On Frozen Pond

The Billboard is Honored: BankAtlantic Center ranked No. 3 ... Another Rochester Move

The Billboard announced today that it was ranked third nationally by trade publication PollStar. I don't know what that means, but I guess it's a big honor.

Would like to know what these rankings are based on, and, who the top two arenas are. But that is not in the presser and it's really expensive to sign into the PollStar website so, well, I'll let the press release do the talking:

Trade Publication PollStar announced today that the BankAtlantic Center ranked No. 3 in the United States and No. 13 in the world in the publication’s mid year arena venue rankings. The national and worldwide rankings are the highest in the history of the BankAtlantic Center.

“Quite simply, the first half of 2009 was an incredible six months of entertainment at the BankAtlantic Center,” Sunrise Sports & Entertainment president & chief operating officer Michael Yormark said. “These record-breaking Pollstar rankings, coupled with our exciting and diverse event schedule, are further proof that the BankAtlantic Center continues to be the premier South Florida destination for entertainers and fans alike.  Moving forward we will continue to maintain an aggressive programming strategy with a number of big shows already on tap for the summer of 2009.”

 The BankAtlantic Center ranked ahead of such renowned venues as the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, the Bell Centre in Montreal, Madison Square Garden in New York, the Izod Center in New Jersey, American Airlines Center in Dallas, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, and more.

“We appreciate the continued support from all the promoters, agents and entertainers who played an important role in helping us achieve this record-breaking ranking,” said SSE vice president of event programming Sid Greenfeig. “We look forward to welcoming them back for future concerts at our venue.”

Upcoming shows at the BankAtlantic Center include Metallica, the Jonas Brothers, Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Monster Jam Summer Heat and more.

-- The Panthers also announced a minor move today as the team signed AHLer Graham Mink. A University of Vermont grad, Mink should turn out to be a strong addition to the Americans. He has played in Portland, Hersey and Worchester the past few seasons.

-- In case you missed it, Nick Boynton signed with the Ducks yesterday.

The Canadian Panthers: Another Wacky Panthers Preseason ... Ville Peltonen Gone to Europe

If the Panthers get off to another crummy start this season, well there's another excuse already built in: Another crazy preseason schedule.

As Randy Sexton pointed out, it's not a loony as the preseason Mike Keenan set up in 2006 where the team went to Puerto Rico and Detroit on back-to-back nights, but it's close.

Florida will open training camp by holding physicals in Sunrise/Coral Springs on Sept. 12; then they board a plane bound for Nova Scotia. The team opens workouts on the 13th, then plays Ottawa in Halifax, N.S., on the 15th.

From there, Florida will visit Ottawa (Sept. 16), the Montreal Martins (Sept. 17), Edmonton (Sept. 18), the Calgary Bouwjokinens (Sept. 20) and the Dallas Nieuwys (Sept. 22) before finally returning to South Florida for a game against Dallas at The Billboard on Sept. 23.

After all that, the team leaves for Europe a few days after getting back to South Florida to play a pair of exhibition games in Finland. The probably wore out Panthers open the regular season in Helsinki on Oct. 2-3 against Chicago.

Sexton said the team wanted to play seven preseason games, and the Edmonton/Calgary games had already been agreed to before the Europe trip ''popped up.'' So, they added the trip to Dallas so the west coast swing at least brought a game on the way home.

Should be a fun trip.

For whom, I have no idea.

-- Randy Sexton says he spoke to the agent for Ville Peltonen on Thursday and that it looks like Ville is not only not coming back to the Panthers next season, but probably will not play in the NHL either. As had been long rumored, it appears Ville Peltonen will play in Europe next season, probably in Switzerland.

Panthers Preseason 2009

Tues., Sept. 15   vs. Ottawa Senators                            Halifax Metro Centre                                           6 p.m.

Wed., Sept. 16   @Ottawa Senators                              Scotiabank Place                                                7 p.m.

