Quit Trying To Figure Out Coaching/ Managerial Hires

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

What goes into hiring a coach or manager?

For the longest time, I’ve often wondered about this and now I’ve decided to address this insane process?

Will winning a championship guarantee that you’ll get another gig?

No.

Just ask former Detroit Tigers Manager Mayo Smith, former Baltimore Ravens Head Coach Brian Billick and and former Arizona Diamondbacks Manager Bob Brenly.

Smith led the Detroit Tigers to the World Series title and by the end of the 1970 season, he never got another managerial job. To Smith’s credit, there were only 20 teams at the time with no divisions. 

Billick led the Ravens to a Super Bowl Championship in 2000. He coached the Ravens from 1999-2007 and had a regular season record of 80-64 with a .556 winning percentage, plus a 5-3 mark in the playoffs leading to an 85-67 mark. 

He is in the Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor but never landed another head coaching job. As a result, he took his knowledge as an NFL commentator.

From 2001-2004, Brenly led the Diamondbacks to a 303-262 record and led Arizona to its lone World Series Title by defeating the New York Yankees 4-3.

Like Billick, Brenly never got another opportunity to guide another team. He was in the running for several managerial positions for the 2008 season, and fell short in 2009 when the Milwaukee Brewers elected to hire Ken Macha instead. Brenly would go on to broadcasting, working with the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and TBS Television. He’s also worked at FOX.

Another non-hire that puzzles me is current ESPN/ABC Announcer Mark Jackson.

I once met Jackson at the Palace of Auburn Hills when he played for the Indiana Pacers.

He had an amazing NBA career where he scored 12,489 points, grabbed 4,963 rebounds and amassed 10,334 assists. His playing career spanned from 1987-2004. 

Jackson was hired to coach the Golden State Warriors on June 6, 2011 by new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. 

After inheriting a team that had made the playoffs just once in the previous years, Jackson promised to turn the Warriors into a good defensive team and playoff contender. 

The team struggled to a 23-43 record in his first year during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season as the team suffered several key injuries to key players while adjusting to a new system.

In the 2012-2013 season with a strong performance from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Jackson led the Warriors to a 47-35 record and a No.6 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. It was the first time the Warriors made the playoffs since the 2006-07 season. The Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 4-2 in the first round, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 in the semifinals.

Originally signed under a four-year, $8 Million Contract, Jackson earned two more years guaranteed on his contract in 2013, putting him under contract through 2014-2015. 

The following season, the Warriors improved to 51-31, the team’s first season with 50 or more wins since since 1994-94. They reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992, but lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers 4-3.

On May 6, 2014, Jackson was removed as head coach of the Warriors. The Warriors front office said the team was better than when Jackson inherited the job, but felt it needed a different coach to win an NBA Championship. In retrospect, he did the dirty work for Steve Kerr who subsequently won the teams first title in 40 years.

I was surprised through the years that Jackson didn’t land with his hometown team the New York Knicks, who drafted him in the first round, 18th overall, in the 1987 Draft. The Brooklyn native played his college ball at St. John’s University. He played for the Knicks from 1987-1992. He also played for the Knicks from 2001-2002.

He played on some good Indiana Pacers teams with Reggie Miller from 1994-96 and took them deep into the playoffs.

But like Smith, Billick and Brenly, why Jackson never got another chance to lead his own team remains a mystery. 

But like Billick and Brenly, Jackson has far from disappeared as has a cushy job broadcasting for ESPN/ABC. I enjoy watching him.

There will always be questions in every sport that certain coaches get multiple chances why others don’t even get a sniff.

I’ve always thought that Juwan Howard and Patrick Ewing deserved to be head coaches. They would get jobs but at their respective Alma-Maters, Michigan and Georgetown. 

Many years ago, Mean Joe Greene had mentors like former NFL legends Chuck Noll (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Don Shula (Miami Dolphins), but never got an opportunity to lead his own team. 

Greene, who was a Pittsburgh Steelers icon paid his dues on the field and on the sidelines. It wasn’t meant to be. 

The NFL later implemented the Rooney Rule that requires all teams to interview minority candidates for coaching and front office positions.

During the recent NBA Coaching Cycle, Jason Kidd landed his third head coaching gig after previous stints with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. Former NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups landed his first job with the Portland Trail Blazers.

One name prominently mentioned was San Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach Becky Hammon. She’s been working with Gregg Popovich since 2014. She coached the Spurs Summer League team in 2015. She was the first woman to be a head coach in that league. He name was connected to the Portland, New Orleans and Orlando jobs. None of those have come to fruition.

On December 20, 2020, Hammon became the first female acting coach in NBA History after Popovich was ejected during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

While there is no rhyme or reason to this process and I’m sure there are other examples that I haven’t mentioned because these stood out, there is one prediction that I will make.

I do believe that Hammon will be the next coach of the San Antonio Spurs when Popovich elects to step aside. She knows that organization well and the small market Spurs don’t present an over extensive local media challenge with her despite the fact when she gets hired, she’ll have lots of national requests initially.

