Puck Daddy Summer Series: Weird Florida Panthers

[Ed. Note: Some lists chronicle the best in hockey. Others the worst. Others the most memorable or greatest or essential. What Puck Daddy’s 2016 Summer Series seeks to do is capture those indefinable, quirky, oddities that occur every season. Moments that defy prediction or, in some cases, logical explanation. Welcome to WEIRD NHL.]

By: Todd Little, co-managing editor at Litter Box Cats

1. Scott Mellanby turns a new kind of trick

Before the Panthers’ 1995-96 home-opener against Calgary, Florida forward Scott Mellanby added to the standard hat trick (and the Gordie Howe version) by ripping an unlucky rat across the dressing room and, using the same stick, subsequently bagging two goals in a 4-3 win over the Flames.

After the game, goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed the feat a “rat trick” and before long, crazed fans were pelting the Miami Arena ice with plastic rodents following Panthers goals. The Cats rode the Year of the Rat frenzy all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, knocking off Boston, Philadelphia and heavily-favored Pittsburgh along the way, before they were finally vanquished by the Colorado Avalanche.

The tradition of Florida fans chucking plastic rats on the ice persists to this day, although now the rodents rain down after wins instead of goals.

2. 9-1-1! We have a goaltending emergency!

On March 3, 2015, the Panthers were playing the Toronto Maple Leafs in a routine, late-season affair at the BB&T Center. The Cats sat just two points out of a playoff spot at the time and were looking to pick up a much-needed win, while the lowly Buds were simply playing out the string.

Starter Roberto Luongo was dinged while stopping one of the 16 shots he faced in the first period and headed to a nearby hospital to get a CT scan after finishing the frame with a 1-0 lead. Al Montoya took over in net and he too was injured early in the third period.

A bizarre scene unfolded as the Panthers scrambled to answer the age-old question: now what?

Fourth-line center Derek MacKenzie was sent to the dressing room by coach Gerard Gallant to don the pads while the front office worked on inking goalie coach, and former NHLer, Robb Tallas to an emergency contact.

Montoya gutted it out and stayed in the game with the freshly-signed Tallas now on the bench as the backup.

Eventually, the courageous Montoya was taken out of the game a few minutes after surrendering what turned out to be the game-winning goal to Peter Holland, but his replacement wasn’t Tallas – it was Luongo, who after his hearing his number two man was hurt, got in his car and sped back to the arena to relieve his injured comrade.

Luongo turned aside three more shots, but his teammates couldn’t find the equalizer and the Leafs ended up posting their first road win of calendar year 2015.

Veteran keeper Dan Ellis would come up from AHL San Antonio to make the next seven starts. The journeyman performed heroically, but the Cats were only able to post a 3-3-1 record before Luongo returned to action; costing the team momentum, which contributed to yet another playoff miss for Florida.

3. The Keenan Shuffle

It’s not very often that a coach quits on his team, and ends up getting a promotion six months later, but oddly enough, that’s what happened in the strange case of The Keenan Shuffle.

“Iron Mike” Keenan was hired by Panthers owner Alan Cohen in December 2000 to right the ship after a 6-15-2-3 start cost Duane Sutter the head coaching gig. Keenan pulled much goalie and racked up a whole 45 wins in 153 games as the Cats bench boss before resigning his post 15 games into the 2003-04 campaign.

In May 2004, Cohen fired GM Rick Dudley and replaced him with – you guessed it – Keenan, who brought in long-time friend Jacques Martin to succeed interim coach John Torchetti. After getting a year off due to lockout, the duo led the Panthers to respectable 37-34-11 record in 2005-06.

In September 2006, the volatile Keenan bailed on Cohen again shortly after engineering the ill-fated trade of Roberto Luongo to the Vancouver Canucks. It was rumored that he lost a power struggle with his old pal Martin over personnel decisions. Martin took over the GM job, while continuing to coach the club, after “Iron Mike’s” second departure from Sunrise and Keenan days as an NHL executive were over.

Et tu, Jacques?

4. A scary night in Buffalo

Richard Zednik’s time with the Florida Panthers was short, but productive. The veteran winger posted seasons of 15 and 17-goals in his 124 game stint with the club. Those first season numbers would have been higher if not for a scary incident that occurred at Buffalo’s HSBC Arena on February 10, 2008.

Zednik suffered a potentially life-threatening injury when teammate Olli Jokinen came together with Clarke MacArthur of the Sabres and fell to ice. Zednik was gliding by when Jokinen’s skate caught him in the neck and sliced his external carotid artery. The heady Zednik immediately skated to the bench, where he was tended to by Panthers trainer Dave Zenobi, who was helped by medical personnel stationed in the building. Zednik, who lost five units of blood, was taken to the hospital where successful surgery was performed later that night.

** WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! GRAPHIC INJURY VIDEO AHEAD! DO NOT WATCH IF BLOOD, SKATE CUTS, GROSS STUFF, ETC. MAKES YOU QUEASY! CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED **

After the zamboni cleaned up the bloody ice and the decision to play on was made by NHL Vice-President Colin Campbell, who was in attendance to see his son Gregory skate with the Cats, the game continued after a twenty-minute delay.

Classy Buffalo fans gave Zednik a standing ovation after a PA announcement was made stating that his condition was stable and that he was en route to the hospital. The Sabres ended up winning the game by a 5-3 count, but the final score certainly wasn’t the most important thing that night. Zednik returned to action the following season and dished out two helpers in his first game back.

5. Dudley cites leap year argument, tries to draft Ovechkin a year too early

Rick Dudley presided over two entry drafts during his tenure as Florida Panthers general manager, selecting the likes of Jay Bouwmeester, Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell.

There’s nothing weird about that, but what was weird were his ill-fated attempts to nab future superstar Alexander Ovechkin a year before he was eligible at the 2003 Entry Draft in Nashville.

Ovechkin was born on September 17, 1985, making him ineligible for inclusion by two days. Dudley and owner Alan Cohen came up with a clever idea, arguing that because Ovechkin had lived through four leap years, that he was 18-years-old by the cutoff date and should be available for selection.

It was reported that the determined Dudley tried taking Ovechkin four times during the event (in the second, fifth, seventh and ninth rounds), only to be rebuffed by the NHL each time.

I suppose you have to give the Panthers some credit for using a novel approach to try and land Ovechkin, but maybe they should have paid better attention to the youngsters that were actually eligible. Their 13-player haul that weekend was loaded with players who never even sniffed the bigs.

Honorably Weird: SPACEY IN SPACE!

Previous Weird NHL Posts: Anaheim | Arizona | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Carolina | Chicago | Colorado | Columbus | Dallas | Detroit | Edmonton

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About the author: Todd Little is the co-managing editor of SB Nation’s Litter Box Cats. After cutting his hockey teeth as a fan of the WHA’s Birmingham Bulls and then hopping on the Oilers bandwagon after the ‘79 merger, he has been following the Florida Panthers since day one. Follow him on Twitter: @ToddLittle827