One More Pre-Season Note

Well, that's it. The last pre-season game (between two NHL clubs) has been played and now we're counting down to the real deal on Thursday night. But first, since it's Draft Day today, I thought I would cover the last notable players of the pre-season, from the last pre-season game.

Florida took on the Islanders in Miami last night and showed them no mercy. Absolutely none. The Panthers ran over their friends from Long Island, 6-0, with Tomas Vokoun making 29 stops for the shutout. In the game, Jay Bouwmeester had a goal and two assists, Ville Peltonen had three assists and four other players had two points.

In Vokoun's first season with Florida (last year), he managed to rack up 74 points, despite not coming very close to the playoffs. He should be hovering around the same spot this season. Bouwmeester needs to break out offensively, especially if he wants that quality long-term deal in the summer, so watch his production increase. Peltonen, on the other hand, is a bit of an enigma, as he doesn't really have a pattern to his game (that I can see), so don't hold your breath too tightly on him. His three points last night was only against the Islanders.

Well, that does it for the pre-season... bring on the regular season. Drop the puck!