Thur., Sept 17     @Montreal Canadiens                       Bell Centre                                                            7:30 p.m.

Fri., Sept. 18       @ Edmonton Oilers                            Rexall Place                                                         9 p.m.

Sun., Sept. 20    @ Calgary Flames                              Pengrowth Saddledome                                     9 p.m.

Tue., Sept. 22     @ Dallas Stars                                    American Airlines Center                                   8:30 p.m.

Wed., Sept. 23    vs. Dallas Stars                                   BankAtlantic Center                                          7:30 p.m.

Mon. Sept 28      @ Tappara                                            Hakametsän Arena                                              Noon

Wed. Sept. 30     @ Jokerit                                               Hartwall Areena                                                   Noon

Pierre Groulx to Canadiens

Sure this is old news by now and it's certainly not a surprise, but Pierre Groulx has landed on his feet and will join Jacques Martin's staff in Montreal as the new goalie coach of the Canadiens.

Pierre has spent the past four seasons with the Panthers, coming over from Ottawa with JM after the 2003-04 season. Pierre was the video coach for his first few years, then took over the goalie gig two seasons ago. He was let go by Pete DeBoer earlier this summer as he decided the Panthers wanted to go with a part time guy.

Good for Pierre, this is obviously a huge bump up in stature. And I don't think he'll be doing the goalie breakdown on game broadcasts anymore. Don't think that's going to fly on Canadian television.

Cheaper Tickets at The Billboard

With a still bad economy and a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since Bill Clinton was in office, the Panthers unveiled their season ticket prices today and not surprisingly, prices remain the same or lower than they did last year.

The Panthers have also said that concession prices will remain the same as last year, so take that for what it is. The team is also planning on offering some kind of bargain concessions. I will be selling hot dogs for $2 near the press box, so come up and visit.

Last year, the team had a $9 per game season ticket; this season, it'll be $7. That's pretty strong. People in Toronto can't even get a 12 ounce cup of Molson for that.

Here's what the Panthers are offering:

     

-   Concession prices will remain flat for the 2009-10 NHL regular season and new, bargain-priced options will be introduced

-          $7 ticket is the lowest season ticket price in BankAtlantic Center history

-          $35 is the lowest lower bowl season ticket price in BankAtlantic Center history

-          All Panthers tickets include parking

-          Convenient Panthers start times will remain at 7:30 pm (weekdays) and 7 p.m. (weekends)

-          Previously renewed fans that are affected by this price change have already been contacted by the organization.

-          In an effort to simplify the overall pricing structure and maintain consistency of value, the team will implement only a very limited number of promotional offers throughout the 2009-10 NHL season.

Florida Panthers Full Season Ticket Pricing Structure:

 

	08/09	09/10
1st Row	$207	$207
Panther Club - Rows 2-4	$132	$115
Premium Lower Sidelines	$92	$82
Premium Plaza Middle	$82	$72
Premium End Zones	$72	$70
Lower Bowl Sidelines	$77	$65
Plaza Middle	$67	$60
Lower Bowl End Zone (Shoot 2x)	$50	$50
Lower Bowl End Zone (Locker Room)	$50	$35
Lexus Club	$60	$55
Mezzanine	$42	$38
Sideline Balcony	$25	$25
Goal Zone	$17	$12
Terrace	$9	$7

Rain Cancels Cup Qualifying ... Tony Stewart on Poll for Saturday's Firecracker 400 ... Game On for Friday Race @ 8

DAYTONA BEACH -- A brief but powerful thunderstorm rolled into town not too long ago and soaked the track good enough that qualifying for Saturday's Cup Series race was canceled.

Officials here say they are going to finish qualifying for tonight's Nationwide Series race; that race is supposed to start sometime around 8 p.m.

The field for Saturday's 400 will be set based off driver's points, so Tony Stewart will be on the pole and start on the front row with Jeff Gordon.

Stewart on the pole, his third in the past five races (all thanks to the weather):

''It's still a pole due to rain and we're still going to start the race on the pole tomorrow,'' he snarkily answered one question.

