Florida Panthers forging new identity as a contender

When goalie Roberto Luongo waived his no-trade clause to go from the Vancouver Canucks to the Florida Panthers in March 2014, he was angered that people were presuming he was heading south to ease into semi-retirement.

The suggestion was Luongo’s willingness to accept a move to a losing organization, as the Panthers had been for years, meant he had lost his competitive edge.

“That’s not me,” Luongo said. “I’m as competitive as you get. I want to win badly.”

Luongo has proved that by helping transform the Panthers into a team that has everyone in the league buzzing about its potential.

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“The Florida Panthers are a real strong team,” Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “They have (coach) Gerard Gallant’s personality. They come to work, but they have fun. They are hard to play against.”

The Panthers uncorked a 12-game winning streak earlier in the season. They had three players selected to play in the recent All-Star Game. They rank first in the NHL with a 2.23 goals-against average. They are first in the Atlantic Division, holding a six-point lead on the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning.

It’s almost hard to believe this is the same franchise that has missed the playoffs in 13 of the past 14 seasons.

Aaron Ekblad, 20, the team’s best defenseman, was 4 months old the last time the Panthers won a playoff round in 1996.

“I think we have surprised a lot of teams. I think we have surprised a lot of media guys,” said winger Jaromir Jagr, who is tied for the team lead in points.

Impressive play by veterans Jagr and Luongo is just a small part of the story.

The team is 17-1-1 in the last 19 games that Ekblad has been in the lineup. Aleksander Barkov, 20, is developing into an elite No. 1 center. Youngster Vincent Trocheck has turned out to be more important than expected. The leadership of veteran defenseman Willie Mitchell is helping the Panthers find a higher level of consistency.

Even though they don’t have a player among the NHL’s leading scorers, the Panthers are ninth in the NHL in scoring (2.70) and recently generated 25 goals during a five-game winning streak.

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It’s hard to remember that the Panthers opened 5-6-3 before they came together in November.

“We didn’t start well, but nobody panicked,” Jagr said. “There was no panic from the players or management.”

Jagr re-signed with the Panthers this season because he believed in who they are. General manager Dale Tallon used his previous experience in building the Chicago Blackhawks into a championship team to re-energize the Panthers.

“It’s experience in management,” Jagr said. “It’s attitude. I’ve been around the league. When teams start losing, a lot of people start pointing fingers at other people. There is nothing like that in our organization. That’s what I love about it.”

Since coming over in a trade from the New Jersey Devils last season, Jagr has 55 points in 70 games for the Panthers. Since coming from the Canucks, Luongo is 57-39-18 and has one of the NHL’s best save percentages in that time period.

“We have good enough players to compete in every game,” Jagr said.

Gallant says he doesn’t worry whether Jagr will be tired down the stretch run because he has learned that only Jagr knows what he needs in terms of practice, rest and workout time. His training habits are legendary.

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“He is still playing at age 44 and playing well,” Gallant said. “I’m not going to tell him what his body needs.”

One of the axioms of NHL competition is a team needs to lose in the playoffs before it learns how to win. These Panthers haven’t gone through a playoff run together, although Jagr and Mitchell have won Stanley Cups and Luongo helped Canada win an Olympic gold medal.

Plus, historically stingy defensive teams succeed in the postseason. The Blackhawks were the No. 2 defensive team last season when they won the Stanley Cup, and the Los Angeles Kings ranked first when they won in 2014.

“I think not many people believe in us still, but it doesn’t really matter,” Jagr said, “as long as we believe in each other.”

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