AGonzalez11

it's not that they didn't bother to - they never had the chance to. big difference, one you can't seem to understand. i agree with most of that - but point is, they're being asked to jump into this level when they arent ready. arent mentally ready, arent physically ready, arent emotionally ready. they just are not ready. there is a reason why young kids take years to go through an organizations' minor league system and you're seeing it now, plain and simple.

saying players do not learn how to make better use of basic fundamentals in the minors is just a bunch of garbage. sure, they know the fundamentals, you learn them at a young age, but they learn how to apply fundamentals on an every day basis down in the farm. giving 110% every game, keeping your focus on every play, learning to judge your instincts instead of overthinking, etc. etc. are all things kids must learn to go along with those fundamentals before they get to the pros. these guys clearly have not - . their emotions are getting the better of them and they make stupid mistakes. uggla knows to hold the ball on that play...every baseball player does....but he didnt...why? EVERYONE is capable of fundamentals...that's why they're called FUNDAMENTALS. learning to apply them every single day on every single pitch is a whole other matter, though. they don't belong here...maybe for physical reasons (eric reed) or mental reasons (almost every other guy on this team with the exception of a few)...but, under normal circumstances, these players would not be playing major league baseball yet, and there's a damn good reason for it (and it sure as hell isn't lack of talent because you can clearly see they have that). you gain experience in the minors...the only way to learn is to make mistakes and these are mistakes young guys usually make at AA ball and learn from them, but they have been rushed to the pros and are making them in front of national coverage which magnifies the situation. bottom line: the players are making mistakes because they're in over their heads, period. they don't belong here right now....yet here they are.

Anyone have a list of potential free agents? Also, what is the Panther salary cap situation? How much $$$ will the Cats have spend? :mischief2 The Papers lead you to believe that the Panthers payroll is around $28-30 mil...but from my own math, it's around $25 mil. Maybe they are including minor league salaries and guys like Karpovtsev who were loaned to Europe and that makes up the difference list of free agents: http://www.geocities.com/floridapanthers2000/free2006.html

Heart says: USA Brain says: Brazil Gut says: Argentina Brazil is clearly the most talented team - but that doesn't neccessarily make them the best team. I really like the way Argentina plays and personally, i don't think they'll have a problem advancing.

I don't buy that these players are any more prone to mistakes than of teams of the past. I agree...baseball is baseball - whether it's played in the Majors, AA or Little League. I get frustrated when I see stupid errors, poor baserunning and other foolish plays. I can live with the strikeouts and walks...it's the mental mistakes which I find unacceptable. Girardi and staff need to instill the fundamentals in these guys. :confused Before you come to the Majors, you should know the fundamentals. i think thats the whole point...most of these guys would not be in the majors right now. would reggie abercrombie be a starting CF on any other team? would dan uggla be starting at 2B? doubt it - both of who made costly, boneheaded errors this afternoon. even guys like ramirez (opening day his defense was atrocious, but he's far more talented than reggie and/or uggla so he looks alright most of the time) and jacobs (who has been absolutley horrible) are awfully raw. the bullpen is a patchwork job made out of cast-offs(Herges, Borowski, Welleymeyer, German) and young starters turned relievers (Johnson, Nolasco). It's hard enough for these guys to learn at the pro level...let alone learn a whole new routine of being a relief pitcher in the process. i think it's totally unfair to get mad at these kids...it is not their fault they are in the majors when they probably shouldn't be. eric reed looks so overmatched i feel so sorry for the kid - his confidence must be down the toilet. Abercrombie looked overmatched as well before the last two games. if anyone is ignorant enough to boo this team at our next home game they should be shot - if you want to boo anyone, boo loria, boo samson, boo the local politicians who are playing chicken with each other, but don't jump on the kids who where thrown to the wolves in the middle of the battle. they're playing their hearts out..they're diving, bunting, hustling down the line on every play...they just simply are not major league ready and boy does it show.

Hill was unbelievably bad early on...towards the end he began to improve a bit....still not good, but not an embarassement like he was earlier in the season. Not too sure about Sim - we'll see though.

nice video. the panthers finally seem to getting their stuff together not only on the ice but as an organization. they seem far more professional, from the website (which used to be a joke) to the management. last season at this time, you had rick dudley being fired for mike keenan who had just been fired leading many to believe this franchise was extremely unstable. i've been a STH to all florida sports teams except the heat and the panthers are by far my favorite....especially in a season like this year when they compete hard and put up W's. There were a ton of thrilling games - alot of overtime wins, etc. Anyway, i guess this is just my lame attempt to get you to go for it - but i think you (and anyone else) would really enjoy it considering this team should be legitamatley good next year regardless of what happens in the offseason. they were 15-6-2 (i think) after the olympics and hopefully that will carry over to next year....and that sassuming we dont make any additions, which we should....we dont stand to lose anyone to free agency (assuming Roberto stays) other than Sean Hill...and thats addition by subtraction as far as i'm concerned. Honestly all the convincing I needed was watching this team play this year. I have been a fan of the Panthers since there inception but never could afford season tickets (was living with my parents still). This is definitley a product I would have no problem putting my hard earned money into. You could tell the whole organization is taking a turn in the right direction (like you said even the website is much better then it used to be). What is the status of Jon Sim? I would love him to be around next season aswell. I think that was a big pickup for us this year. He's a free agent - not sure if UFA or RFA though. I forgot about him - i sense Martin doesn't like him much but we will see. i would not rely on him than anything more than a 3rd/4th liner. He looked decent for us - but half a season doesnt make a career. other than Sean Hill Sean Hill was interviewed by Craig Minervini last night after the game and he said that he is coming back. Boooooooo!!! he wasn't that bad the second half of the season...but not very good either. we better not rely on him to be more than a 5th/6th d-man