-- The rain is gone and the track is dry. The Nationwide Series race will go off as scheduled although they never did finish qualifying.

Taking a Left Turn: Welcome to Daytona ... King Richard Speaks ... Brian France As Well ... Stupid Rain

DAYTONA BEACH -- Welcome to On Racing Pond, the NASCAR version of our slice of the internet.

Hanging at Daytona this weekend, up here for the two races. It's raining right now, but it should clear up for tonight's Grand National race. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Going to have news and notes throughout the race weekend so stop on back if that's your cup of brew. If not, hey, we aren't charging for this so come back later.

And if anything hockey breaks, we'll take a break from racing for that as well.

-- Richard Petty is sitting about 20 feet from me in the media center talking about his participation here this weekend. Petty, of course, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his final NASCAR win, a milestone victory which just happened to be No. 200 of his illustrious career.

After winning No. 200, Petty continued running for eight more seasons. He said today that he never thought that big victory -- one in which President Ronald Reagan visited Victory Lane -- would be his last.

"The big part was the president of the United States was there and it was July 4,'' Petty said. ''I couldn't have written a better script. It all just fell together. Back then it was a big deal. It's probably still a big deal in some people's mind. It's great to be back, great to be here after 25 years.

''It's not every July 4 when you get to sit down with the president of the United States and have a chicken wing with him.''

Petty is going to be honored by the track throughout the weekend, and he's going to pace the field Saturday night in a replica of that car he won the race in. He might just test the mettle of that ride. His son Kyle will serve as the race's grand marshal.

''That's going to interesting,'' King Richard said. ''They're starting me in the front and I don't have a restrictor plate. It's going to be a really big deal for me, just those memories coming back and being in front of so many people. It really brings back a bunch of good memories. Some bad ones too, but you try to let the good ones overcome that.''

-- Brian France, the chairman of NASCAR, spoke at length today about the decision by a federal judge to overturn the suspension of Jeremy Mayfield. Mayfield, who could have run this weekend, hasn't been seen around these parts but it's possible he could race next week.

''We have the right amount of flexibilities when we know we have to suspend a driver,'' he said. ''And as I said earlier, we have tests all the time where we get positive tests, for one substance or another or prescribed or over-the-counter and how we handle that is, like I said, with the policy; it has some flexibility to that. We don't just go laying the hammer down and ruining someone's career.  That's not what we are talking about when we are talking about Jeremy's situation. You know what he was tested for. That's unequivocal. There's not confusion about that from a science standpoint. 

''And we will stand by our right to protect all of the drivers, all of the fans, from somebody, and just because they said 'I didn't do it,' or something could have gone wrong with the test, people can say that.  But our test is thorough, the process is complete; and if we can improve it, like we have-we inspect the cars differently than we did last year. We improve all kinds of things from a policy standpoint. We are open to doing that. 

''But if you are asking me, does the policy fit the intended outcomes that we are trying to have, which is to prevent somebody from being on the track impaired, are we doing everything that we can do; that's our responsibility. And you know, I think we are. And if we can do more, we will.''

-- France also spoke about the possibility of another manufacturer coming into fold. It's nothing eminent, but something that's out there. How about Hyundai in NASCAR. That would be cool.

''Our policy and our views haven't really changed,'' France said. ''Some of the opportunities for a new manufacturer to come into NASCAR probably have changed. Obviously, there are teams that were getting direct support or were affiliated with one manufacturer or another that are available now.  So that is a fact. 

''We have been talking and we have routinely, because we are open, as we demonstrated with Toyota, which worked well, under the right approach that's unique to NASCAR, for a manufacturer to come in and compete at one of our national divisions. That policy remains open. It is not something that happens easily or overnight.

''These decisions by a potential manufacturer take a lot of time and evaluation on their behalf, because to enter into NASCAR has to be, you know, done in a way that is complementary to what has been established in the past. And those conversations are ongoing. I do not anticipate, there's absolutely nothing imminent that we will be announcing or should be will be joining or any of that, that position. 

