Panthers in 2013 WJC / Richards Heading to Florida

2013-01-13

With another World Juniors in the books, the Panthers were once again well represented at the event. The Panthers had 4 prospects for 4 different countries in UFA, Russia. Unfortunately for the Panthers only one walked away with a medal.

At the bottom was goaltender Joonas Korpisalo who took the starting role for Finland and forward Tobias Rieder for the Germans. The round robin didn't go too well for either. Rieder and the Germans barely avoided relegation beating Latvia 5-2. For Rieder it was his 4^th straight U-20 tournament for the Germans. After being a key cog last year to get them promoted (13 points in 5 games) many, including the Panthers brass expected him to be a key part of the offense. And for Rieder he was, getting 5 points in 6 games, putting him 2^nd on the team. While the Fins also took part in the relegation round, the Fins skated past with ease. Korpisalo was a big part of that, backstopping the Fins in 5 games, winning 3 of them. “Both these guys we picked up in last year’s draft, and we are happy with the progress we saw and that we were able to get a much closer look at them. For Rieder, we knew the Germans weren’t the strongest team and we are happy that Rieder was a big part of why they will remain in the tournament next year. As for Korpi, it was a lot more disappointing as we expected the Fins to be a big contender. We saw flashes of excellent play from him but we had hoped for a better tournament from him. But he is a long term project for us and we really hope we can see him there again next year.”

Another disappointment was the Canadians. Expected to once again be wearing gold, team Canada left without a medal. But once again Ryan Strome was a big part of the postives for Canada. After 9 points in last year’s tournament, Strome was once again an offensive key for Canada. He sat 4^th in scoring for Canada and could have been higher if not for facing some stellar goaltending. One surprise was Emil Molin for the Swedes. Molin sat tied for 1^st in scoring on the Swedes leading them to a Silver medal, with 6 points in 6 games. “Strome once again keeps impressing us but it was just disappointing effort from the whole Canadian squad. The lack of a medal doesn’t reflect on him as he once again but together another great tournament. For Molin, he surprised us the most. We expected to be a 3^rd line guy who would maybe get a point or two in the tournament. But he was a surprisingly integral part of their medal run and he has certainly jumped up in our prospect lists.”

The Panthers once again made another big move. After firing Joe Sacco and bringing in Marc Crawford. The Panthers sent Bobby Ryan and prospect Jeremy Morin to the Blackhawks for Mike Richards. It was a surprising move, as the Panthers have been on the upswing since the coaching change, but is a move needed to be made. Bobby Ryan hadn’t been fitting on any line, with only 15 points in 36 games. While Mike Richards, adds the offense, along with the size and defensive presence.

“It was a bit of a hard move to make, but not really once you think about it. Ryan is an immensely talented player and we are disappointed to lose him, but adding Richards just made too much sense. I think putting him on a line with Backes will be able to spark both of them and give us a great player for a Cup run. The other part of the deal was losing Morin. He has been a favourite of ours in our system, and we hoped he would be a future 2^nd line winger for us. His progress has stalled a little bit, but we still had high hopes for him and we expect he will have a great future in Chicago. It’s always hard to deal a player you have drafted and developed for years, but getting Mike was just something we couldn’t pass on.

The All-Star nominees were announced today. Sidney Crosby was named an East nominee along with linemate Patrik Elias, who both sit at 49 points in 37 games. While Jonathan Quick, will head to the All-Star game for the 2^nd straight year. “We are happy to have 3 guys go to the game, and it shows that level of talent we have. It shows the progress our organization is making, and we expect all of them to make a great impact in the game.”

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