He shouldn't have to. While I believe he will bump Ludzy up to head coach within a few short weeks, Duds and Luds will both wear out their welcome within a year and a half and be sent packing together.
I'm just pleased that they fired Keenan and not Dudley. The move guarantees at least 2-3 more years of Panther ineptness. And the best part? A majority of Panther fans are happy about it!
I'm not convinced. I believe Dudley fired Keenan because he didn't believe he was a good teacher to the young'uns. That's a similar MO that Ludzik has, and was one of the reasons that Dudley fired Ludzik and replaced him with Torts in the first place.
I believe that Dudley is looking more for a teacher, and reports are that he is pursuing obtaining Larry Robinson from the NJ organization.
Seems like Ludzik is Dudley's Plan B in case his run at getting Larry Robinson fails. God, Dudley is systematically doing everything in Florida that he did here. Why expect anything different.
We should expect to see the Panthers to be god-awful for the next 3-4 years until Cohen finally has enough and fires Dudley when he tries to trade Bouwmeester.
Was Ludzik that bad or was he just in a bad situation with Lecavalier grumpy and all?
He pandered to Lecavailer. To say he was the worst I have ever seen handling goal tenders is an understatement. I don't know how far he set Cloutier back. And he certainly wasn't a teacher of young players; he preferred vets.
Lecavalier got grumpy when Ludzik left town and Tortorella took over and wouldn't let Vinny hang out at the blue-line. Shortly after Torts took over he benched Vinny vs. Buffalo.
Ludzik let Vinny roam free. He put up great numbers, but was horrid in his own end.
Probaby should have been a happy medium between the two, but Lecavalier seems to be doing quite well now.
I think Ludzik was more known for the players (specificaly Cloutier and Cullimore) that he fought with.
Dapper Steve Ludzik always seemed to me more concerned with his attire than anything hockey-related. But really, all the losing wears him out. He got very down when the Bolts were going through their dark ages and took on a sort of bunker mentality in the locker room. Of course it didn't help matters because the Bolts had no hope of making trades at the time.
Which brings me to an interesting point. Usually, Dudley deals off his veterans (he really doesn't value their influence), but who's he gonna deal off when that itch comes a-scratchin'? I ask because I'd sure like to be on the long end of the ripoff stick this time. But alas, I don't think the Kitties have anything we would want.
Yeah, there's not much left of value for Dudley to get rid of. The only guy who might be is Viktor Kozlov and you know he'll NEVER deal off a 6'5" Russian who can skate. NEVER. Kozlov= Dudley's Wet Dream
I would gladly take Jokinen off of their hands. His play will probably de-evolve without a coach he fears behind the bench. Torts could fill that role.
Well I hope tonight was a reality check for our boys- they sure let the panturds hand it to us. We cannot let them score four goals and we need to be more responsible with the puck those turnovers are killing us. I think we should look for some tough love from Torts before too long. I just do not look forward to having the panturd fans come by and wave this in our face. Oh well, hopefully we will get them next time. Do you think Ludzik learned any lessons down on the farm about handling goalies? or young talent for that matter?? This should be interesting.
And what's up with the Florida broadcast team being aired on CI. I thought the visiting team usually aired the broadcast.
Only thing worse than enduring the shutout with Dudley & Co. behind the bench, was listening to the echo of Rimer's play-by-play being broadcast from about a foot up Dudley's butt. I swear everytime a Bolt player touched the puck, Rimer had some dialogue about how Dudley saved him from the NHL trash heap, and ain't everything grand in Bolt-world because of Dudley...
I warned you, Ex. Rimmer and Potvin are close to the worst. Every TB save is just a quality scoring chance for FLA. Every hit for TB the focus is on how tough the FLA player is getting off the ice. Every post the opposition hits is either a save or mentioned under his breath.
Then there's always Rimmer kissing Potvin's butt and Potvin talking about Shield's underwear.
Those two are terrible. They give the Caps duo a run for their money.