''But do I see more interests because there's more opportunity? Sure. We see that and we're fielding the kinds of questions and evaluation that you would think under the circumstances.''

-- Qualifying for tonight's race was halted by rain with three guys left to give 'er a try. That has delayed the Cup qualifying (which should be going on right now) as well...

-- For those Indy fans out there, James Davidson earned his first pole in the IndyLights Series and will lead the field at Watkins Glen this weekend. Sebastian Saavedra qualified second.

Changing their Spots: Florida Panthers Get Leopold ... Randy Sexton ''ecstatic''

ON THE FLORIDA TURNPIKE - The Panthers just called and told me Jordan Leopold has been signed to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million.

Seems Randy Sexton was at the right place at the right time, sending Jordan's agent an email asking him ''what was up'' after seeing that Leopold hadn't signed anywhere yet. After Leopold's agent said his client would take a one-year deal, things started rolling.

The Panthers acquired the exclusive negotiating rights to Leopold on Saturday at the draft in exchange for Jay Bouwmeester's rights. Florida also got a third round pick out of the deal.

Here's what Randy and Jordan had to say about today's events:

RANDY SEXTON

''Sometimes these things take longer than you would hope. There was genuine interest in Jordan's part, genuine interest on our part. Had to work through the market, Jordan's family to decide what they wanted to do. I stayed in touch with his agent and sent him an e-mail today and said 'you haven't signed yet, what's up.' He called back, had a short conversation saying he had to talk to Jordan and wife. Then he called back and said 'here's the deal'.''

''I'm not glad to get it done, I'm pumped to get it done. I'm ecstatic to have Jordan in Florida.

''Jordan turned down more money and longer term from other teams. That shows how much he wanted to play here.

''If you look at our defense now, we felt it was important to upgrade our mobility. I feel like we've done that. We're a mobile group now. We're excited about our mobility. Knock on wood, hope Bryan can play all year. That's like making a trade.

''We didn't make an offer initially, we just talked and looked at different kinds of deals. We just couldn't get it right, couldn't quite agree on things. I sent his agent an e-mail, asked if he would consider a one year, he said he would and to call him. It all worked out. I have a real good relationship with his agent.

''We are never done looking to improve. We're going to be relentless in our pursuit of finding good players. We're creeping up to where we were last year. Rest assured, we're not done. That doesn't mean anything is eminent. But we're not sitting back. We're not done.''

On Karlis Skrastins:

''The last number I had from agent was $2 million and one year. We always wanted him back, wanted a one year, he got two. Two million for one year was a bit much. That's it.

''We didn't make a two-year offer. Only a one. We made him an offer on a one year today, he took the security of the two year in Dallas.''

JORDAN LEOPOLD

“You look at an opportunity to play, and I don't know if other teams were the right fit for my family. I'm happy, I'm excited and ready to prove myself and look forward to the opportunity.

''Things were pretty quiet this afternoon, don't know if that was good or bad. I had never been through free agency, and some teams were interested. Randy called and I had to make a decision. I had prior conversations with him, at the end, it was a pretty easy decision.

''Anyone is a possibility at any time. Other teams called, it didn't work out. This worked out well for both of us.''

On Keith Ballard:

''He was at his parents' cabin on in island in the middle of nowhere. We talked Monday, talked about a few things. It was positive. I just wanted to test the market and Florida was always in back of my mind. Randy called at the right time and it worked out.''

Randy Sexton: We're Fine. Really? ... Karlis Skrastins to Dallas ... There's Money to Spend ... Despite All This, Cats are No. 90

Are the Florida Panthers better or worse today than they were yesterday.

I'm going with worse. Hard to believe, eh?

On behalf of the fans of the Florida Panthers who have been flooding my email box as well as our comment sections, I hope acting GM Randy Sexton is still working on something.

