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Willie Mitchell Named Captain of Florida Panthers

apadilla

Registered User
Dec 27, 2007
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Huh, could have sworn there was a thread on this but apparently we just talked about it in "around the league."

Couldn't ask for a better choice imo.
 
Good article. I hadn't read that one yet. Mitchie is a great guy and I wish the best for him. :)
 
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Unsurprising; Willie is fantastic.
Wish we could have kept him a little longer, but the contract he got is something we could never have matched and he deserved it. His position will be difficult to fill; shut-down D-men don't exactly grow on trees. I'd say that shoring up his position on D will be our biggest challenge this season.
 
Brad Doty said:
Huh, could have sworn there was a thread on this but apparently we just talked about it in "around the league."

Couldn't ask for a better choice imo.
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Yeah main board.
I was reading the one on the main board and thought I was here, was a bit thrown off by all the randoms and the "why is that 7th D being named captain" posts until I realized where I was.
 
Gotta say guys, Willie Mitchell is one hell of a player. He is by far the best acquisition the Panthers made on defense in a long, long time. He plays much younger than his age, and has been a great teacher to our youth on defense. Having him paired with Kulikov has made a huge difference, and you can finally see Kulikov becoming that top four Dman most Panther fans thought he would become. Not trying to rub anything in, just showing some appreciation to one of your former players.
 
pb1300 said:
Gotta say guys, Willie Mitchell is one hell of a player. He is by far the best acquisition the Panthers made on defense in a long, long time. He plays much younger than his age, and has been a great teacher to our youth on defense. Having him paired with Kulikov has made a huge difference, and you can finally see Kulikov becoming that top four Dman most Panther fans thought he would become. Not trying to rub anything in, just showing some appreciation to one of your former players.
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Hey we all knew it before you did :)

If you look back to any of the Willie Mitchell signing threads we told you guys this right from the start. He's a leader, a mentor and a tremendously solid hockey player.
 
pb1300 said:
Gotta say guys, Willie Mitchell is one hell of a player. He is by far the best acquisition the Panthers made on defense in a long, long time. He plays much younger than his age, and has been a great teacher to our youth on defense. Having him paired with Kulikov has made a huge difference, and you can finally see Kulikov becoming that top four Dman most Panther fans thought he would become. Not trying to rub anything in, just showing some appreciation to one of your former players.
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Good of you to stop by to say this. We really miss Mitchell and his abilities on defense. Our defense is just not as good without him. Can we have him back?

But really, it's good to hear that he has been a great addition to the Panthers team. He was well-liked around here and I wish him continued success in his career. I think that must be very satisfying for Willie to make a difference with young players. You made me curious about Kulikov so I found a recent article about him and Willie Mitchell.

Best still might be to come for Panthers’ Dmitry Kulikov

Kulikov was rushed into the lineup after being the 14th overall pick of the 2009 draft...

It takes longer for a defenseman to develop in the NHL, and Kulikov has seen his share of rough patches. He’s made mistakes over his first five years, but today, he appears to be on the verge of fulfilling the promise the Panthers had always hoped for...

Kulikov and Willie Mitchell have been paired up since Florida’s opener against Tampa Bay and seemed to develop instant chemistry.

“He’s learning from me,’’ Kulikov said, drawing a laugh from locker room neighbor Erik Gudbranson. “He may be 37 but he’s still learning every day. I’m just joking, but he’s a good player and is so confident. He just knows the game. I’m reading off of him and he’s reading off of me and we’re really playing well together.’’

The two have played very well together with Mitchell saying he’s surprised how quickly everything has come together for them on the ice.

“To be honest, I had been playing in the west and didn’t know who he was when I first got here,’’ Mitchell said.

“But we’ve hit it off and I think we really support each other very well. We work hard to get open for the other guy and that’s a nice safety valve to get the puck out when there’s pressure...
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ETA: Heard Aaron Ekblad mention on NHL Live that he was moving in with Willie Mitchell this month. Called Mitchie a "brilliant mind and a really good person."
 