Ottawa (although Tampa wouldn't surprise since they might have goalie edge) goalie edge?????? grahame and burke have been atrocious all year long for the Dolts - and i mean BAD. Emery has been pretty solid for the Sens - far better than either Burke or Grahame have been. my picks: Ottawa over Tampa Buffalo over Philly Rangers over New Jersey Montreal over Carolina Ottawa over Montreal Buffalo over New York Buffalo over Ottawa west: Detroit over Edmonton Dallas over Colorado San Jose over Nashville Calgary over Anaheim San Jose over Detroit Calgary over Dallas San Jose over Calgary Finals: San Jose vs. Buffalo San Jose in 6 :whistle :shifty

Oh yeah, the east coast bias? Give me a break, if Jagr did not become the leader he has this year, the Rangers would be a much worse team. The Sharks were coming off a successful season with a lot more talent then the Rangers. the Sharks were one of the worst teams in the NHL at the time of the trade. Thornton turned them into a playoff team by himself - he made a 25-30 goal guy like Cheechoo into a 56 goal score - that's just ridiculous. The only reason i'd give Jagr the edge is the market he plays in. the Rag$ havent made the playoffs for 8 years and he had to carry that pressure on his shoulders and did. I can't stand Jagr - but you have to give him credit. He will probably win it, but you could make a solid argument for either.

nice video. the panthers finally seem to getting their stuff together not only on the ice but as an organization. they seem far more professional, from the website (which used to be a joke) to the management. last season at this time, you had rick dudley being fired for mike keenan who had just been fired leading many to believe this franchise was extremely unstable. i've been a STH to all florida sports teams except the heat and the panthers are by far my favorite....especially in a season like this year when they compete hard and put up W's. There were a ton of thrilling games - alot of overtime wins, etc. Anyway, i guess this is just my lame attempt to get you to go for it - but i think you (and anyone else) would really enjoy it considering this team should be legitamatley good next year regardless of what happens in the offseason. they were 15-6-2 (i think) after the olympics and hopefully that will carry over to next year....and that sassuming we dont make any additions, which we should....we dont stand to lose anyone to free agency (assuming Roberto stays) other than Sean Hill...and thats addition by subtraction as far as i'm concerned.

That's a quote from Moehler? It almost seems like he's given up as far as being a viable starter in the league. nah, just him being smart/classy. He knows he has sucked - and also knows the marlins are in a rebuilding stage and are in no need to keep sending out a 34 year old out there every fifth day when a younger kid could do just as good(bad?) a job if not better and learn in the process. the writing is on the wall...he is just being smart and securing his spot on the roster (for now...) by being classy and being a model teamate.

thats what makes this so frustrating to me...if management just spent a couple mil more and gotten a couple of legit bullpen arms and a CF that is not way over their heads - this team COULD be....good! how exciting and new would it have been to see this team have moderate success with fresh blood like hanley ramirez, hermida, willingham, etc. all playing their hearts out? i think over time - this team will become decent...once girardi figures out that eric reed and abercrombie belong nowhere near a major league field....once he figures out that matt herges should not be pitching in the 9th inning...once he figures out we have better options than brian moehler in the rotation (olsen, nolasco, johnson) not trying to blame girardi, either. it takes a while for a new manager to evaluate the talent given to him. reminds me a bit of the panthers early this year - took jacques martin (top 3 coach in the NHL) to evaluate the team - they were horrible early on, just terrible. they slowly improved, finished the year on a tear but a little too late to make the playoffs. i forsee the panthers being one of the better teams in the NHL next year if everything goes as planned....i dont think the marlins will be that good, but we should see significant improvement as the year goes on.

yep...must win tomorrow - if we win we would only be 4 points out - with another game against the bolts. if we lose - we're 8 points out with only 7 games left - virtually impossible to make up. it should be a playoff-type atmosphere tomorrow...i hope we cream them so i can hear bobby taylor and phil esposito moan for hours on how the refs are screwing the lightning, how the panthers dont deserve the win and any other nonsense those two clowns spew :thumbup

Was anyone else at the game tonight? Did I hear correct that - since the Gators won - you can trade in the ticket stub to tonights game for a free ticket to the game on Wednesday? is so, pretty stupid, considering if the Panthers win monday that game would probably sell out without free-bes...if they dont...well, it probably doesnt matter

one down...eight to go....our season is on the line monday night again as we take on the Bolts in Tampa (same time as the Marlins open their season... :thumbdown )