As for Smith, Billick, Brenly and Jackson, I’m still puzzled as to why they never got other gigs.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Southfloridatribune@gmail.com and on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can hear his broadcasts by subscribing to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel for free.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

During hockey season, the Florida Panthers were referred to as the Cardiac Cats because they were in a lot of close games and won many of them en route to a Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance.

Going into the season, it’s no secret that the strength of the Miami Marlins has been the pitching staff. When you have hurlers such as Pablo Lopez, Trevor Rogers, Sandy Alcantara anchoring your staff, this tends to keep you in ballgames.

Entering their game on Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays, Miami was sixth in MLB with a 3.38 ERA.

The Marlins record was 31-41 but here are the statistics worth noting.

Of their 41 losses, 16 have been decided by one run and 27 have been decided by two or less.

The last place Marlins are eight games behind the NL East leading New York Mets. Therefore, there is plenty of time to right the ship to make a return visit to the playoffs. The task to get in as a Wild Card is considerably tougher as the Fish are 11 games back of the San Diego Padres (44-32).

Why are the Marlins struggling with close games?

The offense has been very anemic. 

The team is averaging 3.9 runs per-game which is tied for 26th in MLB.

They average 7.7 hits per-game which ranks 17th.

Miami’s batting average stands at .232 which ranks 19th.

Miami’s On base percentage is .301 and ranks 22nd.

Miami’s slugging percentage is .369 and ranks 27th.

The team has 68 homer runs which is 26th. The bulk of these home runs have come from Adam Duvall (16), Jesus Aguilar (12) and Jazz Chisholm (8). 

Duvall leads the team with 52 RBI while Aguilar has 50. Chisholm his third on the team with 27 RBI and he’s played in 51 contests. 

Aguilar leads the team with a .264 batting average.

You’re not going to win games with these numbers especially with the pitching numbers we’ll mention.

The team has allowed 3.7 runs which is tied for 3rd.

Miami 7.4 hits allowed  is tied for 9th.

The opponents batting average is .227 which is 11th.

The team ERA is 6th in MLB at 3.38.

They are 1st in home runs with 55.

Let’s examine Lopez, Rogers and Alcantara. 

Lopez is 3-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 85 innings and 85 strikeouts.

Rogers is 7-4 with a 2.08 ERA in 86.2 innings and 101 strikeouts. 

In the top of the fifth inning of the Marlins 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, June 23, he strike out Teoscar Hernandez for his 100th strikeout of the season. 

He became the fifth Marlins pitcher to strikeout 100 batters in his first 15 games of the season and the first rookie to do so.

Alcantara is 4-6 with a 2.93 ERA in 101.1 innings and has the teams lone complete game with 90 strikeouts.

If you dig deeper into the numbers of Alcantara, Lopez and Rogers, they have a combined 2.64 ERA, 273 Innings Pitched, with 273 strikeouts. Only six times this season have those three allowed more than three earned runs in a start in 46 combined starts.

After the Marlins scored 10+ runs in back to back games in Chicago over the weekend, Miami has now scored just two runs in its last three games going into the opener vs the Washington Nationals on Thursday Night.

There is definitely a lot to digest and we’re only 74 games into the season.

If these numbers continue to spiral in the wrong direction, leave little doubt that the Marlins could be sellers at the July 30, 2021 trade deadline. 

That’s the last thing that Marlins fans want to hear especially when you consider that names such as Starting Marte, Adam Duvall, and Corey Dickerson could be talked about plenty during the next month.

I can’t imagine Manager Don Mattingly and his career average of .307 coming out of retirement rescuing this offense.

To date, after the Marlins 7-3 loss to the Washington Nationals, Miami is now 31-43. 

Chisholm did hit his ninth homer of the season in the loss and increased his RBI total to 27 with his three-run blast.

Sixteen of those losses have been decided by one run and 29 by two runs or less. 

The Marlins have scored five runs in their last four games.

There is no way that I would blame Mattingly for the team’s won, loss record especially since he’s had to deal with injury issues all-season long.

But, The Numbers Don’t Lie and that’s why the Marlins are in their current predicament.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can listen to his broadcasts by subscribing to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel for free.

Great To See Real People!

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There are some stories that the words paint the picture of what things are like.

Then there are others where the photos tell the story.

This will be one of those articles that the photos you’re going to look at will make my job much easier.

The cliche’ that a picture is worth a 1,000 words definitely describes the message I’m conveying.

During the past year, COVID-19 has turned our world upside down. 

The amount of fatalities has clearly changed all of our lives as we were hit with an enemy that we didn’t know. 

For those that had COVID-19, we still don’t know what long term health issues they’ll have to deal with.

COVID-19 prevented me from seeing my Mother during the last year of her life and thankfully, My Wife and I saw her before she passed away a couple days after Thanksgiving.

COVID-19 claimed the most important person in my life when My Aunt Judy, the older sister I never had, died in late January. 

We had to fly to Detroit and attend the funeral I had hoped would be years away!

In the past year, covering sports has been something that I never visualized when I broke into the industry in 1979. 

Communicating with Coaches, Players and Executives through Zoom Calls have been the new norm in an industry that was unthinkable years ago.

My first Zoom experience began with the Miami Marlins then continued with the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Owls and Florida Panthers. 