Because as this team stands right now, I cannot see the Panthers being a legitimate playoff threat.

Right now I see the Panthers battling Atlanta and Tampa Bay for third in the Southeastern Conference (and the way ATL finished the season, I give the Thrash the edge).

I sure don't see Florida in the same ballpark as Washington and Carolina.

Today we find out that Florida lost another solid defenseman as Karlis Skrastins is going west, joining Joe Nieuwendyk in Dallas. Skrastins signs a two-year deal worth about $1.4 per season. Have to think the Panthers offered something close or even more. If they didn't, well, they either didn't like Skrastins all that much or they are seriously pinching the pennies.

That, or Skrastins just didn't want to stay here. And I never got that impression from him.

How bad is the Florida defense right now? I have to file depth charts to The Hockey News listing eight defensemen. I can come up with six, and that's using Jason Garrison and Keaton Ellerby. Anyone have suggestions on who Florida's seventh and eighth defensemen are? I mean, right now? Wait a second. The Hockey News wants 10 defensemen.

OK, take a gander at this:

Keith Ballard; Bryan McCabe; Bryan Allen; Ville Koistinen; Jason Garrison; Keaton Ellerby; Dmitry Kulikov; Clay Wilson; Rory Fitzpatrick; Mike Caruso.

Yeah. See what I mean?

No wonder Scott Luce says Kulikov could battle for a roster spot this training camp. If camp started now, we'd be in September. And, he could be in the top six.

There is no way Randy Sexton can be done. Or is he? Remember, July 1 is just the start of the free agency period. There's a lot of time between the start of training camp and today. Although a lot of players are slipping away.

Getting away from the D for a second, Sexton said yesterday that Florida liked what it had as far as forwards go, and that cannot be the truth. Because if it is, he's the only one.

Florida struggled to score last season, and switching Nathan Horton back to wing and adding Steve Reinprecht to one of the top two lines isn't going to cure that. Especially when injuries get factored in, and Florida was relatively spared of major injuries last year, save for the first quarter of the season.

A few weeks ago, Sexton told me that Florida's budget was very close to last year. Not counting the $2 million the Leafs paid to Bryan McCabe, Florida spent about $52 million.

UPDATED Right now, the Panthers are at about $43 million, about $9 million under last year's real money (these are all estimates and depending on bonuses and the like, things can fluctuate).

Florida is also about $13 million under the cap, so there is plenty of room to play around. If Sexton is allowed to spend close to last year's money, there is a lot he can still do.

-- And for the record, aside from Scott Clemmensen, I like the resigning of Radek Dvorak and David Booth. But those were moves that could have been made earlier so it's hard to get too excited about them on the first day of free agency. Although it did buy the Cats some positive Canadian PR as Booth was a hot topic for a while on TSN.

And the Reinprecht move was a solid by Sexton, getting a decent center for a guy who wasn't factoring into Florida's plans much anyway. And the Bouwmeester move was probably as good as Sexton could get on Saturday, although in retrospect, he might have recieved more had the trigger been pulled say on Tuesday when teams were buzzing.

-- Note for those of you who love a lot of left turns, On Frozen Pond will turn into NASCAR Central over the next couple of days as I head to Daytona for a weekend of racing. Will be in the pits starting tomorrow morning, so tell all your racing friends to check in. Will also have hockey stuff as well. Hockey and racing. Is this Carolina?

-- In a surprising turn of events, the Panthers moved up on ESPN's Ultimate Standings, going from No. 98 in the North American pro world all the way up to No. 90! Hey, that's some heavy lifting. The Magazine ranked all 122 teams by using such criteria as 'Bang for the Buck,' ownership, affordability and stadium experience.

Florida did very well on affordability and coaching, not so much everywhere else. That's a shock.

The Panthers, ranked below Phoenix by two spots FYI, did rank above some notable NHL franchises including the Rangers, Oilers and Canadiens. Florida also ranked ahead of the Bills, Redskins, Cleveland Browns (duh) and the New York Yankees. As expected, the Clippers finished dead last. The Angels were ranked first.