Speaking of the Caps dynamic nasaly duo... the other night against the Kings Dustin Brown was carrying the puck for LA and the little nasal poet says, "Dustin Brown is dustin' himself off and carries the puck into the middle..." (he never fell down previous to this) It's like their just talking to each other up there. No one can be this big of an idiot. Well, I take that back.
Back to the game... sort of...
Has anyone seen those commercials for "Hit Away" on ESPN News? It's that baseball swing master thing that you strap to a pole and the ball keeps wrapping around the pole and coming back to you while you're practicing your swing. In the background is always some dad or "coach" who just keeps clapping thier hands after every swing. Evidentally this is coaching to these commercial makers. Just clap, baby. It's also coaching to Rick Dudley apparently. During the first period last night, clenching his token Office Depot legal pad, he just kept clapping... not saying anything, but clappying. Just like the dads in the commercial! Seeing "The Clapper" and his rug and his legal pad and the clapping.... I laughed and I laughed. Then Khabi let in a softie and I stopped laughing.
I don't think Sunshine showed him doing that, but that pic brings it all home, lol! My god those ads are annoying.
I pity you folks who had to watch the S Florida feed. They drool over their own players and how fabulous they are when they're getting blown out, I'd hate to hear what they do when they're winning. I heard from someone that they never even pointed out that the first two goals were deflections off Lukowich's leg. Too bad there's such a huge delay over the Internet or you could put on the 620 broadcast instead.
I pity you folks who had to watch the S Florida feed. They drool over their own players and how fabulous they are when they're getting blown out, I'd hate to hear what they do when they're winning. I heard from someone that they never even pointed out that the first two goals were deflections off Lukowich's leg.
Right. No mention of the deflections.
Listening to these guys gives me something tangible to hang my hat on when contemplating the Catholic doctrine regarding purgatory. It was tough to hang through the broadcast.
Regarding, Dudley's clapping/coaching style -- one of the saddest things about Rimmer and Potvin was that they were lauding Dudley over his "coaching" style. As if all the clapping and back-patting was the cure-all for the recent Panther woes. Just look at the scoreboard -- see how well it works!
Does Dudley have children of his own? I suspect not, because he seems to treat his prospects/players like his own children, in some sort of unhealthy way. If so, it would explain alot regarding his GM style, that seem to manifest itself much more clearly as a coach behind the bench.
I warned you, Ex. Rimmer and Potvin are close to the worst. Every TB save is just a quality scoring chance for FLA. Every hit for TB the focus is on how tough the FLA player is getting off the ice. Every post the opposition hits is either a save or mentioned under his breath.
Then there's always Rimmer kissing Potvin's butt and Potvin talking about Shield's underwear.
Those two are terrible. They give the Caps duo a run for their money.
Agreed Rimer and Potvin are the worst commentators and "homers" in the NHL by far, South Florida hockey fans have suffered long with those 2.
Just so you know Pete is Trolling the Panther boards...again...and it would be so easy to talk trash here after the game last night but I'm just going to show class/respect (like I always did until Pete started the name calling) to the rest of you Bolt fans and say I'll be looking forward to the next rematch and I'm sure you guys will bring your "A" game on Dec. 31st and be well rested for it (4 games in 6 days is tough).
P.S. Dudley still deserves credit for building your team.
I have to agree here, probably most Panther fans will, Rimmer and Potvin are pretty annoying. But they don't even come close to the homerism that I have had to endure over what seems like a lifetime of listening to Bob Cole and HArry Neale on the Leafs.
Anyways, I too seemed to realize that everytime they showed Dudly on the bench last night it looked like he was just clapping. That comparison someone above mentioned I admit got a laugh out of me.
I also wanted to point out what a huge hit that was on Lilja last night! I think it was Sarich if I'm not mistaken. Thats pretty much the only reason I had come over here, was to say that. Hopefully he is not out too too long.
I have to agree here, probably most Panther fans will, Rimmer and Potvin are pretty annoying. But they don't even come close to the homerism that I have had to endure over what seems like a lifetime of listening to Bob Cole and HArry Neale on the Leafs.
Anyways, I too seemed to realize that everytime they showed Dudly on the bench last night it looked like he was just clapping. That comparison someone above mentioned I admit got a laugh out of me.