This doesn’t even count the numerous broadcasts and networking events that took place.

The in person events would eventually come back as I would cover FAU, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Races at Sebring International Raceway, the Florida Panthers and Miami Marlins. 

The Press Boxes would be limited to 30-50% capacity and each member was properly social distanced. 

But with those games came the Pre-Screening COVID-19 Questions and the Temperature Checks, in addition to the memos about wearing a Mask, etc… 

Some places had abbreviated media meals, others didn’t. 

I brought meal replacement shakes and bars so I could keep on my lifestyle calorie count program.

Of the four organizations I mentioned, I have to admit that coming to Marlins games has been the most gratifying since I got to know many of my colleagues through the Zoom Calls. 

Indeed, they’re Real People!

Prior to this week, the last game that I saw occurred was on Thursday, May 27th against the Philadelphia Phillies. I had to go through all the protocols listed on the confirmation that involved the compliance questionnaire, the temperature check, etc… We were allowed to show up three hours prior to game time.

When I returned to loanDepotPark (Marlins Park) on Wednesday, June 9th, things were much different on the confirmation. By this time, I was fully vaccinated but the form said that I could come four hours in advance and there was no compliance questionnaire that had to be filled out. 

There was no temperature check. 

I was allowed field access but we had to be social distanced.

The mask requirement is in place and I still wear mine the majority of the time when I am near people.

When I’m alone and at my desk, I do take it off. There are lots of other colleagues that don’t wear their masks when they’re completely social distanced.

When I was on the field for the first time on Thursday, June 10th, it finally sunk into me that we might be turning the corner with COVID-19. 

The site of players taking batting practice, talking to my colleagues on the field and chatting with players, coaches and Manager Don Mattingly seemed surreal. 

Yes, these are Real People?  

They are the ones that we’ve grown accustomed to talking via Zoom. It was great to shake their hands, give fist bumps and that occasional hug.

Some of the players look smaller in person than they are behind the desk and on camera while others are bigger. 

Yes, once again, they’re Real People!

During the season, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida Panthers fed us and we had to take our meals to our work stations. There would be post-game Zoom Availability.

As for the Marlins, the only food the media could get is either to bring your own or go to the concession stands. 

There was plenty of bottled water and coffee available so we could stay hydrated. 

Once again, I just brought my shakes and meal replacement bar.

Our latest memo said that beginning June 22nd, Media Dining will be available in the Press Box at a cost of $12/person and we are asked to consume the food at our work station. 

Time will tell whether I eat the meals or stay on my program with cost not factoring into this decision. During the latter part of the season when the Panthers offered them complimentary, I stayed on my program.

But when you put things in perspective, this is how far we’ve come.

However, the underlying aspects of COVID-19 is whether we’ll see a full Press Box again and most of all will we be able to interview players at press conferences or in the locker room.

From the Marlins standpoint, Manager, Coach, Player, Personnel and Executive requests in 2021 will take place using Zoom. Additional interview requests come through the Marlins Communications Department.

The pre and post-game Media Availability remains the same as it has the past 12 months.

But we’ve indeed come along way. 

The only questions that will ultimately come into play is whether visiting announcers eventually travel with the teams or stay remote since it could be a cost cutting measure from their respective organizations because announcers have acclimated to the conditions thrust upon them. 

Also, some of these decisions are made with the respective leagues.

I have to admit, that I’ve enjoyed the reduced Press Box capacity because there is more space for me to get work done.

I’ll be anxious to see what the other teams that I cover have in store and whether the masks will ever completely go away.

All I know that it was great being on the field again and something that I wondered during the darkest days of this deadly virus would ever take place.

That’s progress! 

And once again, it’s Great To See Real People!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can see his broadcasts by subscribing to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel for Free.

The Question That Went Viral

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I continue to be mind boggled at how the World Wide Web can get information around and to how many people.

On Friday May 21, 2021, I had the time to go on A Miami Marlins Media Pre-Game Availability Zoom Call. 

I’ve been doing this for nearly a year since I started covering the team last summer.

As always, I wait my turn and in many cases, my question is generally near the end. 

I’m totally fine with that. I usually have a few backup questions because I never know who was going to ask the one I have in mind. 

When I know that I’m going to be able to go on a call, I usually take my normal Meditation Drive up A1A and just chill admiring the drive up the ocean. 

This is one of the best things that I love about living in Florida.

But this day would be no normal Zoom Call.

On Tuesday, May 18, Detroit Tigers pitcher Spencer Turnbull threw a no-hitter vs the Seattle Mariners on the road. This was the eighth no-hitter in Tigers history as Detroit blanked the Mariners 5-0.

On Wednesday, May 19th, Corey Kluber threw the 12th no-hitter in New York Yankees history and the first since 1999. 

The Bronx Bombers shutout the Texas Rangers 2-0 and as a result, this young 2021 season found itself with seven no-hitters.

How surreal. 

A feat which is celebrated had happened seven times within the the first six weeks of the season. 

This was the first time since 1969, when Cincinnati’s Jim Maloney threw one on April 30 and Houston’s Don Wilson on May 1st that this happened on consecutive days.

