2008–09 Florida Panthers season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	2008–09
Year:	2008
Team:	Florida Panthers
Conferencerank:	9th
Divisionrank:	3rd
Record:	41–30–11
Homerecord:	22–12–7
Roadrecord:	19–18–4
Goalsfor:	234
Goalsagainst:	231
Captain:	Vacant
Attendance:	15,531
Goalsleader:	David Booth (31)
Assistsleader:	Stephen Weiss (47)
Pointsleader:	Stephen Weiss (61)
Plusminusleader:	Stephen Weiss (+19)
Pimleader:	Nick Boynton (91)
Winsleader:	Tomas Vokoun (26)
Gaaleader:	Tomas Vokoun (2.49)

The 2008–09 Florida Panthers season was the 15th season for the franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). The 2008–09 season was also the eighth consecutive season in which the Panthers did not make the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing level on points with the qualifying Montreal Canadiens, but suffering from an inferior head-to-head record (1–3), the decisive tiebreaker.

On June 14, 2008, the Panthers named Peter DeBoer head coach and signed him to a multi-year contract. Former head coach Jacques Martin had resigned from the position but retained his position as general manager.

Preseason

The Florida Panthers played seven preseason exhibition games before the start of the regular season. The team went on a road trip across North America to play six games on six consecutive nights, winning only the first two games. The trip included the first-ever NHL game played on Prince Edward Island, against the New York Islanders. After one final preseason game at home, the Panthers finished the preseason with a 3–2–2 record.

Regular season

Conference standings

Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log

October: 4–5–0 (Home: 3–2–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 10	Florida	4 - 6				18,680	0-1-0	0
2	October 11		2 - 3	Florida	OT	Vokoun	18,401	1-1-0	2
3	October 16		6 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	12,106	1-2-0	2
4	October 18		0 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	16,087	2-2-0	4
5	October 20	Florida	1 - 3			Vokoun	21,273	2-3-0	4
6	October 22	Florida	3 - 1				18,952	3-3-0	6
7	October 24		3 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	15,232	4-3-0	8
8	October 25	Florida	0 - 4			Anderson	19,150	4-4-0	8
9	October 30		2 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	13,567	4-5-0	8

November: 5–6–3 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 3–5–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
10	November 1	Florida	2 - 3		SO	Anderson	14,909	4-5-1	9
11	November 2	Florida	3 - 5			Vokoun	10,584	4-6-1	9
12	November 6	Florida	2 - 3			Vokoun	11,267	4-7-1	9
13	November 8	Florida	1 - 4			Vokoun	14,807	4-8-1	9
14	November 9	Florida	3 - 1			Anderson	16,951	5-8-1	11
15	November 12		0 - 4	Florida		Anderson	12,104	6-8-1	13
16	November 14		3 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	18,637	6-9-1	13
17	November 18	Florida	4 - 3		SO	Vokoun	16,176	7-9-1	15
18	November 20	Florida	1 - 3			Vokoun	14,291	7-10-1	15
19	November 21	Florida	2 - 4			Vokoun	16,878	7-11-1	15
20	November 24		2 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	11,117	8-11-1	17
21	November 26		3 - 2	Florida	OT	Anderson	14,932	8-11-2	18
22	November 28		4 - 3	Florida	SO	Anderson	18,106	8-11-3	19
23	November 30	Florida	4 - 0			Anderson	18,200	9-11-3	21

December: 7–5–2 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 4–3–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
24	December 2	Florida	5 - 3			Anderson	16,792	10-11-3	23
25	December 4		1 - 2	Florida		Anderson	13,123	11-11-3	25
26	December 6		4 - 0	Florida		Anderson	16,213	11-12-3	25
27	December 8	Florida	4 - 3		OT	Anderson	17,947	12-12-3	27
28	December 11	Florida	2 - 0			Anderson	16,839	13-12-3	29
29	December 12	Florida	3 - 2		SO	Vokoun	19,289	14-12-3	31
30	December 14	Florida	3 - 5			Anderson	18,630	14-13-3	31
31	December 18	Florida	1 - 2		OT	Vokoun	14,533	14-13-4	32
32	December 21		0 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	16,132	15-13-4	34
33	December 23		0 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	14,703	16-13-4	36
34	December 26		4 - 3	Florida	SO	Vokoun	16,961	16-13-5	37
35	December 27	Florida	4 - 6			Vokoun	18,226	16-14-5	37
36	December 29		5 - 2	Florida		Anderson	20,741	16-15-5	37
37	December 31	Florida	2 - 4			Vokoun	12,211	16-16-5	37

