	17,042	28-19-8	64
56	February 15	Washington	4 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	17,279	28-20-8	64
57	February 17	New Jersey	0 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	14,514	29-20-8	66
58	February 19	Chicago	4 - 0	Florida		Vokoun	16,133	29-21-8	66
59	February 21	Boston	0 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	19,343	30-21-8	68
60	February 24	Florida	1 - 6	Boston		Anderson	16,781	30-22-8	68
61	February 26	Florida	2 - 1	NY Rangers		Anderson	18,200	31-22-8	70
62	February 28	Florida	2 - 7	New Jersey		Anderson	16,256	31-23-8	70

March: 7–5–3 (Home: 3–3–2 ; Road: 4–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
63	March 1	Florida	6 - 2	Washington		Anderson	18,277	32-23-8	72
64	March 3	Florida	4 - 3	Atlanta		Vokoun	10,329	33-23-8	74
65	March 5	Pittsburgh	4 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	18,933	33-24-8	74
66	March 7	St. Louis	3 - 5	Florida		Vokoun	17,591	34-24-8	76
67	March 10	Florida	3 - 4	Pittsburgh	SO	Vokoun	17,132	34-24-9	77
68	March 12	Florida	1 - 3	Buffalo		Vokoun	18,690	34-25-9	77
69	March 14	Tampa Bay	4 - 3	Florida	SO	Vokoun	17,734	34-25-10	78
70	March 17	Washington	3 - 0	Florida		Vokoun	14,650	34-26-10	78
71	March 19	Toronto	1 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	15,467	35-26-10	80
72	March 21	Columbus	3 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	17,032	35-27-10	80
73	March 23	Carolina	3 - 2	Florida	OT	Vokoun	14,304	35-27-11	81
74	March 25	Florida	3 - 5	Buffalo		Vokoun	18,690	35-28-11	81
75	March 26	Florida	4 - 2	Philadelphia		Anderson	19,631	36-28-11	83
76	March 28	Florida	6 - 3	Dallas		Anderson	18,532	37-28-11	85
77	March 31	Ottawa	2 - 5	Florida		Anderson	15,247	38-28-11	87

April: 3–2–0 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
78	April 3	Atlanta	3 - 1	Florida		Anderson	15,945	38-29-11	87
79	April 5	Pittsburgh	2 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	18,232	39-29-11	89
80	April 7	Florida	1 - 2	Philadelphia		Vokoun	19,637	39-30-11	89
81	April 9	Florida	3 - 2	Atlanta		Vokoun	15,738	40-30-11	91
82	April 11	Washington	4 - 7	Florida		Vokoun	18,527	41-30-11	93

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs[]

The Panthers failed to make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. They last made the playoffs in 2000.

Player stats[]

Skaters[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Weiss, StephenStephen Weiss	78	14	47	61	+18	22
Booth, DavidDavid Booth	72	31	29	60	+10	38
Stillman, CoryCory Stillman	63	17	32	49	+1	37
Horton, NathanNathan Horton	67	22	23	45	-5	48
Frolik, MichaelMichael Frolik	79	21	24	45	+9	22
Bouwmeester, JayJay Bouwmeester	82	15	27	42	-2	68
McCabe, BryanBryan McCabe	69	15	24	39	-1	41
Dvorak, RadekRadek Dvorak	81	15	21	36	0	42
Ballard, KeithKeith Ballard	82	6	28	34	+14	72
Zednik, RichardRichard Zednik	70	17	16	33	+2	46
Campbell, GregoryGregory Campbell	77	13	19	32	0	76
Peltonen, VilleVille Peltonen	79	12	19	31	+6	31
Boynton, NickNick Boynton	68	5	16	21	+7	91
McLean, BrettBrett McLean	80	7	12	19	-11	29
Kreps, KamilKamil Kreps	66	4	15	19	+3	18
Skrastins, KarlisKarlis Skrastins	80	4	14	18	+9	30
Cullimore, JassenJassen Cullimore	68	2	8	10	-10	37
Olesz, RostislavRostislav Olesz	37	4	5	9	-5	8
Stewart, AnthonyAnthony Stewart	59	2	5	7	-6	34
Tarnasky, NickNick Tarnasky	34	1	5	6	-2	33
Welch, NoahNoah Welch	23	1	1	2	-5	11
Matthias, ShawnShawn Matthias	16	0	2	2	-3	2
Repik, MichalMichal Repik	5	2	0	2	+1	2
Allen, BryanBryan Allen	2	0	1	1	+2	0
Eminger, SteveSteve Eminger	9	1	0	1	+1	6
Murphy, CoryCory Murphy	7	0	1	1	-1	2
Belak, WadeWade Belak	15	0	0	0	0	25
Sprukts, JanisJanis Sprukts	1	0	0	0	0	0
McArdle, KenndalKenndal McArdle	3	0	0	0	-1	2
Glass, TannerTanner Glass	3	0	0	0	0	7
Garrison, JasonJason Garrison	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltenders[]

