1995–96 Florida Panthers season

The 1995–96 Florida Panthers season was their most successful season ever. In only their third season in the National Hockey League, the Panthers qualified for the playoffs, and won three playoff series to become Eastern Conference champions. In the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals, they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in four games.
==Offseason==
===NHL draft===
Round	Pick	Player 	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1 	10 	Radek Dvorak (RW)	 	HC České Budějovice (Czech)
==Regular season==
===Year of the Rat===
A very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami. On the night of the Panthers' '95–'96 home opener, a rat scurried across the Florida locker room. Mellanby reacted by "one-timing" the rat against the wall, killing it . That night he scored two goals, which 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 a freak coincidence, 1996 was also year of the rat according to Chinese Astrology.
In the 1996 playoffs, as the #4 seed, the Panthers beat the Boston Bruins in 5 games, then upset the top seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six, and then the second seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, swept the Panthers in four games.
===Final standings===
===Game log===
No.	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L	October 7, 1995 	0–4 	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	0–1–0
2 	W	October 8, 1995 	4–3 	Calgary Flames (1995–96) 	1–1–0
3 	W	October 11, 1995 	6–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	2–1–0
4 	W	October 13, 1995 	6–2 	Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 	3–1–0
5 	W	October 15, 1995 	5–3 	New York Islanders (1995–96) 	4–1–0
6 	L	October 17, 1995 	3–6 	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 	4–2–0
7 	W	October 21, 1995 	3–0 	Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	5–2–0
8 	W	October 24, 1995 	6–1 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 	6–2–0
9 	L	October 25, 1995 	2–7 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	6–3–0
10 	W	October 28, 1995 	4–1 	@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 	7–3–0
11 	L	October 31, 1995 	4–5 OT	New York Islanders (1995–96) 	7–4–0
12 	W	November 2, 1995 	2–1 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	8–4–0
13 	W	November 3, 1995 	3–2 	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	9–4–0
14 	W	November 5, 1995 	4–1 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	10–4–0
15 	W	November 7, 1995 	4–2 	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	11–4–0
16 	W	November 9, 1995 	2–1 	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 	12–4–0
17 	W	November 11, 1995	4–1 	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	13–4–0
18 	W	November 14, 1995	5–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 	14–4–0
19 	T	November 16, 1995	2–2 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 	14–4–1
20 	L	November 18, 1995	2–3 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 	14–5–1
21 	W	November 19, 1995	4–3 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	15–5–1
22 	W	November 21, 1995	4–3 	New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	16–5–1
23 	W	November 26, 1995	5–1 	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 	17–5–1
24 	L	November 29, 1995	1–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	17–6–1
25 	L	December 1, 1995 	1–2 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	17–7–1
26 	W	December 2, 1995 	5–3 	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	18–7–1
27 	W	December 5, 1995 	4–3 	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	19–7–1
28 	T	December 7, 1995 	3–3 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 	19–7–2
29 	W	December 9, 1995 	3–1 	Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	20–7–2
30 	W	December 11, 1995	2–1 	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	21–7–2
31 	W	December 12, 1995	3–1 	@ New York Islanders (1995–96) 	22–7–2
32 	L	December 14, 1995	4–6 	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	22–8–2
33 	W	December 16, 1995	7–2 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	23–8–2
34 	W	December 21, 1995	6–1 	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 	24–8–2
35 	W	December 23, 1995	2–1 	New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	25–8–2
36 	L	December 28, 1995	4–5 	Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	25–9–2
37 	L	December 30, 1995	5–6 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	25–10–2
38 	L	January 3, 1996 	2–7 	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 	25–11–2
39 	W	January 5, 1996 	3–2 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 	26–11–2
40 	L	January 6, 1996 	0–2 	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 	26–12–2
41 	W	January 8, 1996 	5–2 	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 	27–12–2
42 	T	January 10, 1996 	4–4 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 	27–12–3
43 	T	January 12, 1996 	6–6 OT	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 	27–12–4
44 	W	January 16, 1996 	4–1 	San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 	28–12–4
45 	T	January 22, 1996 	1–1 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	28–12–5
46 	W	January 23, 1996 	5–4 	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	29–12–5
47 	L	January 25, 1996 	2–6 	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	29–13–5
48 	W	January 27, 1996 	6–3 	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	30–13–5
49 	W	January 29, 1996 	2–1 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	31–13–5
50 	L	January 31, 1996 	1–6 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	31–14–5
51 	T	February 1, 1996 	2–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	31–14–6
52 	W	February 3, 1996 	5–3 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	32–14–6
53 	L	February 6, 1996 	2–4 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 	32–15–6
54 	W	February 8, 1996 	3–1 	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 	33–15–6
55 	T	February 11, 1996	2–2 OT	St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 	33–15–7
56 	L	February 14, 1996	2–4 	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	33–16–7
