The Florida Panthers Clinch A Playoff Spot
With a huge win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in game number 81 of the regular season the Florida Panthers were able to clinch a spot in the CPHL playoffs.
The Panthers win, combined with a Montreal Canadiens loss to the New York Islanders (Thanks Scorp!) allowed them to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
The Panthers still have one game remaining against the New York Rangers, which will determine the bottom two seeds in the Eastern Conference.
The playoff appearance is a huge step for the Florida Panthers franchise under second year GM SuperMatt18, and is a surprise after the Panthers finished in last place just two seasons ago.
The Panthers franchise is carried by it's strong defensive core, but were able to score goals by committee up front led by JT Compher and had surprisingly strong goaltending from Linus Ullmark and Aaron Dell to help lead them to the playoffs.
In what is an unheard of move in the CPHL the Florida Panthers were able to make the playoffs without a single trade completed in the regular season. The Panthers were still focused on the long term health of the franchise and were not willing to move any future assets to help this season, but wanted to let this group have a shot at the playoffs.
The Florida Panthers have three first round picks in this upcoming draft, and hope to be able to add a star player with the potential top pick received from the New York Islanders (Thanks to Scorp again!)
In terms of the playoffs the Panthers will be in tough against either the Flyers or Devils. To make matters worse the Panthers have lost top pairing D-Man Aaron Ekblad for 3 weeks with an injury, and will be short one of their top players in the first round.
GO PANTHERS GO
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 03-26-2020 at 03:06 PM.
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