The Black and Gold Wire

Arguably the biggest reason for Panthers turnaround in 2019/20 was Guillaume Doucet's ability find the right players in what was likely a limited market during the season, after the summer recruitment hadn't proved sufficient enough. When teams face adversity, there is an increased pressure on those in charge of recruitment to pick the best fish out of a smaller pond, and Doucet nailed it each time. I've decided to look at other times the Panthers have found a gem mid-season, specifically over the last decade.  2010/11- Jeff Heerema  Dustin Sproat's departure was very well addressed in early October 2010 with the signing of former NHL forward Jeff Heerema, who came in with an astounding CV, having put up solid numbers in the AHL, DEL and EBEL. He lived up to his pedigree, putting up 46 points (25+21) in 36 games, establishing himself as a key figure in the Panthers offence. With 7 of those points coming in the playoffs, Heerema led the Panthers in post season scor

At the time of writing, no individual Elite League awards have been given out other than the 12 all star team spots, which had 2 Panthers included for the first time since 2012/13. Once again, there's been heaps of quality across every team, and I'd like to give my take on who deserves recognition for the best forward, defencemen, netminder, coach and British player if/when these awards are announced. As my predicted all star teams were quite different from the ones revealed last week, I'll also throw them in at the end.  Coach of the year: Danny Stewart, Coventry Blaze   If you'd told me at the start of the season that I'd be giving Danny Stewart this award without hesitation, then I'd have laughed, very hard. The Coventry boss wasn't exactly highly rated before this season started, but by the end of the season, the Blaze were borderline unbeatable and were considered by many to be title contenders.  Stewart got his troops playing outstanding hock

As I write this, I'm sat in my garden taking in the hot summer weather, which is well balanced with a subtle breeze. In other words, playoff weather. Obviously, the leagues showpiece event isn't happening this year for the right reasons, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it stings to miss out on the ultimate hockey weekend. Intense hockey with a championship on the line, an electric atmosphere created by 10 sets of fans , people having vodka at breakfast, the list goes on as to what makes this weekend so special. For a Panthers fan, the last few finals weekends have provided some nightmare games though. Watching the Steelers who had brutally knocked us out go on to win it in 2017, then in 2018 watching the same team end Corey Neilson's Panthers tenure a day earlier than planned after dominating the majority of the game, and then there was 2019...let's not go there.  Instead, we'll go to the times when Panthers playoff performances peaked. We truly

A few weeks ago, I started a discussion on the blog's twitter account regarding underrated players, and it was a topic I wanted to zoom in on in more depth. Every fans view on this will likely significantly differ from one another, as these are players who typically don't get widespread praise, or are even seen as being unfairly criticised. With multiple below par seasons for the Panthers in recent years, it's easy to label those whole teams as flops, but there has been some quality that has gone below the radar. Obviously who you'd put in this category will be even more subjective based on how long you've been watching. For me, that's the last 10 seasons but those I've included in the line of underrated players I've put together (1 goaltender, 2 defencemen and 3 forwards) go back as far as the 2015/16 season.  Shane Madolora, 2016  Had he not played second fiddle to Miika Wiikman, I reckon Shane Madolora would've been a more than reliable star

This is a different off-season to many previous ones for the Panthers, and not just because it's a lot longer. Instead of the mass overhaul we're so used to seeing nowadays, there is now solid foundations that can be built on. I'd go as far as saying almost every import makes a case to be on next seasons roster, but there are certainly small adjustments that need to be made if we're to end what will become an 8 year title drought next year.  I've gone over each player and summarised who should be re-signed and who shouldn't with a short explanation as to why.  Goaltending  Kevin Carr: GO   Some fans rate him too highly, others too low, in my opinion. He's solid on his day but he's not consistent enough. We can upgrade.  Jackson Whistle: STAY The GB international is an excellent backup option, and does make a case to be starter with the import limit dropping. Whilst I'd be open to that, I'd rather we explore all options as a netminder can