1995–96 Florida Panthers season

Off-season

Head coach Roger Neilson was fired on June 8. Player-development director Doug MacLean was named his replacement on July 24.

Regular season

Year of the Rat

A very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami. On the night of the Panthers' 1995–96 home opener, a rat scurried across the Florida locker room. Panthers winger Scott Mellanby reacted by "one-timing" the rat against the wall, killing it. That night he scored two goals, which goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck quipped was "a rat trick". Two nights later, as the story found its way into the world, a few fans threw rubber rats on the ice in celebration of a goal. The rubber rat count went from 16 for the third home game to over 2,000 during the playoffs. In an amusing coincidence, 1996 was also year of the Rat according to Chinese astrology.

In the 1996 playoffs, as the fourth seed, the Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins in five games, then upset the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six and the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, eliminated the Panthers in four games.

Final standings

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

The fifth-seeded Boston Bruins had one of the best offenses in the Eastern Conference, scoring 282 goals led by Cam Neely (26 goals) and Adam Oates (25 goals, 67 assists). The Panthers won their first-ever playoff game 6-3 before a sold out Miami Arena, and soon built a 3–0 lead despite being outshot by the Bruins on all games. The Bruins stepped up to win Game 4 with a 6-2 blowout before the Boston crowd. Game 5 was tied 3-3 when with 4:57 left, Bill Lindsay scored with a dive through the air goal while being tripped by star defenseman Ray Bourque, giving the Panthers their first-ever playoff series victory. This was the last year in a record 29 consecutive seasons in the playoffs for the Bruins, as they missed the 1997 post-season.

Eastern Conference Semifinals

The Philadelphia Flyers finished atop the Eastern Conference in the regular season with 103 points, led by the high-scoring "Legion of Doom" and the strong goaltending of Garth Snow and Ron Hextall. Philadelphia had just eliminated the other Florida team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in five games after overcoming a 2–1 series deficit.

Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2–0 shutout in Game 1, and it took until midway through Game 2 for the Flyers to get rolling offensively in a narrow 3–2 win. Game 3 saw Flyers veterans Dan Quinn, Dale Hawerchuk, Eric Desjardins and Hextall set the tone in a 3–1 victory. With young defenseman Ed Jovanovski tightly covering Flyers superstar Eric Lindros, the Panthers reversed the tide, defeating the Flyers in overtime in Game 4 and double-overtime in Game 5, in what would turn out to be the last Flyers game at the Spectrum. Lindros promised to win game 6 to return the series to Philadelphia, but the Panthers won with a 4–1 score. Florida became the third team to reach the conference finals in their third season – following fellow expansion team New York Islanders in 1975 and the Quebec Nordiques in 1982.

Eastern Conference Finals

The 2-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins were energized by the return of Mario Lemieux, who missed the entire 1994–95 season due to injury, and had the league's best offense, scoring 362 goals, and the most wins in the Eastern conference with 49, finishing just one point behind the Flyers. The Penguins advanced to the third round for the first time since 1992, defeating the Washington Capitals in six games and the New York Rangers in five games.

Despite being outshot 33–25 in game one the Panthers came out on top with an impressive 5–1 win, with 32 saves by Vanbiesbrouck and two goals by forward Tom Fitzgerald. The Penguins wanting to avoid going down two games to none against the Panthers came out with a better effort in game two and won the game 3–2 and evened the series at one game each. In game three the Panthers fired an incredible 61 shots on Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso and it paid off as the Panthers won 5–2 – two goals by Stu Barnes – to take a 2–1 series lead. The Penguins tied game four on Brad Lauer's goal with 11:03 remaining in regulation, and Bryan Smolinski scored with 3:31 to go to give the Penguins a 2–1 lead, tying the series. In game five the Penguins shut out the Panthers 3–0, with Barrasso stopping 28 shots.

Leading the series three games to two Pittsburgh looked to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in game six. The Penguins led 2–1 in the second period but the Panthers scored three of the next four goals and edged the Penguins 4–3 to tie the series at 3–3. In game seven Florida got a 1–0 lead on Mike Hough's goal at 13:13 of the first period. After a scoreless second period Pittsburgh tied the game on Petr Nedvěd's power-play goal at 1:23 of the third period. The Panthers regained the lead on Tom Fitzgerald's bizarre 58-foot slapshot at 6:18 and got an insurance goal from Johan Garpenlov at 17:23. Florida hung on to win the game 3–1, with a total of 39 saves by Vanbiesbrouck, and closed the series four games to three.

By reaching the finals in only their third season, the Panthers became the fastest expansion team to do so since the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals in their first three seasons. Many Panthers players were managing their first trips to the finals after long careers, such as Vanbiesbrouck (13 years).

Stanley Cup Final

In the first Stanley Cup Final where neither team had ever reached the decision before, the Panthers faced the Colorado Avalanche, who were in their inaugural season after relocating from Quebec City. Led by captain Joe Sakic, forward Peter Forsberg and defenceman Adam Foote, the Avalanche got even stronger once goaltender Patrick Roy joined the team in December 1995. The Avalanche finished the season with a 47–25–10 record for 104 points, won the Pacific Division and finished second in the Western Conference. On their way to the Western title, the Avs beat the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Blackhawks and Presidents' Trophy winners Detroit Red Wings, all in six games.