The way i see it - the only way we have a chance is if we sweep Tampa (3-0) in our remaining games - in regulation - and go 8-1 overall. That would mean Tampa would have to go 4-5 overall to miss (which essentially would mean they would need to go 4-2 or worse in the games they dont play us) The next two games will be our season - we could be as close as 4 points out or as far as 12 pts back - I hope the BAC will be rocking tonight because these guys have earned it IMO.

btw, nice to know we can count on roberto to come through in pressure situations :thumbup he made some nice stops earlier in the game to keep us in this game - but that gaff is just unexcusable and unforgivable at this stage in the season. he cost us two points tonight - and if this team is to make the playoffs he better steal one or two games we clearly do not deserve to win down the stretch.

it's funny these idiots reward the canes for being "light on their feet" (in other words, diving). they've been doing this all year, guys like stillman, williams, adams and whitney just flop around the ice looking for calls knowing they live off their special teams (they have allowed more goals than scored at even strength last i checked). their PK is strong as well (as you saw tonight - we couldn't do a thing) so a diving penalty does them no harm. unfortunate...it's even more demoralizing that the teams ahead of us keep winning. one loss would be OK if the Hab/Lightning/Devils did not keep winning but they have been. 8 points back will be awfully rough - the only way i see it being possible if they finish the year at 9-1 (at worst) and all 3 games vs the Lightning being wins in regulation... ...we need a steelers-like roll to end the season. :blink:

PBP reported that there was under 1,000 tickets left midway thursday and a sellout is expected - so if anyone is planning to go last minute - i'd try and get there as early as possible if you don't have tickets already.

I watched the whole game - the Devils were up 4---1 at one point in the 3rd and blew it. Just amazing.

All these deals mentioned above were rumored to happen at the trade deadline, it's too bad Keenan didn't pull anything off then and now we've got to wait until the offseason. And no, Jackman doesn't count. No they weren't. I don't know what rumors you were looking at. Chara, Jovo, and several other trade rumors all of which involved trading Louie or Jokinen. what was your source? the voices in your head? i heard nothing of the sort and i check all the trade rumor websites just about daily...especially before the deadline. These rumors were flying around for more than a month leading up to the deadline and were cited countless times in TSN articles, SLAM Sports articles, and then regurgitated all over the major hockey forums... hell I even remember posting a few of them here on MB.com. Chara was never seriously mentioned in any rumors - why would arguably the best team in the NHL trade a top 5 defensman in the midst of a serious playoff push? his upcoming UFA status is not even close to enough reason to give up a real shot at the cup. Jovo was mentioned - but wwaaaayyyy back when the season just began and Dan Cloutier was still healthy (around November). He was not mentioned in any rumors - Florida or anyone - as of late, especially considering he has been injured for a while. I read TSN just about daily and I can guarantee you Chara nor Jovo were mentioned to Florida or in any other deals near the deadline. maybe SLAM! - but I doubt that as well. Spectors, who is highly respected and trustworthy as far as rumors are concerned, posts all rumors from every NHL city that have been printed in their media outlets (sun-sen, PBP, miami herald for the Cats). He didn't make mention of anything regarding Chara or Jovo coming up to the deadline. There were some Sens/Panthers rumors - but they involved Florida dumping Jokinen for the likes of Anton Volchenkov, Antoine Vermette, Patrick Eaves and draft picks - nothing involving Zdeno.

All these deals mentioned above were rumored to happen at the trade deadline, it's too bad Keenan didn't pull anything off then and now we've got to wait until the offseason. And no, Jackman doesn't count. No they weren't. I don't know what rumors you were looking at. Chara, Jovo, and several other trade rumors all of which involved trading Louie or Jokinen. what was your source? the voices in your head? i heard nothing of the sort and i check all the trade rumor websites just about daily...especially before the deadline.

Panthers have ties to alot of the top free agent blueliners this season. Chara and Redden played for Martin in Ottawa and enjoyed playing for him I believe (they had nothing but praise when the Martin returned to Ottawa earlier this year to play the Sens). Keenan traded for Bryan McCabe while he was in Vancouver - gave him his first real chance to become an NHL regular. Jovanovski obviously has his ties with this area and the Panthers team from earlier in his career. There are also some other very good defensmen available - Niklas Lidstrom, Rob Blake, Brian Leetch, Kim Johnsson, Pavel Kubina, and some second tier defensmen such as Ruslan Salei, Willie Mitchell, Keith Carney, etc.

I have tickets 16 rows up center ice for Friday's Ranger game. I just picked up a new digital camera and would love to take it to the game with me for some up close pics. I was searching the BAC website and did not find anything mentioning cameras being prohibited, only camcorders. I am assuming the Panthers have there own rules regarding this. Does anyone know if I will have a problem at a Panthers game? Thanks in advance! they shouldn't give you a problem...i'm a season ticket holder and have brought my camera to two games this year with no problems.

Was anyone else at the game? My heart stopped when Yashin apperantly tied the game with 50 seconds left...i didn't hear the whistle blow at ALL. Jamie had a nice game, but man do i get nervous in the last minute of play when he is in net (gave up the GWG vs dallas with 12 seconds left and vs PHI with 3 seconds left...)