2014–15 Florida Panthers season
The 2014–15 Florida Panthers season was the 22nd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 14, 1993. Off-season. On April 29, 2014, General Manager Dale Tallon relieved Interim Head Coach Peter Horachek of his duties, and announced that the Panthers were looking to hire a new head coach with NHL experience prior to June 27, 2014, when the 2014 NHL Entry Draft will be held. Training camp. The Panthers will play in six pre-season exhibition games before the start of the 2014–15 regular season. Memorable events. On March  3, 2015, in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Roberto Luongo suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game; he was replaced by backup Al Montoya. Later in the same game, however, Montoya also suffered an injury. Without another available goaltender (NHL teams seldom have a third goaltender on the roster), Montoya attempted to continue playing with the injury while the team debated their options, reportedly considered between either having forward Derek MacKenzie play the position or calling on a "local" goaltender. Forty-one-year-old Goaltending Coach Rob Tallas subsequently dressed in goaltending gear, registered  with the team's roster and began warming up in the dressing room tunnel in preparation to enter the game as an emergency backup, but before entering the game, however, Luongo was able to return and finish the remainder of the game. Allegedly, Luongo was at the hospital when Montoya was injured and was rushed back to the arena. This marked the second such instance for Tallas being called in as an emergency backup, with the other occurrence happening the previous season and also preventing him from officially entering the game as the original goaltender returned. Had he played, it  would have been his first appearance in an NHL game in 14 years. The incident has reportedly lead the NHL to consider reviewing its rules for "emergency" players and led the Panthers to hold open tryouts for a "fill-in" goaltender. Playoffs. Despite having 91 points, the Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Player stats. Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Panthers. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only. Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record. Transactions. The Panthers  have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season: Draft picks. The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On April 15, 2014, the Panthers won the draft lottery to jump ahead of the Buffalo Sabres and secure the first selection in the draft.