Because of scheduling conflicts, I wasn’t able to go on the Zoom Call on May 20, 2021, and I actually considered doing it after Turnbull’s no-hitter, but didn’t.

But as I mentioned, on May 21, 2021, I did go on and the beat writers did there normal thing by asking Manager Don Mattingly the daily game oriented questions consisting of the starting lineups and roster changes.

One of the things I enjoy doing is asking Mattingly just simple baseball questions that don’t pertain to the game. I leave that to the regular beat writers and electronic media who cover the team on a daily basis.

I Just ask baseball questions that can range from how he gives advice to hitters, his pitchers, the Marlins travel schedule, etc… and there are times that Mattingly spends a lot of time answering them. I call them the “Thinking Man’s Questions.”

On this call, what seemed like a Simple Baseball Topic, turned out to be “The Question That Went Viral.”

I asked Don to comment on the the seven no-hitters in a short period of time. 

What I’ve learned about Mattingly is he always gives you an honest answer and doesn’t hold anything back. He’s one of the nicest and polite individuals I’ve ever worked with. 

He was also a heckuva player that has a lifetime average of .307. He was an excellent hitter and an outstanding defensive player that won nine gold gloves as a first baseman. 

I do believe he belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

He was the captain of the New York Yankees from 1991-95 prior to Derek Jeter. He’s regarded as one of the best Yankees of All-Time and is honored in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.

He began is managerial career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011 and is now the Marlins skipper. He’s been a manager for 10 years.

The guy know what he’s talking about.

But once again, pertaining to the no-hitters, Mattingly said, that “baseball has become unwatchable at times. Where does this get better? Because it’s great for your team when a guy throws a no-no. It’s great for that guy. It’s a great accomplishment. But when there are so many, so early…it tells you that there are some issues within the game that need to be addressed.

“The issues are going to take a while…We’re at a point where it’s getting so much attention because it’s just a game that sometimes is unwatchable. Guys you don’t talk to don’t even like watching the games because there is nothing going on in them.”

When I heard this quote the next day, I told my wife Candy that I asked Mattingly this question.

On the next Homestand, for the first time, I met one my colleagues Craig Mish of SportsGrid on Wednesday, May 25, 2021, when the Marlins faced the New York Mets. I introduced myself to him and when I mentioned the Mattingly no-hitter comment, he told me that if you listen to the video, it was your voice that asked that question. 

He texted me the comment that he was able to get from the Marlins Communications Department and said you should listen to it. He told me that what I said went viral and at the time, there were 392,000 views on Twitter around the world. At that time, I was truly amazed. It was just a simple baseball question and I didn’t think much about it. 

When I went on google, I couldn’t believe that my question was on every platform imaginable and so many people heard my voice.

I’m thrilled that Craig was smart enough to get the clip from the Marlins and was able to use it to his benefit. 

We talked a lot that night and he was giving me pointers about Social Media and how powerful it can be. 

It was great to meet yet another colleague from Zoom in person and I value Craig as a very good friend that I look forward to spending time with him down the line.

I do have the clip on my phone and I have to admit that I’m proud of it!

I’ve always had a great relationship with the Marlins Communications Department and enjoy coming to the games and covering this team. 

I’ve had a lot of great memories through the years covering them at Joe Robbie Stadium and now loanDepotpark (Marlins Park).

Since I started doing these Zoom Calls, Jason Latimer, Vice President, Communications & Broadcasting has always been great to me when I want to get my questions in. 

In fact, Mish asked Latimer who asked the no-hitters question and Latimer said it was me. 

I met Jason on LinkedIn and we hit it off great. 

That’s what got the ball rolling with me covering the Marlins. 

Jason told me that I can cover as many games as I want.

His Assistant Director of Communications Jon Erik Alvarez and Coordinator of Media Relations are also incredible to work with. 

But when I look back at this experience, it can be described in many ways.

It was educational, humbling, mind boggling because I am just amazed at how technology seizes to amaze me in many ways.

Yet, when I go on these calls, I’m not going to change my approach. 

I’m going to ask that hard baseball question and will make Mattingly think. 

He’s a baseball lifer and I know he’ll put a lot of thought into it so as a result, all of us in the media will benefit as well as the fans.

The one thing I won’t do is go on a post-game Media Availability Call and question him on what decisions he’s made in the game. 

If I ever second guess any manager, it won’t be until the Pregame Media Availability Call when the manager has had time to think about the previous night and watch video.

I’m not in the business of second guessing! 

I’m a Sports Media Journalist/Broadcaster, not a Manager or Coach!

At this point, I couldn’t think of two better people in my life than Mattingly and Latimer. 

They’re both class acts.

If I did anything to Latimer, I caught his attention on “The Question That Went Viral” and it’s safe to say as he’s seen for about a year that I know what I’m talking about.

But I do look forward to the day that I can interview the newsmakers in person because that’s what this business is really all about.

I’m totally fine with that because at 58, I’m too old to think that I’ll ever get the mega job with a major media outlet. Working for myself suits me just fine.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can find his broadcasts on The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and subscribe for free.

Panthers Title Hopes End In Tampa, Look Ahead To 2021-22

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

The Florida Panthers are coming back home.