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pb1300 said:
Gotta say guys, Willie Mitchell is one hell of a player. He is by far the best acquisition the Panthers made on defense in a long, long time. He plays much younger than his age, and has been a great teacher to our youth on defense. Having him paired with Kulikov has made a huge difference, and you can finally see Kulikov becoming that top four Dman most Panther fans thought he would become. Not trying to rub anything in, just showing some appreciation to one of your former players.
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Not at all. In fact, we're all going to say "I told you so" about him as a player and the captainship ;) Best possible role model the young d-men could have. Genius acquisition by you guys, and we miss him immensely. He was really a lynchpin on our D and imo our most important d-man not named Doughty. Probably one of the most underrated d-men of all time, guy was an absolute beast in his prime and stll carries a lot of taht with him today despite age and injuries. Hope he's got a few years left in him and (especially since he's far away :P) hope he helps carry you guys real far! You won't ever see a Kings fan with anything bad to say about Mitchell...other than that he's gone, heh.
 
I've actually watched a few of their games He looks a bit quicker this year and was very solid when I've watched him. He's got that giant stick and makes great plays out of the defensive zone. It is amazing what a rock on defense will do for a team. Will see how the season plays out but Mitchell was a big turning point for the Kings fortunes.
 
pb1300 said:
Gotta say guys, Willie Mitchell is one hell of a player. He is by far the best acquisition the Panthers made on defense in a long, long time.
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Really happy to hear it! I can't imagine any Kings fan would be anything but proud and happy for him having success with you guys, he was well loved here. I wish we could have held on to him -- our D just isn't the same without him -- but we couldn't have matched what you guys gave him and he clearly deserves it.
 
Buddy The Elf said:
I've actually watched a few of their games He looks a bit quicker this year and was very solid when I've watched him. He's got that giant stick and makes great plays out of the defensive zone. It is amazing what a rock on defense will do for a team. Will see how the season plays out but Mitchell was a big turning point for the Kings fortunes.
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Wouldn't be surprised, an extra year out of that mystery knee injury should have helped. Hell, he looked great by the end of last year so no shocker at all really.

Damnit, Mitchell, didn't you want another cup :P
 
I said this before and will say it again, we will never be the same without WM. Loved him so much. Was sad to see him go... Same with Scuds...

Happy for WM :)
 
Brad Doty said:
Wouldn't be surprised, an extra year out of that mystery knee injury should have helped. Hell, he looked great by the end of last year so no shocker at all really.

Damnit, Mitchell, didn't you want another cup :P
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The Kings are going to go to the conference finals this year and lose. Next year, they'll trade for Willie Mitchell at the trade deadline and win the Stanley Cup!
 
Buddy The Elf said:
The Kings are going to go to the conference finals this year and lose. Next year, they'll trade for Willie Mitchell at the trade deadline and win the Stanley Cup!
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Wouldn't be surprised. Losing Scuderi wasn't that bad, but losing Mitchell *really* hurts. There's a guy who consistently logged over 20 minutes of ice time and was a great leader. We don't have a guy on this team to make up for that. We have to hope that Muzzin/Martinez will fill that void. I've always thought it was a confidence thing for those two, and they should have plenty of it now.

I'm still 50/50 on the Greene contract - hopefully he can stay healthy. Don't think there is any way we can keep Regehr. Honestly, there's a logjam of defenseman in Manchester and those guys need a chance at the NHL level. Based on what i've seen from Raine - that dude could be a great SAH guy for us. I think you need to have a good blend of veteran guys who know what it takes to win and then add some hunger in there for good measure.
 
Mitchell and Ekblad a +3 tonight against the Sharks. Amazing what a guy like that does to your culture. Still early in the season, but this is a very different looking Florida team. Not much in the way of offensive talent, but a pretty nice looking defense so far.
 
I think people really underrate how much the loss of Mitchell hurts us.

Defensive defensemen of his caliber are so valuable, and so hard to come by.
 
bmr said:
Mitchell and Ekblad a +3 tonight against the Sharks. Amazing what a guy like that does to your culture. Still early in the season, but this is a very different looking Florida team. Not much in the way of offensive talent, but a pretty nice looking defense so far.
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Panthers put great pressure in the neutral zone and continued through with the forecheck. I think that was the big reason why they were able to put 4 goals in against the Sharks. And the sweet passing. Nevermind, they just played excellent hockey :)
 
Can't say enough to what he's done for the team. He turned his partner, an enigmatic Kulikov, into a completely different (and better player). I've never seen the defense look so good.
 
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