I also wanted to point out what a huge hit that was on Lilja last night! I think it was Sarich if I'm not mistaken. Thats pretty much the only reason I had come over here, was to say that. Hopefully he is not out too too long.
Yeah that was a terrific hit by Sarich, next time Lilja better remember to keep his head up LOL.
What Panther fan won't tell you is that on their board they are actually DENYING that the first goal deflected in off of Lukowich's shin pad. Making the exchange even more festive: descriptions of the play by Panther fan which clearly indicate that he has misidentified Dan Boyle, you know, the guy with "B-O-Y-L-E" stitched on the back of the sweater as Lukowich.
Conclusion: the rose colored glasses impair Panther fan's vision.
What Panther fan won't tell you is that on their board they are actually DENYING that the first goal deflected in off of Lukowich's shin pad. Making the exchange even more festive: descriptions of the play by Panther fan which clearly indicate that he has misidentified Dan Boyle, you know, the guy with "B-O-Y-L-E" stitched on the back of the sweater as Lukowich.
Conclusion: the rose colored glasses impair Panther fan's vision.
-Pete Choquette
The first time I misidentified Boyle because I was watching the puck go into the net When I watched the replay, it was proved to be Boyle. Then I made a joke about how Boyle was playing poor defense and compared him to Lukowich, who I personally think is typical of poor defense and you apparently didn't get the joke. The 1st goal...the GWG by Hagman...the only important one in the game...never deflected off Lukowich. That second goal deflected off him twice this is true. That first goal was a straight shot from Hagman's stick to the net after it settled onto his stick. Boyle had no real chance on that play and Lukowich was covering Jokinen who was driving to the net from the right side. That caught Khabi's attention thinking Hagman would pass to him and instead shot the puck from the left side. I think you are mistaken about the goal.
I guess you guys would rather talk about how Ludzik or Dudley pissed you guys off in the past instead of talking about the present in which your team got beat that nite by the Cats, who were just superior in that game.
I was eager to hear what Panther fans thought of Rimmer and Potvin. I am very pleased to hear that they are thought of as annoying by their own fan base. Now, if only we could get Caps fans to agree that their nasaly duo needs to go.
Oh, and I agree on Leafs TV aka Hockey Night in Canada. Neale and Cole are some of the worst Toronto homers since the Holy Makinaw guy. I grew up listening to these two jokers drool over Rick Vaive and Borje Salming.
I have definately confirmed that Hagmans goal was NOT a deflection. I subscribe to the NHL Highlight Machine so I am able to see the replay anytime I want. Nice shot right over the shoulder nothing touched it but Hagmans stick and the back of the net. Oh yea, the shot was from 41 feet also.
I have definately confirmed that Hagmans goal was NOT a deflection. I subscribe to the NHL Highlight Machine so I am able to see the replay anytime I want. Nice shot right over the shoulder nothing touched it but Hagmans stick and the back of the net. Oh yea, the shot was from 41 feet also.
There is no clear, indisputable evidence on that small, low-resolution video to indicate what "definately" (that's definitely, son) happened. Ignoring for the moment that it doesn't matter one way or the other, I offer this observation: It's a basic, fundamental and rather obvious fact of physics that the perception of an angle depends largely on the perspective of the observer. I cannot say with any degree of certainty (nor can you) whether or not the puck changed its course during its path to the net. What I can tell you is this: When slow-motion replays were shown on the local feed, it definitely appeared to glance off a Tampa defenseman.
You're WRONG. The first goal DID deflect off of Lukowich and the second goal only deflected ONCE off of Lukowich, almost straight down, and then took a funny skidding hop off of the ice and subsequently into the net.
I'll say it again, if you Panthers fans can't tell Dan "B-O-Y-L-E" from Brad "L-U-K-O-W-I-C-H" then how on earth should anyone take your perception of the play as gospel?
And it DOES matter Joe, because what Panther fan is saying is that Khabibulin can't handle a 50 foot unscreened slow wrist shot. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure as reigning Eastern Conference starting All-Star goalie and reigning Top Goaltender of the last Olympics, he can.
