What Next for Florida

At the March 4th NHL Trade Deadline, the Florida Panthers were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Being tied for the eighth and final seed in the NHL playoff picture, the Florida franchise had to decide what was more important: winning in the current moment and going to the playoffs, or trading away a valuable asset to the team to acquire pieces for the future of the franchise. General Manager Jacques Martin saw it fit to keep that valuable asset, but missed the playoffs just a short month later. Irony is a sick joke.Jay Bouwmeester became one of the top stories during the deadline, but ended up staying put in order to help for the playoff run. The problem is Bouwmeester's open-ended thoughts to the media. He was asked just before the deadline by the Florida Sun-Sentinel what the likelihood of him returning in a Panthers jersey would be for the 2009-10 campaign.Continue reading "What Next for Florida"