SUNRISE–It’s Homecoming night at BB&T Center Saturday when the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Florida Panthers.
*Before the game the Panthers 1996 Stanley Cup finalist team will be honored 20 years after the then third-year expansion team and it’s motley crew surprised everyone by making it that far.
*Flyers rookie sensation defenseman Shayne Gostisbeheregrew up in nearby Margate and will have a large contingent in attendance to see his first NHL game in South Florida. Since his call-up Ghost has 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points in 48 games. Four of those goals have been game winners and many of his other points have come at critical times for a Flyers team trying to get back into the playoffs. The Flyers helped the Panthers by beating Tampa Bay Friday night, vaulting the Panthers into second place in the Division by virtue of few games played.
*The Panthers leading scorer and resident legend Jaromir Jagr will play the team that brought him back to the NHL. If a furious few days of free agency when Jagr was preparing for his comeback to the NHL, the Penguins tried to lowball Jagr for Tyler Kennedy money (about $2 million a year). Since that fateful day Kennedy has “produced” 29 goals-43 assists-72 points while Jagr has produced 254 points including 99 goals and has become a hit with teammates and fans in Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, New Jersey and now the Panthers.
It was during the 2011-2012 that Jagr’s late night workouts became public knowledge and sometimes included Claude Giroux and Jakup Voracek. That Flyers team became fun to watch as the up and coming stars were ignited by playing with the five-time scoring champ. Jagr recently credited his year with the Flyers as the perfect place for him to resume his NHL career after three seasons in Russia’s KHL.
What happens tonight? Will the Panthers advance in the standings or will the Flyers spoil homecoming? People into numerology will note that tonight is the Panthers 68th game of the season. Puck drop a little after 7 pm tonight at BB&T Center. After tonight the Panthers will be on the road until March 19. Tickets for all Panthers home games can be secured at panthers.nhl.com and through host teams when the Panthers are on the road.
The Jagr-O-Meter…
Assorted Jagr-related links:
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Florida Panthers 2015-16 Media Guide
http://panthers.nhl.com/v2/ext/Florida201516MediaGuide_web.pdf
Florida Panthers Team website: http://www.floridapanthers.com
Some Jagr-related social media accounts:
@68Jagr This is the real site, the one and only official Jaromir Jagr twitter account. Postings are rare, but worth the wait. Jagr has been more active on Twitter this season.
The two best Jagr facebook pages are:
https://www.facebook.com/68Jagr/?fref=ts
This is the page Jagr posts on, if he is going to post at all.
Another good facebook page is one produced by someone in the Czech Republic. It has more than 100,000 likes. This is not the official page, but it is very good.
https://www.facebook.com/JaromirJagrfan/?fref=nf
@FlaPanthers and @FLAPanthersPR The official twitter accounts for news about the team.
@dougielarge Doug Cifu, few owners in sports relate to the fans as much as this man who interacts with fans and media on twitter.
@goldieonice — Steve Goldstein, TV play-by-play of the Panthers. Brings all those exciting highlights to life.
@DenisPotvinFox — NHL Hall of Famer Denis Potvin works along side Goldstein in the booth.
@HeyRedDeer color man Randy Moller who left the radio booth to help Goldstein and Potvin on TV.
@GeorgeRichards Panthers beat writer for the Miami Herald.
@HFialkov Panthers beat writer for the Sun Sentinel
@AntwanStaley Includes Panthers coverage in his all sports all the time reports
@Cats0ntheprowl twitter for Cats On the Prowl, offering detailed reviews of Panthers games and more.
@SunshineSkate twitter for The Sunshine Skate, another blog with special emphasis on advanced stats and charts that will make you dizzy.
@Zdenek_Janda US-based Czech reporter who covers the NHL and reports on other news for the people of the Czech Republic.
@Jsmidcro Jan Smid was a US-based Czech reporter who collaborated on “Jagr”, an autobiography in the late 90’s detailing Jagr’s early life and career in the NHL.
@NHLHistoryGirl This hockey loving woman shares interesting informational tidbits about hockey and the NHL in general. How does she do it?
@MyRegularFace She’s another gem. Watches lots of games and gets up GIFs faster than nhl.com or anyone else out there.
@KrRutherford Kristina Rutherford wrote a great article for Canada’s sportsnet magazine.
Nigel Buchanan, whose superhero treatment of Jagr in his art for sportsnet magazine is one of the many efforts he has on display at http://www.nigelbuchanan.com.
The article was shared by Sportsnet on Dec. 20, 2015.
Quant Hockey: Career stats updated game by game by a hockey lover in Europe. Site enables you to find career leaders in any offensive category by clicking on the category you are researching.
http://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/records/nhl-players-all-time-points-leaders.html
@rytiriKladno The Kladno Hockey Club: Before coming to the NHL Jagr played for this team in the Czech league as a teenager. Now he owns the team. It’s in Czech but some devices can translate to English. Follow them at:
@HockeyCzech National organization for hockey in the Czech Republic.
@68isgr8 is the twitter for The Traveling Jagrs. Clad in different Jagr jerseys and hair styles from 68’s career, they gained league-wide recognition when they caught Jagr’s attention during a pre-game skate of a Dallas Stars game in Canada during the 2012-2013 season. Since then, they convene at games in Western Canada and make a road trip or two every year, playing street hockey with locals, posing for hundreds of pictures, and having a good time with fans while honoring an all-time NHL legend.
https://twitter.com/search?q=traveling%20jagrs&src=savs.
Ray Haluska aka Kladno Jagr, curator of the Jagr-O-Meter
https://twitter.com/CruisingRay or email ROKINRAY@AOL.COM
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