Florida Panthers: Buffalo Sabres Opponent Outlook
By Tim Redinger
Last but certainly not least, although most years they act like it in in the Buffalo Sabres division is the Florida Panthers. Florida will be rivaling for that last place finish this year, and the 20% odds that they will be able to hold on to the first overall draft pick.
If history tells us anything, the Buffalo Sabres have to be hoping for the Florida Panthers to finish dead last, as it is usually a team other than the highest odds holder in the draft lottery who gets selected as the first overall team to draft in the NHL Entry draft.
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The Florida Panthers ended last season almost as bad as the Buffalo Sabres in every way. They were fourteen points better than last place Sabres, finishing with a 29-45-8 record overall for 66 points.
Much will be talked about when it comes to the Florida Panthers this year, as news this summer was released that the team was unstable according to owner Doug Cifu – a team that isn’t winning and is losing money year after year. Cifu wants to keep the team in Southern Florida. The team is in debt roughly 250 million dollars, and you have to think their business model will make things extremely unstable in the coming years.
A mix of young talent and some grizzled veterans may make the Florida Panthers a team to beat this season, as they have one piece that some NHL franchises are missing, and that is a goaltender. Roberto Luongo has the ability to play a full season and a long playoff run – and really wants to notch a Stanley Cup victory before his career ends to shed the monkey on his back of past failures.
It is unlikely that it will happen with his current team however, the Florida Panthers have made the playoffs just twice in the last fifteen years, the most recent happening in 2011-2012 when the team took first place in the now defunct Southeast division, but losing in the conference quarterfinals to the New Jersey Devils. Since joining the league in 1993, the team has only made the playoffs five times, only making it out of the first round in their first playoff bid, the 1995-1996 season where they went to the Stanley Cup Finals and were swept by the Colorado Avalanche.
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The Buffalo Sabres met the Florida Panthers four times last season. After winning the first matchup of the season, Buffalo went on to drop the last three games in the season series to end the season 1-3.
Buffalo gets the Florida Panthers five times this season, Florida will visit Buffalo on October 17, December 13, and January 2; with the Buffalo Sabres travelling South to play in Sunrise on December 6 and February 28.