January: 7–2–3 (Home: 4–1–2 ; Road: 3–1–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
38	January 3	Florida	6 - 1			Anderson	17,042	17-16-5	39
39	January 4	Florida	5 - 6		SO	Anderson	21,273	17-16-6	40
40	January 6	Florida	4 - 2			Vokoun	19,197	18-16-6	42
41	January 8		2 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	10,323	19-16-6	44
42	January 10		4 - 8	Florida		Vokoun	14,323	20-16-6	46
43	January 16		3 - 2	Florida	SO	Vokoun	17,827	20-16-7	47
44	January 17	Florida	4 - 3			Vokoun	17,217	21-16-7	49
45	January 19		3 - 2	Florida	SO	Vokoun	12,480	21-16-8	50
46	January 21		4 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	11,200	21-17-8	50
47	January 27		2 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	13,904	22-17-8	52
48	January 29		1 - 5	Florida		Vokoun	16,334	23-17-8	54
49	January 31	Florida	1 - 3			Vokoun	13,336	23-18-8	54

February: 8–5–0 (Home: 5–2–0 ; Road: 3–3–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
50	February 3	Florida	4 - 3		OT	Anderson	19,095	24-18-8	56
51	February 5		2 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	14,206	25-18-8	58
52	February 7	Florida	1 - 3			Vokoun	18,277	25-19-8	58
53	February 10		4 - 5	Florida	OT	Vokoun	13,764	26-19-8	60
54	February 12	Florida	5 - 0			Vokoun	18,680	27-19-8	62
55	February 13		1 - 2	Florida	SO	Vokoun	17,042	28-19-8	64
56	February 15		4 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	17,279	28-20-8	64
57	February 17		0 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	14,514	29-20-8	66
58	February 19		4 - 0	Florida		Vokoun	16,133	29-21-8	66
59	February 21		0 - 2	Florida		Vokoun	19,343	30-21-8	68
60	February 24	Florida	1 - 6			Anderson	16,781	30-22-8	68
61	February 26	Florida	2 - 1			Anderson	18,200	31-22-8	70
62	February 28	Florida	2 - 7			Anderson	16,256	31-23-8	70

March: 7–5–3 (Home: 3–3–2 ; Road: 4–2–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
63	March 1	Florida	6 - 2			Anderson	18,277	32-23-8	72
64	March 3	Florida	4 - 3			Vokoun	10,329	33-23-8	74
65	March 5		4 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	18,933	33-24-8	74
66	March 7		3 - 5	Florida		Vokoun	17,591	34-24-8	76
67	March 10	Florida	3 - 4		SO	Vokoun	17,132	34-24-9	77
68	March 12	Florida	1 - 3			Vokoun	18,690	34-25-9	77
69	March 14		4 - 3	Florida	SO	Vokoun	17,734	34-25-10	78
70	March 17		3 - 0	Florida		Vokoun	14,650	34-26-10	78
71	March 19		1 - 3	Florida		Vokoun	15,467	35-26-10	80
72	March 21		3 - 1	Florida		Vokoun	17,032	35-27-10	80
73	March 23		3 - 2	Florida	OT	Vokoun	14,304	35-27-11	81
74	March 25	Florida	3 - 5			Vokoun	18,690	35-28-11	81
75	March 26	Florida	4 - 2			Anderson	19,631	36-28-11	83
76	March 28	Florida	6 - 3			Anderson	18,532	37-28-11	85
77	March 31		2 - 5	Florida		Anderson	15,247	38-28-11	87

April: 3–2–0 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
78	April 3		3 - 1	Florida		Anderson	15,945	38-29-11	87
79	April 5		2 - 4	Florida		Vokoun	18,232	39-29-11	89
80	April 7	Florida	1 - 2			Vokoun	19,637	39-30-11	89
81	April 9	Florida	3 - 2			Vokoun	15,738	40-30-11	91
82	April 11		4 - 7	Florida		Vokoun	18,527	41-30-11	93

Legend:

Playoffs

The Panthers failed to make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. They last made the playoffs in 2000.

Player statistics

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Panthers. Stats reflect time with Panthers only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Awards and records

Milestones

Player	Milestone	Reached
Regular Season
	1st NHL Game	October 25, 2008
	400th NHL Game	November 2, 2008
	100th NHL Game	November 2, 2008
	500th NHL Game	March 7, 2009

Transactions

Trades

June 20, 2008	To Florida Panthers Nick Boynton Keith Ballard 2nd-round pick in 2008 – Jared Staal	To Phoenix Coyotes Olli Jokinen
September 2, 2008	To Florida Panthers Bryan McCabe 4th round pick in 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Van Ryn
November 27, 2008	To Florida Panthers Nick Tarnasky	To Nashville Predators Wade Belak
March 4, 2009	To Florida Panthers Steve Eminger	To Tampa Bay Lightning Noah Welch 3rd-round pick in 2009 – Andrej Nestrasil

Free agents

Player	New team

Claimed from waivers

Draft picks

Florida's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa • Ontario.

Round		Player	Position	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	31 (from Tampa Bay)		(G)	Brynäs IF (Sweden Jr.)
2	46 (Nashville via Phoenix)		(D)	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	80 (from Colorado)		(D)	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
4	100	AJ Jenks	(LW)	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
7	190		(D)	Lincoln Stars (USHL)

Farm teams

The Florida Panthers maintain affiliations with two minor league teams, the Rochester Americans and the Florida Everblades.