Farewell Captain!

  After a 2-2 start to the season the Panthers dealt captain Bryan McCabe to the New Jersey Devils. This early in the year it seemed like an odd move and GM Dylan Wilson said that it was a move we needed to take advantage of. Going back to the Panthers is young grinder David Clarkson and Vancouver's 2nd rounder in 2010.   The Panthers have had their eye on Clarkson for a while and had waited till yesterday to finally make a move. " David is a guy we like, hes a gritty kind of guy who will drop the gloves and make some key hits, but also he is a guy who can put the puck in the net and we hope this devolps in his game more and can find a way to get on the score sheet more," commented the GM, "With trading Bryan, it was a hard thing to do. The guy is a heart and soul player and his leadership and his play brought a lot to our team.  We wish him the best with his new team and to GM Bennett and the New Jersey Devils."

  With the trade McCabe is re-united with his old powerplay partner in Tomas Kaberle in which he had his career year being paired with him.  The Panthers have promoted Michael Peca to be the next captain of the team while Wayne Primeau was given the A and joins Brendan Witt as the other assistant captain.

 Back to the ice, coach Ron Wilson and his team are preparing for there next game against the Edmonton Oilers. It is expected that Clarkson will line up with Peca and Comeau on the 2nd line while Tlusty, Wolski and Purcell will take to the top line. The team is hoping to improve on their 4-2 win over the Stars the other night which saw JS Giguere win his first game as a Panther. Steve Mason is expected to get his 2nd start of the season after stopping 22 of 24 shots against the Blues to get his first win of the year. Raffi Torres continues to lead the team in points with 4, while Wojtek Wolski is showing his worth with 3 points including 2 goals in the first four games of the season.

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Today HF released their Top 10 prosepcts for the Panthers this season giving a good look at the future of the Franchise.

1.Steve Mason(Florida Panthers)

2.Matt Duchene(Brampton Battalion)

3.Alex Pietrangelo(Florida Panthers)

4.Michael Del Zotto(London Knights)

5.Scott Glennie(Brandon Wheat Kings)

6.Chris Kreider(Boston College)

7.Viktor Stalberg(University of Vermont)

8.Teddy Purcell(Florida Panthers)

9.Aaron Ness(University of Minnesota)

10.Chris Didomenico(Drummondville Voltigeurs)