Canada Day Signings: David Booth Gets Paid, Signs 6-Year Deal ... Radek Dvorak Signs 2-year Deal ... Craig Anderson to Avs, Scott Clemmensen the Replacement ... D Ville Koistinen now Official

It's a holiday in Canada in two respects today.

It's Canada day, which is like the Fourth of July without the red-white-and-blue bunting.

It's also the start of the free agency period, which many in Canada relish even more. It's a good day to have the day off up north, a good day to relax with friends and relatives and watch the TSN ticker.

Should be interesting to see what happens today both here in South Florida and abroad. Are the Panthers going to be an active player in the free agent market, or are they going to sit back and see how the market shapes out? Probably the latter, although there are enough holes on the roster to think the Panthers have to be pro-active.

We'll see soon enough.

-- Here is the official list of Florida's free agents. Not many surprises here.

FLORIDA

Craig Anderson, Nick Boynton, Jassen Cullimore, Radek Dvorak, Jordan Leopold, Vaclav Nedorost, Ville Peltonen, Karlis Skrastins, Janis Sprukts, Mikhail Yakubov, Richard Zednik.

-- Scratch Radek Dvorak off the list; Dvo's coming back to the Panthers after a very solid 2008-09 campaign.

TSN is reporting it now as a two-year deal, and the Panthers have just confirmed it. TSN says deal is for $1.7 million per.

-- The Panthers have given David Booth a six-year extension worth just under $26 million.

The Boother is excited as well he should be. Wonder if he keeps the Camaro or upgrades to a new one. I see a Vette in his future.

A good start for the Panthers getting Booth and Dvorak done.

-- The Panthers now need a backup goalie, Craig Anderson heading to the Colorado Rockies of the National League. Going to play first base and catcher. Two-year deal for Andy and a bunch of free skiing lessons. Good luck to him, Denver is a cool town. He's going to have fun.

-- Word that Colton Orr was coming to FLA turn out not to be true. He signs a four-year deal with the Leafs.

-- Marian Hossa to the Hawks? As Mike Tyson would say: ''Niiiiiice." But 12 years? Whoa.

-- The Lightning are making some moves...

-- Florida officially announces the signing of 27-year-old D-man Ville Koistinen. If they don't re-sign Peltonen, at least they have one Ville on the roster when the team opens in Finland.

Ville II played with Nashville the past two seasons. Not very offensive, but a quick player who is decent in the defensive zone.

Right now, he would be on the second pairing because the Panthers don't have much at the moment. Florida's defense, as it stands, is pretty brutal. Of course it's early and Randy is not done shopping and signing.

-- Panthers are now out of the goalie market: Scott Clemmensen, who did such a great job filling in for Martin Brodeur last year, signs a three-year deal with the Cats worth about $1.2 million per.

Now, I had said Andy would be competing with Clemmensen for a job this offseason, didn't think it would be for his job. 

Clemmensen's three-year deal means he's tied down to the Panthers one year longer than Tomas Vokoun is. Vokoun's contract expires after the 2010-11 season.

The Saddledome is Now Home: Jay Bouwmeester Signs With Flames ... Panthers Lose Another One

Cross Jay Bouwmeester off the list of coveted free agents come tomorrow as the 25-year-old former Florida Panther is going back to his native Alberta (that's in Canada, eh).

According to our pals at TSN, Bo signed a five-year deal with the Calgary Flames just days after the Panthers traded his rights to Darryl Sutter and Calgary for a cap hit of $6.6 million per.

Bo now gets close to home as he is from Edmonton (which is to Calgary what Orlando is to Miami. Only colder. And no mouse).

Good for the Flames. They didn't listen to the naysayers (OK, Jay's agent) who said Bouwmeester wanted to be a 25-year-old free agent and test the waters.

And there's no doubt the Panthers got hosed.