Unfortunately, it will be without the Tampa Bay Lightning as the Cats were eliminated Wednesday Night in Tampa falling 4-0 in Game 6 of their playoff series. 

The defending Stanley Cup Champions once again scored early and the Panthers found themselves chasing their Sunshine State I-75 Rivals.

What led to the Panthers downfall at Amalie Arena?

They couldn’t solve Tampa Bay Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 29 shots and wrapped up a series with a Game 6 shutout for the second straight time. 

Vasilevskiy also shut out the Dallas Stars last year to win the Stanley Cup. 

He was named the game’s No.1 Star.

The Lightning grabbed the early lead when Tyler Johnson raced past Anton Stralman to negate an icing call, picked up the puck behind the net to feed a backhand pass in front. After the puck initially bounced, Pat Maroon was able to get a whack at in the air to backhand it past Panthers rookie goaltender Spencer Knight at 6:16 of the first period, giving Tampa a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Florida’s Sam Bennett took an undisciplined penalty at 12:53 by putting Lightning defenseman David Savard in a headlock and then ripped his helmet off. 

The roughing penalty led to Tampa Bay’s second power play chance of the game and second goal. Nikita Kucherov fed the puck up high to Victor Hedman who one-touched a pass over to Steven Stamkos at the left circle for a one-timer at 13:27 of the second period giving the Lightning a 2-0 lead.

With the exception of Game 5, the team that scored first proceeded to win the game.

Braydon Point put the game away at 14:36 of the third period dancing around MacKenzie Weegar down low and drawing Knight to the ice before tucking the puck around the goaltenders left pad. 

Tampa Bay added an empty net goal from Alex Killarney with 1:42 left in the game to make the score 4-0.

Knight finished the game with 20 saves facing a team that has now advanced to the second round for the fifth time in the past seven years, showing they know what it takes to win and advance in the postseason, improving to 9-0 in the next game following a playoff loss dating back to last season.

During the series, the Lightning scored a franchise record 24 goals against Florida which utilized three goaltenders. 

The Panthers didn’t have an answer for Kucherov, who set a franchise record with 11 points in the series, beating his old mark of 10 against New Jersey in the opening round of the 2018 playoffs. 

Kucherov and Victor Hedman both finished the series with eight assists to tie the franchise playoff record for the most assists in a postseason series. The mark was originally set by Kucherov against the New York Islanders in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals.

When you look at the overall series, 13 different Panthers recorded multiple points over the six-game matchup, including two rookies: Owen Tippett, and Mason Marchment, and four defenseman: Weegar, Radko Gudas, Gustav Forsling and Keith Yandle.

Gudas led Florida with 39 hits over the series.

Jonathan Huberdeau led the Panthers with 10 points (2-8-10) over the six-game series, setting a franchise record for most assists and points in a playoff series.

With his win in Game 5, Knight became the youngest goaltender in franchise history to record a playoff win and the youngest goaltender in NHL history to win a playoff game when facing elimination.

The Panthers 2020-21 regular season was the best regular season in franchise history in terms of points percentage (37-14-5, .705).

These are the building blocks that the team has to look towards the future.

But before the game, the team knew it had to play a helluva 60 minutes against a battle tested champion. They simply fell short on Wednesday Night.

This game wasn’t about noise level in Tampa or Knight not being able to masterfully repeat the spectacular performance he had on Monday Night at the BB&T Center.

The Panthers simply ran into a hungry buzz saw in the Tampa Bay Lightning despite outshooting their opponent 29-24.

This was a physical series that saw 42 power plays by both teams.

When the game was over, Panthers held their heads up and took some time to reflect on the season as well as their 4-2 series defeat.

Coach Joel Quenneville said his team learned some valuable lessons about the playoffs.

“We learned how hard it is to win. There’s a lot of good things that happened to our team. I love how we competed in this playoff. The guys laid it out there and we had a chance. 

“I thought all year long we were pretty consistent in being involved and getting points every night, playing hard night in and night out. Our depth, we pushed one another in a productive way.

“We go home in the summer here, you look at it. There’s a lot of positives, but you’re always looking to get better. You can’t be satisfied with the improvement that we did have this year, which was significant. That’s the rate we want to get better at.”

The coach did say that he’s excited about Spencer Knight.

“Those regular season games he played, it’s a tremendous start to your career, great exposure to the best players in the game, great shooters. Goalies are like an acquired art, learn from your experiences, different shooters, you can anticipate a bit more, predict where the shot is going a little bit more. He’s a student of the game. It’s going to be beneficial over time.”

Huberdeau said the series could have gone either way.

“We were down 2-0 early, that could have went the other way. We’re disappointed but you play hockey to win. Our crowd, I loved the atmosphere at home and we wanted to come back for Game 7. This year was the most fun I’ve had. We had a good group, it just didn’t go our way in the first (period).

“We had a good team this year, and in the first round we played a really good team. We got beat but we played well, we had our chances. Organization wise, it was good to see that, good to see the fans and get back into a winning culture. That’s what we wanted. This year was a great season. I think next year we come back with a better attitude and we can be a great team.”

