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The Florida Panthers do not have many new additions to their team this coming season, but they do have three who are expected to be with the team come Opening Night on Oct. 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The three new players — defenseman Jeff Petry, goalie Daniil Tarasov, and forward Luke Kunin — will, of course, have new numbers with the Panthers.
As we like to do at FHN whenever new players arrive is to look at the numbers the new players will wear with the Panthers, and compare them to players of the past who have worn that number previously.
So, let’s take a look at which Florida Panthers player wore the number first, and, who wore it best.
Breaking It Down: Ballard is the pick here even though he did not play for the Panthers for much that long. In fairness, neither did anyone else. Ballard came to the Panthers from the Coyotes in 2008 as part of the Olli Jokinen trade made by GM Jacques Martin.
Ballard spent two seasons with the Panthers before being traded to Vancouver in 2010 by Dale Tallon.
Ballard is most famously known in Florida for smacking teammate Tomas Vokoun in the head with his stick in frustration after the Atlanta Thrashers scored a goal during a game at Philips Arena in 2009.
Everything ended up being OK.
In the next game, Ballard steamrolled former Panthers goalie Craig Anderson against the Avalanche.
You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Breaking It Down: Washburn wore No. 40 early on with the Panthers, but also wore two other numbers in his time with the franchise. This is a number without a whole lot of history, with players not lasting very long.
Although Tarasov has not even put on No. 40 for the Panthers, as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup, he will more than likely be the most influential to do so.
Breaking It Down: Vrbata and Wallmark both should lay claim to the ‘best to wear’ the number although both had limited time with the Panthers. McArdle gets the nod here just because he was Florida’s first-round pick in 2005 — the Sidney Crosby draft from the Ottawa Westin ballroom — and certainly at least showed some promise.
Wallmark, one may remember, came to the Panthers in the Vincent Trocheck trade with Carolina then was let go when Bill Zito took over. Zito eventually reacquired Wallmark the following season.
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