The series started in Denver, and the Avs dominated the Panthers at the McNichols Sports Arena. On game 1, Vanbiesbrouck shut out Colorado for half the game, before three goals were scored in a stretch of 3:49 minutes in the second period, leading to a 3–1 victory. The following game was an 8–1 blowout, starting with three power play goals in the first period as Florida incurred in bad penalties that forced Vanbiesbrouck to be pulled out in favor of Mark Fitzpatrick. Returning to Miami, Game 3 was closer, with Florida scoring twice in the first period. But the Avs still came through, taking over the lead with a Joe Sakic goal early in the second period and holding on to a 3–2 victory.

With their backs to the wall, the Panthers played a defensive game four. Vanbiesbrouck and Roy stood out, combining for 118 saves, and the two teams played a marathon game that took until the third overtime period. Uwe Krupp's unassisted goal at 4:31 ended 44 minutes and 31 seconds of overtime and gave the Avalanche a 1–0 win and a four-games-to-none series win. Goaltender Patrick Roy stopped all 63 shots he faced. Colorado outscored Florida 15–4 in the series, and Patrick Roy stopped 147 of 151 shots, for a save percentage of .974. Joe Sakic was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, having led all skaters in goals with 18, and points with 34. For both Patrick Roy and Claude Lemieux, it was their third Stanley Cup win in eleven years.

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1 || October 7, 1995 || 0–4 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) || 0–1–0 || |- |2 || October 8, 1995 || 4–3 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1995–96) || 1–1–0 || |- |3 || October 11, 1995 || 6–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) || 2–1–0 || |- |4 || October 13, 1995 || 6–2 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1995–96) || 3–1–0 || |- |5 || October 15, 1995 || 5–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1995–96) || 4–1–0 || |- |6 || October 17, 1995 || 3–6 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) || 4–2–0 || |- |7 || October 21, 1995 || 3–0 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1995–96) || 5–2–0 || |- |8 || October 24, 1995 || 6–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) || 6–2–0 || |- |9 || October 25, 1995 || 2–7 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) || 6–3–0 || |- |10 || October 28, 1995 || 4–1 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) || 7–3–0 || |- |11 || October 31, 1995 || 4–5 OT || align="left"| New York Islanders (1995–96) || 7–4–0 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 17, 1996 || 6–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins || 14,703 || Vanbiesbrouck || Panthers lead 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 22, 1996 || 6–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins || 14,703 || Vanbiesbrouck || Panthers lead 2–0 || |- | 3 || April 24, 1996 || 4–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins || 14,922 || Vanbiesbrouck || Panthers lead 3–0 || |- | 4 || April 25, 1996 || 2–6 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins || 14,810 || Vanbiesbrouck || Panthers lead 3–1 || |- | 5 || April 27, 1996 || 4–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins || 14,703 || Vanbiesbrouck || Panthers win 4–1 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• • = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.*
• • = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

The Panthers acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks on the trade deadline in 1996.

Draft picks

Florida's draft picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.

Notes

References

References

1. (June 8, 1995). "Panthers fire coach Roger Neilson - UPI Archives".
2. (July 25, 1995). "MacLean hired to increase Panthers' roar".
3. "Florida Panthers FAQ Page".
4. "All things rat".
5. "History: 1996 Playoffs".
6. (25 April 1996). "1996 N.H.L. PLAYOFFS;Panthers Put Bruins TO Wall". The New York Times.
7. "Bruins 6, Panthers 2".
8. (28 April 1996). "N.H.L. PLAYOFFS;Panthers Eliminate Bruins". The New York Times.
9. (8 April 1997). "From Bruins to Ruins : After 30 Years, Another Boston Tradition--Playoff Hockey--Crumbles Beneath Weight of Inept Team".
10. "Inquirer.com: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes".
11. (3 May 1996). "HOCKEY;Vanbiesbrouck Blanks Flyers as Panthers Jump on Top". The New York Times.
12. "DUELING GOALIES: PANTHERS, FLYERS TIE AT 1".
13. "Looking back at the Florida Panthers' 1996 playoff run".
14. "Remembering the Spectrum: Flyers say goodbye after 29 years".
15. Nobles, Charlie. (15 May 1996). "NHL PLAYOFFS;Surprising Panthers Eliminate the Flyers". The New York Times.
16. "Florida Panthers' 1996 rat pack celebration a well-deserved honor {{!}} Miami Herald".
17. Farber, Michael. "WITH BRILLIANT TRADES AND BLENDED TALENT, THE AVALANCHE CAPTURED THE STANLEY CUP, GIVING COLORADO ITS FIRST MAJOR PRO CHAMPIONSHIP".
18. Farber, Michael. "SHOW STOPPERS COLORADO, A DYNASTY IN THE MAKING, SWEPT FLORIDA TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP".
19. "1995-96 Florida Panthers Schedule".
20. "Postseason All-Star Teams".
21. "1996 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
22. "1995-96 NHL Debuts".
23. "1995 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".