Barkov said he was extremely proud of his teammates.

“We had a hell of a regular season and in the playoffs we played good hockey. We tried our best but credit Tampa too.

“This year felt way different. It was like a new start for me and everyone in this organization. That’s how we felt and that’s how we played like a fresh team, fresh organization. We had a lot of fun and it sucks that it ended this way.”

Spencer Knight figures to gain a lot by all of this. 

Chris Driedger will become an unrestricted free agent and figures to earn more money on the open market and become a starter. 

Knight probably learned plenty from Driedger while he was here as well as Sergei Bobrovsky, who is under contract and figures to return next season.

The 20-year-old goaltender described what things have been like since joining the team a few months ago and what he learned.

“It was good to get a taste of what playoffs are like. For me coming in, I was just trying to help the team win. That was my priority and to have fun while I was doing it. In a couple weeks, after I decompress. I’ll look back at it from a different point of view, but for now, it’s tough to lose. I don’t like losing hockey games, but when it ends your season, it’s tough. But overall, coming in was great, great group.

“I think when I came in, everyone in the room, all my teammates, the coaches, staff members, everyone around the rink welcomed me with open arms. It was really helpful, made me more comfortable right away. That allowed me to transition to doing what I like to do, and that’s play hockey.”

During the regular season, Florida had a 5-2-1 record against the Lightning and secured home ice advantage in the first round. 

They found out quickly that the playoffs were a different animal as the Lightning had a lot of players return from injuries, namely Kucherov.

Now Florida is going home for the rest of the summer.

Like every team that departs the playoffs, the lessons are hard and player turnover is inevitable.

We can’t tell you at the moment who will stay and who will go. 

Nor at this time are we going to get into that discussion.

What I can tell you is that the teams will play an 82-game regular season in 2021-2022 and won’t see each opponent in their division eight times as we did this year. 

The Seattle Kraken join the NHL and there is an expansion draft to deal with. This will be a 32 team league.

More importantly, Florida’s travel next year will be demanding when you figure they’ll be changing time zones as they start playing teams on the West Coast and travel to Canada.

It will be interesting to see how these players grow as a unit over the course of a long grueling season as the NHL treads towards the past Covid-19 Era. 

The season figures to be a marathon.

Also, as members of the media, it remains to be seen whether Zoom continues to be the norm to communicate with players, coaches, etc... or will there be direct access at practice and locker room access.

I’ll be curious to see how all of this plays out and here at the South Florida Tribune, we’ll keep you posted about the off-season developments.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can see his broadcasts on The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and subscribe for free.

A Knight To Remember

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

The Florida Panthers did a couple things they haven’t accomplished much all series vs The Tampa Bay Lightning.

First, for only the second time in five games, they didn’t have to resort to making a goaltending change. There is no doubt that Chris Driedger and Sergei Bobrovsky have struggled all-series. 

They gave up a combined 19 goals in the first four games.

Second, the Panthers held Tampa Bay to just one goal.

After the Panthers 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon that saw them fall behind 3-1 in their Central Division NHL Playoff Series, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there could be a drastic change in goal.

All weekend long, Coach Joel Quenneville was dropping hints of going with rookie Spencer Knight considering the urgency of a win or go home situation.

After the Monday morning skate, Brandon Montour and Frank Vatrano were eager to play in front of the 20-year old goaltender. 

There was the enthusiasm in playing in front of a loud, energetic crowd where the team would be allowed 75% capacity.

Yes, the cliche one game at a time was commonly used by all involved during the past few media availability’s with the series being far from over.

Would Knight live up to the hype Monday Night?

YES!

It took the Lightning all of 53 seconds to get on the board scoring on the first shot Knight saw. 

Blake Coleman got past Florida’s Keith Yandle and a sprawling Jonathan Huberdeau along the right-wing boards, then waited for Knight to slide in his direction and then, tapped the puck back into the slot. Colton had nothing but net to shoot at and just like that, Tampa Bay led 1-0.

During this period, the Panthers were doing something that Coach Joel Quenneville didn’t want his team to do and that’s chasing. But they got away with it trailing by just a goal at the intermission.

After that goal, the Lightning never saw the scoreboard again as Knight stopped 36 shots to lead the Panthers to a 4-1 win. 

The triumph enabled Florida to close the series gap to 3-2 and force a sixth game Wednesday Night at 8 PM in Tampa.

Prior to Monday Night’s game, the team that scored first won all the games.

Knight is the youngest goaltender to ever start and win an elimination game. 

Prior to that, the youngest was Tom Barrasso in 1985, who played for the Buffalo Sabres.

Here are some other amazing facts about Knight.

1. He is the sixth-youngest goalie at the time of his first career start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is the fifth-youngest goalie to win a playoff game, and the second-youngest goaltender to record a win in their playoff debut (Don Beaupre, 19 years, 202 days).

2. Knight is the first goalie to play in the IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, NCAA Tournament and the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the same season. He is undefeated in his five NHL starts.

3. Knight is the youngest goalie to record at least 36 saves in their playoff debut. His 36 saves are the fourth-most by a goalie making their playoff debut before their 21st birthday.