57 	L	February 16, 1996	4–5 OT	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 	33–17–7
58 	W	February 18, 1996	6–4 	Dallas Stars (1995–96) 	34–17–7
59 	W	February 21, 1996	4–1 	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	35–17–7
60 	L	February 24, 1996	0–4 	New York Rangers (1995–96) 	35–18–7
61 	L	February 25, 1996	1–6 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	35–19–7
62 	T	February 29, 1996	2–2 OT	Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	35–19–8
63 	L	March 2, 1996 	1–7 	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	35–20–8
64 	L	March 5, 1996 	0–2 	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 	35–21–8
65 	L	March 7, 1996 	3–5 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 	35–22–8
66 	L	March 10, 1996 	1–4 	Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	35–23–8
67 	L	March 11, 1996 	4–8 	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 	35–24–8
68 	T	March 13, 1996 	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1995–96) 	35–24–9
69 	W	March 17, 1996 	3–0 	New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	36–24–9
70 	W	March 19, 1996 	5–2 	Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 	37–24–9
71 	W	March 21, 1996 	3–2 	New York Islanders (1995–96) 	38–24–9
72 	L	March 23, 1996 	2–4 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	38–25–9
73 	L	March 27, 1996 	0–3 	@ New York Rangers (1995–96) 	38–26–9
74 	L	March 28, 1996 	2–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	38–27–9
75 	L	March 30, 1996 	1–2 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	38–28–9
76 	W	April 1, 1996 	3–2 	Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	39–28–9
77 	L	April 3, 1996 	2–3 	@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 	39–29–9
78 	L	April 6, 1996 	1–2 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	39–30–9
79 	W	April 8, 1996 	5–3 	@ New York Rangers (1995–96) 	40–30–9
80 	L	April 10, 1996 	1–2 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	40–31–9
81 	T	April 12, 1996 	1–1 OT	@ New York Islanders (1995–96) 	40–31–10
82 	W	April 14, 1996 	5–1 	New York Rangers (1995–96) 	41–31–10
==Player stats==
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	79	32	38	70 	160	4 	19 	0 	3
 	C 	82	26	35	61 	107	1 	11 	0 	6
 	D 	81	8 	49	57 	94 	-3 	7 	0 	0
 	LW 	82	23	28	51 	36 	-10	8 	0 	7
 	C 	72	19	25	44 	46 	-12	8 	0 	5
 	C 	63	17	21	38 	10 	-5 	7 	0 	1
 	RW 	78	20	17	37 	25 	5 	2 	0 	3
 	RW 	82	13	21	34 	75 	-3 	1 	6 	2
 	RW 	73	12	22	34 	57 	13 	0 	3 	2
 	D 	52	6 	28	34 	32 	-9 	3 	0 	0
 	D 	70	8 	22	30 	30 	5 	4 	0 	0
 	RW 	77	13	14	27 	20 	5 	0 	0 	4
 	C 	79	7 	20	27 	129	6 	0 	1 	1
 	LW 	63	10	14	24 	36 	-2 	0 	0 	1
 	LW 	64	7 	16	23 	37 	4 	0 	1 	1
 	D 	70	10	11	21 	137	-3 	2 	0 	2
 	D 	73	3 	10	13 	80 	10 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	27	2 	9 	11 	21 	-1 	2 	0 	1
 	RW 	14	8 	2 	10 	4 	0 	2 	0 	2
 	D 	31	3 	7 	10 	20 	-4 	2 	0 	0
 	D 	78	3 	6 	9 	236	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	12	2 	4 	6 	6 	1 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	1 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	8 	0 	3 	3 	6 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	28	0 	3 	3 	46 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	7 	1 	1 	2 	4 	-3 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	9 	0 	2 	2 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	57	0 	2 	2 	10 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	13	0 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	1 	0 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	34	0 	0 	0 	12 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	LW 	22	10	7 	17 	39 	8 	4 	0 	2
 	RW 	21	8 	8 	16 	4 	4 	3 	0 	0
 	C 	22	6 	10	16 	4 	10 	2 	0 	2
 	RW 	22	5 	5 	10 	18 	6 	0 	1 	1
 	RW 	22	3 	6 	9 	44 	-10	2 	0 	0
 	D 	22	1 	8 	9 	52 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	22	5 	3 	8 	12 	-8 	2 	0 	2
 	RW 	22	4 	4 	8 	34 	3 	0 	0 	2
 	D 	21	2 	6 	8 	62 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	13	2 	6 	8 	14 	3 	1 	0 	1
 	LW 	20	4 	2 	6 	8 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	22	0 	6 	6 	32 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	22	4 	1 	5 	8 	5 	0 	0 	2
 	RW 	14	3 	2 	5 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	13	2 	2 	4 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	16	1 	3 	4 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	21	1 	3 	4 	18 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	22	0 	4 	4 	10 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	14	0 	4 	4 	6 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	22	0 	1 	1 	20 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	21	0 	1 	1 	0 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	1 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Trades==
The Panthers acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks on the trade deadline in 1996.
==Playoffs==
===Stanley Cup Finals===
With their backs to the wall, the Panthers played a defensive game four. This was the Scott Mellanby's first trip to the finals in 9 years. Florida goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck went save for save with Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy. 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.
Colorado vs. Florida 	Colorado vs. Florida 	Colorado vs. Florida 	Colorado vs. Florida
Date 	Away 	Home 	
June 4 	Florida 1 	3 Colorado 	
June 6 	Florida 1 	8 Colorado 	
June 8 	Colorado 3 	2 Florida 	
June 10 	Colorado 1 	0 Florida 	3OT
Colorado wins series 4–0and Stanley Cup 	Colorado wins series 4–0and Stanley Cup 	Colorado wins series 4–0and Stanley Cup 	Colorado wins series 4–0and Stanley Cup
Joe Sakic (Colorado)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	Joe Sakic (Colorado)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	Joe Sakic (Colorado)wins Conn Smythe Trophy	Joe Sakic (Colorado)wins Conn Smythe Trophy
==Awards and records==
* Prince of Wales Trophy
* Ed Jovanovski, defense, NHL All-Rookie Team
* Bryan Murray, NHL Executive of the Year
==Game Ads==
95-96NHLExhMarkhamGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Markham
==References==
* Panthers on Hockey Database
* Complete Reference of all things Panther
Florida Panthers season, 1995–96
Florida Panthers season, 1995–96
Category:Florida Panthers seasons