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

Regular season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV	Sv%	SO
Vokoun, TomasTomas Vokoun	59	3324	26	23	6	138	2.49	1855	1717	.926	6
Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson	31	1635	15	7	5	74	2.71	977	903	.924	3

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Panthers. Stats reflect time with Panthers only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Awards and records[]

Records[]

Milestones[]

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Jason Garrison	1st NHL Game	October 25, 2008
Jay Bouwmeester	400th NHL Game	November 2, 2008
Kamil Kreps	100th NHL Game	November 2, 2008
Tomas Vokoun	500th NHL Game	March 7, 2009

Transactions[]

Trades[]

June 20, 2008	To Florida Panthers Nick Boynton Keith Ballard 2nd round pick in 2008	To Phoenix Coyotes Olli Jokinen
September 2, 2008	To Florida Panthers Bryan McCabe^[2] 4th round pick in 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Van Ryn
November 27, 2008	To Florida Panthers Nick Tarnasky	To Nashville Predators Wade Belak
March 4, 2009	To Florida Panthers Steve Eminger	To Tampa Bay Lightning Noah Welch 3rd round pick in 2009

Free agents[]

Player	Former team	Contract Terms

Player	New team

Claimed from waivers[]

Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers

Draft picks[]

Florida's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa • Ontario.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2	31 (from Tampa Bay)	Jacob Markstrom	(G)	Sweden	Brynäs IF (Sweden Jr.)
2	46 (Nashville via Phoenix)	Colby Robak	(D)	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	80 (from Colorado)	Adam Comrie	(D)	Canada	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
4	100	AJ Jenks	(LW)	United States	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
7	190	Matthew Bartkowski	(D)	United States	Lincoln Stars (USHL)

Roster[]

Updated April 13, 2009.^[3]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
5	Canada	Allen, BryanBryan Allen (A)	2.0 D	L	44	2006	Kingston, Ontario
31	United States	Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson	1.0 G	L	43	2006	Park Ridge, Illinois
2	United States	Ballard, KeithKeith Ballard	2.0 D	L	42	2008	Baudette, Minnesota
10	United States	Booth, DavidDavid Booth	6.0 LW	L	40	2004	Detroit, Michigan
4	Canada	Bouwmeester, JayJay Bouwmeester	2.0 D	L	41	2002	Edmonton, Alberta
44	Canada	Boynton, NickNick Boynton	2.0 D	R	46	2008	Nobleton, Ontario
11	Canada	Campbell, GregoryGregory Campbell	4.0 C	L	41	2002	London, Ontario
22	Canada	Cullimore, JassenJassen Cullimore	2.0 D	L	52	2007	Simcoe, Ontario
14	Czech Republic	Dvorak, RadekRadek Dvorak	7.0 RW	R	48	2007	Tábor, Czechoslovakia
55	Canada	Eminger, SteveSteve Eminger	2.0 D	R	41	2009	Woodbridge, Ontario
67	Czech Republic	Frolik, MichaelMichael Frolik	4.0 C	L	37	2006	Kladno, Czechoslovakia
16	Canada	Horton, NathanNathan Horton	7.0 RW	R	39	2003	Welland, Ontario
28	Czech Republic	Kreps, KamilKamil Kreps	4.0 C	R	40	2003	Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia
24	Canada	McCabe, BryanBryan McCabe	2.0 D	L	49	2008	St. Catharines, Ontario
53	Canada	McLean, BrettBrett McLean	4.0 C	L	46	2007	Comox, British Columbia
85	Czech Republic	Olesz, RostislavRostislav Olesz	6.0 LW	L	39	2004	Bílovec, Czechoslovakia
18	Finland	Peltonen, VilleVille Peltonen	6.0 LW	L	51	2006	Vantaa, Finland
3	Latvia	Skrastins, KarlisKarlis Skrastins	2.0 D	L	50	2008	Riga, U.S.S.R.
13	Canada	Stewart, AnthonyAnthony Stewart	4.0 C	R	40	2003	La Salle, Quebec
61	Canada	Stillman, CoryCory Stillman (A)	6.0 LW	L	51	2008	Peterborough, Ontario
74	Canada	Tarnasky, NickNick Tarnasky	4.0 C	L	40	2008	Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
29	Czech Republic	Vokoun, TomasTomas Vokoun	1.0 G	R	48	2007	Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia
9	Canada	Weiss, StephenStephen Weiss (A)	4.0 C	L	41	2001	Toronto, Ontario
20	Slovakia	Zednik, RichardRichard Zednik	6.0 LW	L	49	2007	Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia

Farm teams[]

The Florida Panthers maintain affiliations with two minor league teams, the Rochester Americans and the Florida Everblades.

References[]

↑ CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Hockey - News: Hockey transactions
↑ http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2008/09/03/6646861-sun.html
↑ Florida Panthers - Team - Roster. Florida Panthers. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 2008–09 Florida Panthers season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[1] CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Hockey - News: Hockey transactions

[2] ttp://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2008/09/03/6646861-sun.html

[3] Florida Panthers - Team - Roster. Florida Panthers. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved on 2009-04-13.

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