4. He is the youngest Panthers goaltender (20 years, 35 days) to start a playoff game in club history, the youngest goalie in NHL History to win a game in his post-season debut while facing elimination.

5. Knight is believed to be the seventh-youngest goaltender to appear in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Harry Lumley was 18 in his first post-season game and Barrasso, Bill Ranford, Grant Fuhr, Beaupre and Martin Brodeur all made their debuts at 19-years old.

Of this group, Lumley, Barrasso, Ranford, Fuhr, and Brodeur went on to win Stanley Cup Championships while Beaupre reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

Talk about high expectations for young goaltenders that went on to have outstanding careers, these goaltenders had them.

After Colton scored his goal, the Panthers out scored Tampa Bay 2-0 in the second and third periods. Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots in the loss.

In the second period, MacKenzie Weegar and Mason Marchment scored. Weegar had an assist on Marchment’s goal.

In the third, Patric Hornqvist and Frank Vatrano lit the lamp. Vatrano had an empty net goal with an assist from Hornqvist.

Aleksander Barkov had a two point night while Sam Bennett had one.

When you talk about pouncing on a young goaltender, the Lightning did just that against Knight in the first period as Tampa Bay’s 22 shots represented the most in a frame by the Panthers in either the regular season or postseason this year.

Coach Quenneville’s logic for starting Knight was simple. 

“I think his whole career coming up to joining us this year gave you every indication that he’s capable of doing it. Now it’s an opportunity. When he did play for us off the bat, his composure gave you an indication that he’s capable of handling any kind of situation.

“We have nothing to lose and we’re going to have fun with it. We all know what’s going on, we had to do it. Spencer has a fun confidence, is composed in a lot of ways, has a balanced approach to the game. Nothing bothers him, he welcomes challenges and handles them. Spencer put on a clinic and the goalie won the game. I don’t have to say anymore.”

Weegar scored his first career playoff goal and added an assist (1-1-2). He is the third Panthers defenseman to record multiple points in a game this series joining Gustav Forsling and Radko Gudas. He appreciated the guy that he helped defend.

“Spencer Knight was a rock back there. We were excited to play in front of him. He’s got that calm demeanor to him. I think he just went out there and had fun, and enjoyed the crowd. He brought momentum to our team and hopefully we can keep this going with him there.”

Barkov said home ice advantage on Monday Night fueled the team, and wasted no time praising the paying customers.

“The crowd felt like at least 24,000. It was awesome, our fans are the best. It was so much fun to play. We’re excited and we want to keep this thing going. We want to play in front of them all the time. So let’s keep doing this.”

But the man in net is what made the difference and Barkov gave credit where it was due.

“Spencer Knight was huge. We were excited for him to get in our net. We trust him. He’s confident and calm in the net. He has a lot of fun there. We enjoy that. We enjoy playing in front of him. He was really great today. He won the game for us.”

There is no doubt that Knight wasn’t phased by anything. 

CNBC’s Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher were singing his praises all night on national television. 

They continued pointing to the struggles of Bobrovsky and Driedger and there was no second guessing the idea of Florida using its third goaltender in the series. 

Knight said he found out on Sunday that he would get the nod to start this elimination game.

There were a lot of things that he said which impressed the heck out of me.

After giving up the first goal, he said, “Once one went in you just kind of reset and go, Well this is how it’s going to go. You can’t do anything to change it. Let’s play now. That’s how it was.”

How did Knight approach this game?

“I approached it like I did every other game, like I did my first game and second game here. I was a little bit nervous but I just remembered that I was playing hockey, just try to control what I can and have fun.”

Was he concerned about the team being down 1-0 and the Lightning doing everything in their power to end the series on the road.?

“I’m not thinking much about the score, what I’ve given up, that’s coming at me. I just kind of react and remember that I am playing hockey, regardless of whether it’s practice, regular season games, or playoff games. To me, it’s all just hockey and I approach it the same, and have fun. Don’t think about the result, detach from it, and have fun in the moment.”

Of all the things Knight said, this is what impressed me the most!

“Honestly, when the game was over, it was pretty cool. To me, I have the same satisfaction of winning a playoff game as a regular season game. It’s not about what moment you’re in. It’s about the accomplishment you had as a team.”

To think that this is a 20-year old talking. 

We can all learn from this!

On Monday Night on the big stage, the fans at the BB&T Center had a chance to see first hand how their goaltender of the future would perform in a do or die situation.

The Panthers emerged victorious to live to see another night.

If you thought the Lightning came out swarming on Monday Night, Knight will have to be at his best but this time on enemy territory as he hopes to lead the Panthers to a seventh game on Friday Night back in Sunrise, FL.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 4-6 all-time when facing elimination, including the one win it got to stave it off temporarily in last season’s play in round against the New York Islanders.

Tampa Bay is now 18-12 when it has a chance to close out a series.

When you think of the goaltenders that I mentioned earlier in this story, Knight is off to an unbelievable start.

But on Monday Night, the Panthers fans will view the game as “A Knight To Remember.”

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can listen to his broadcasts on The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and subscribe for free. 

Panthers Looking To Rebound At Home Monday Night

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

There is one good thing that happened on Saturday for the Florida Panthers as they were in Tampa to face the Lightning for game four of the NHL Playoffs. 