If Jay's agent told Randy Sexton a few weeks ago that he would talk to teams, then it leaked that "you can do what you want with Florida, but Jay isn't signing anywhere until after July 1,'' and then Jay ends up signing with Calgary on June 30 anyway, well, that's pretty crummy.

But it's a business and Jay and his agent owed the Panthers nada. And that's about what the Panthers ended up with.

Truth is, Jay's agent told the Panthers there were a bunch of teams he would rather play for than, you know, the Panthers 18 months ago.

So the Panthers got hosed, and for the most part, it's their own doing. But how they got hosed in the end, well, they had some help there.

The Panthers -- OK, Jacques Martin -- should have dealt with this earlier. And I don't mean at the trade deadline. By then it was too late, the team needing him too much. No, JM the GM should have done something last summer when Jay once more refused to sign long term. JM had Bo's NHL Sears Wish Book in his desk drawer; what more did he need?

What could the Panthers have gotten for Bouwmeester at the 2008 draft? A lot more than a third round pick and the rights to Jordan Leopold for sure. A lot more than what they got in return for Olli Jokinen (although, that deal worked out pretty well). How about a Jokinen/Bouwmeester package? What would teams have surrendered for that?

Well, Calgary's got 'em both now. Florida did get that third round pick Phoenix gave to Calgary when Jokinen went to Alberta at the deadline. That was nice irony.

As for JM, he doesn't have to answer those questions now.

He's in Montreal, far away from the problems in Florida. Are the Panthers better today than they were when he took over as GM? Yeah, I still say so. But the Panthers got nothing for a premier defenseman and by the timeline Randy Sexton gave us, they knew this was going to happen a long time ago. The Panthers have given up three franchise-type players and haven't gotten anything close to their value in return. Florida got some good players back, yes, but at cents on the dollar.

We could say this latest fiasco is going to cripple the Panthers, but that would be too easy to say. Heck, the Panthers missed the playoffs with Roberto Luongo, Olli Jokinen and Jay Bouwmeester. They can easily miss them again without them.

As far as Jay goes, he and his agent could have helped the Panthers out. They were of no obligation to do so, but Jay is a very rich man because of the Florida Panthers. He's even more wealthy today. But Florida laid out some serious jingle to Jay over the years.

But he never wanted to be here, money or not.

I often enjoyed dealing with Jay, and I'm not one who thinks the media pressure up there will be too much for him to handle. The media will not be Jay's problem, he can handle that just fine as he showed here, on Florida's tour of Canada earlier this past season and his marathon sessions at the All-Star Game (where, he never once ripped the Panthers but did talk about his desire for more stability down here and would have liked to see more of a hockey atmosphere in South Florida).

No, the media won't be Jay's problem; the other parts of living in Calgary just may be.

No, not right now. Jay's enjoyed much of his offseasons in Alberta, and I'm sure these lazy summer days were a big reason he wants to play there. No, things will change during the heat of hockey season. What's going to happen if/when the Flames lose 3-2 to Edmonton and Jay is on the ice in the final minute and somehow flubs the puck which finds its way past Kipper?

Talking to the media after the game? Oh Jay will do that, he will be the first one in the room to face the music.

But how about after the game when he wants to find a nice quiet place where no one knows -- or even cares, for that matter -- that's he's Jay Bouwmeester? Good luck with that. You've heard how the grass isn't always greener? Well, Jay's going to find out whether it is or not. His lifestyle is about to change. Hopefully, for his sake, it will be for the better. But one never knows until you are in that position.

It's obviously a position Jay's been wanting to be in for a long time. He wanted the spotlight, he's got it. Some guys run to the limelight. I don't think Jay is one of those guys, but he may just enjoy being The Man in a place where he can truly be appreciated.

He and his dad have their wish: Jay Bouwmeester is a Florida Panther no more.

The Panthers? They'll move on, just like they always do.

Weaker, yes, but moving on nonetheless.

It's July 1. Lets see what happens today.