Punchless Florida Panthers Say They ‘Haven’t Been Desperate Enough To Win’
Posted by TheHockeyGuy on February 12th, 2010
A day after the players held a closed-door meeting and General Manager Randy Sexton told reporters he was ready to clean house if his team didn’t play with more passion, the Panthers were in a foul mood.
“We haven’t shown up to play,’ defenseman Keith Ballard said after a 40-minute practice Wednesday. “We haven’t competed hard enough and we haven’t been desperate enough to win games, and we haven’t deserved to win them.
“We’re letting each other down. (Goaltender Tomas Vokoun) is playing his butt off, and we’re not giving him any support.’
That’s an understatement. The Panthers have scored 13 goals in their last 11 games, including four during their current four-game losing streak.
The offense took another hit when coach Peter DeBoer confirmed that forward Rostislav Olesz suffered what is believed to be a broken hand in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Carolina. He will be out for the final two games before the 16-day Olympic break and perhaps longer. Although Olesz hasn’t scored a goal in his past 11 games, he is still fifth on the team with 26 points.
Snapping the scoring drought won’t be easy. These next two games at home are against Northwest Division-leading Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. Vancouver is led by former Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, who has a 2.33 goals-against average on a team that has allowed the third-fewest goals.
Click here to read the full article – By Palm Beach Post
Florida Panthers Mens Apparel
and other Panthers Apparel
|
|