Their game started at 12:30 PM.

Going into the contest, Florida was feeling pretty positive coming off a 6-5 OT win on Thursday Night to close their series deficit to 2-1.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky came in relief of Chris  Driedger in the third period. 

Driedger gave up five goals and Bobrovsky shutdown the Lightning by stopping all nine shots he faced to earn the win. Bobrovsky improved his all-time playoff record to 3-0 against the Lightning in Tampa dating back to when he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Coach  Joel Quenneville made the logical choice and decided to go with Bobrovsky on Saturday against an angry team that felt it let Thursday’s game get away after leading 5-3 at the end of the second period.

Would Bobrovsky pickup where he left off on Thursday?

No.

The Lightning roughed up Bobrovsky by taking 14 shots with five going in and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. He would be replaced by Driedger. 

Tampa Bay cruised to a 6-2 win and now holds a 3-1 lead in the series. 

Driedger stopped 11 of 12 shots he faced for a .917 save percentage.

Nikita  Kucherov led the Lightning with four points, one goal and three assists.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy faced 41 Florida shots and stopped 39 for a 95% save percentage.

But as we’ve seen all series, Florida continues to hurt itself committing costly penalties and allowed two Lightning power play goals. 

Florida had 13 penalties for 50 minutes while Tampa Bay had 13 penalties for 42 minutes. The Panthers two goals came on power plays. The Panthers out-hit the Lightning 37-33.

After the game, the Panthers weren’t going to dwell on the outcome even though they know they find themselves in a huge hole.

Coach Joel Quenneville said, “the outcome wasn’t what we looked for. We had the perfect start and then we started chasing the game. We’re working, we were doing a lot of good things.”

Sam Bennett added, “You’ve just go to move on. It’s a quick turnaround. We’ve got a chance to play on home ice and win on home ice. That’s all we can do.”

The captain Alexander Barkov said, “We’re going back home, just forget about this one. We’ve got to find a way to eliminate those chances. Go home, play in front of our own fans, get excited and play the right way for 60 minutes.”

Anton Stralman is eager to return to the BB&T Center for the Monday Night contest at 8 PM.

“We want to go home and play our best game in front of our fans, give them something to cheer for. This series is not over obviously.”

When the Panthers return home, they’ll be allowing nearly 75% capacity so you can rest assure the crowd will be lively.

The Panthers have history working against them.

The Lightning have never lost a series in which they won the first two games.

Tampa Bay is 11-3 after holding a 2-1 advantage.

The Panthers have never rallied to win a series after dropping the first two games.

Florida will have to win three straight against the defending Stanley Cup Champions to end the franchise’s 25-year drought without a playoff series win.

In three of the four games, Florida has allowed five goals and thus there were some goaltending questions which came up following Sunday’s morning skate.

Coach Quenneville didn’t commit about who would be between the pipes Monday Night and rookie goaltender Spencer Knight’s name was brought up.

“He gives us an option and is something to consider. He’s an option that we like and has been on big stages before.”

Quenneville said the key to defeat Tampa Bay is don’t get baited into taking unnecessary penalties and “we have to show more discipline and that’s been a factor in all games. We have to be smart and have to win every shift. We can’t show frustration.”

Noel Acciari said the team has to show controlled aggression.

“We have to play between the whistles, be more disciplined because the referees are looking for that (calling penalties). We have to come together and have a strong 60 minutes. We have to leave it all out there. We’re not out of this and not going out without a fight.”

MacKenzie Weegar said the early game allowed the team to, “have a nice dinner together and get things off our chest. We have a great leadership group so we have to give it our all and have a couple days to regroup.”

As far as the team’s performance on the penalty killing unit, “we have to be better. We need more desperation, grit, passion, pride and we’re giving them (Tampa Bay) too much respect. We need to bare down and control what we can do.”

Weegar is impressed with what he’s seen with Knight so far.

“He’s a pro at a young age, has his routine down, so elite and plays on a high level. We can trust him and he’s a great goalie. He’s a great guy, has a bright future ahead of him and I can’t wait to play in front of him.”

Regardless of plays in goal, Florida will face a team that knows how to win in the playoffs and they’ve done a great job getting under the Panthers skin causing the Cats to take unnecessary penalties.

As I’ve mentioned, Tampa Bay knows how to close out an opponent and having won the first two games in the playoffs at BB&T will give them more confidence to wrap this series up on Monday Night. 

A win for Tampa Bay will only give their team more time to rest as it prepares for its next opponent.

On Sunday, the Nashville Predators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in two overtime’s and that series is tied at 2-2. It will go no less than six games.

Meanwhile, while Florida knows it has to take things one game at a time, and if the Panthers can somehow extend this series to seven games, two of those will be on home ice.

But first things first.

Don’t self destruct with penalties, play an entire 60 minutes or possibly more and the goaltending has to be stellar. 

The least amount of goals Florida has allowed is three when the Panthers lost a 3-1 decision.

As Coach Quenneville has been saying, the team can’t be chasing and always be playing from behind.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can hear his broadcasts by subscribing to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel for free.