1993–94 Florida Panthers season

Inaugural game program

1993–94 Florida Panthers
Division	5th Atlantic
Conference	9th Eastern
1993–94 record	33–34–17
Home record	15–18–9
Road record	18–16–8
Goals for	233
Goals against	233
Team information
General manager	Bob Clarke
Coach	Roger Neilson
Captain	Brian Skrudland
Alternate captains	Joe Cirella Scott Mellanby
Arena	Miami Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Scott Mellanby (30)
Assists	Scott Mellanby (30)
Points	Scott Mellanby (60)
Penalty minutes	Brent Severyn (156)
Plus/minus	Brian Skrudland (+13)
Wins	John Vanbiesbrouck (21)
Goals against average	John Vanbiesbrouck (2.53)

The 1993–94 Florida Panthers season was the Panthers' first season. Blockbuster Video magnate H. Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for his native Miami in 1992. The team played at the Miami Arena, and its first major stars were New York Rangers goaltender castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals during the regular season.

Offseason

Expansion Draft

#	Player	Drafted from	Drafted by
1.	John Vanbiesbrouck (G)	Vancouver Canucks	Florida Panthers
4.	Mark Fitzpatrick (G)	Quebec Nordiques	Florida Panthers
5.	Daren Puppa (G)	Toronto Maple Leafs	Florida Panthers
7.	Milan Tichy (D)	Chicago Blackhawks	Florida Panthers
10.	Paul Laus (D)	Pittsburgh Penguins	Florida Panthers
12.	Joe Cirella (D)	New York Rangers	Florida Panthers
13.	Alexander Godynyuk (D)	Calgary Flames	Florida Panthers
15.	Gord Murphy (D)	Dallas Stars	Florida Panthers
18.	Steve Bancroft (D)	Winnipeg Jets	Florida Panthers
20.	Stephane Richer (D)	Boston Bruins	Florida Panthers
21.	Gord Hynes (D)	Philadelphia Flyers	Florida Panthers
24.	Tom Fitzgerald (C/RW)	New York Islanders	Florida Panthers
25.	Jesse Belanger (C)	Montreal Canadiens	Florida Panthers
27.	Scott Levins (C)	Winnipeg Jets	Florida Panthers
30.	Scott Mellanby (RW)	Edmonton Oilers	Florida Panthers
32.	Brian Skrudland (C)	Calgary Flames	Florida Panthers
33.	Mike Hough (LW)	Washington Capitals	Florida Panthers
35.	Dave Lowry (LW)	St. Louis Blues	Florida Panthers
38.	Bill Lindsay (LW)	Quebec Nordiques	Florida Panthers
40.	Andrei Lomakin (RW)	Philadelphia Flyers	Florida Panthers
41.	Randy Gilhen (C)	Tampa Bay Lightning	Florida Panthers
43.	Doug Barrault (LW)	Dallas Stars	Florida Panthers
46.	Marc Labelle (LW)	Ottawa Senators	Florida Panthers
48.	Pete Stauber (LW)	Detroit Red Wings	Florida Panthers

NHL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1.	5.	Rob Niedermayer (C)	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

Regular season

The Panthers had one of the most successful first seasons of any expansion team, finishing one point below .500 and narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Season standings

Atlantic Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
New York Rangers	84	52	24	8	299	231	112
New Jersey Devils	84	47	25	12	306	220	106
Washington Capitals	84	39	35	10	277	263	88
New York Islanders	84	36	36	12	282	264	84
Florida Panthers	84	33	34	17	233	233	83
Philadelphia Flyers	84	35	39	10	294	314	80
Tampa Bay Lightning	84	30	43	11	224	251	71

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 6, 1993	4–4 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	0–0–1
2	L	October 7, 1993	3–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	0–1–1
3	W	October 9, 1993	2–0	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	1–1–1
4	L	October 12, 1993	1–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	1–2–1
5	W	October 14, 1993	5–4	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	2–2–1
6	T	October 17, 1993	3–3 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	2–2–2
7	T	October 19, 1993	2–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	2–2–3
8	L	October 21, 1993	3–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	2–3–3
9	L	October 23, 1993	1–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	2–4–3
10	L	October 26, 1993	2–5	Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	2–5–3
11	W	October 28, 1993	5–2	New York Islanders (1993–94)	3–5–3
12	W	October 30, 1993	2–1 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	4–5–3
13	L	November 2, 1993	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	4–6–3
14	L	November 3, 1993	3–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	4–7–3
15	W	November 7, 1993	3–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	5–7–3
16	W	November 10, 1993	3–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	6–7–3
17	W	November 11, 1993	5–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	7–7–3
18	L	November 14, 1993	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	7–8–3
19	L	November 16, 1993	2–4	New York Rangers (1993–94)	7–9–3
20	L	November 18, 1993	2–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1993–94)	7–10–3
21	W	November 20, 1993	4–3	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	8–10–3
22	L	November 23, 1993	1–2 OT	Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	8–11–3
23	L	November 26, 1993	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	8–12–3
24	L	November 27, 1993	0–4	@ Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	8–13–3
25	W	December 2, 1993	2–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	9–13–3
26	L	December 5, 1993	1–2	@ San Jose Sharks (1993–94)	9–14–3
27	W	December 7, 1993	3–2	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	10–14–3
28	W	December 8, 1993	6–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1993–94)	11–14–3
29	W	December 10, 1993	5–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	12–14–3
30	T	December 12, 1993	4–4 OT	@ Dallas Stars (1993–94)	12–14–4
31	T	December 15, 1993	3–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	12–14–5
32	L	December 19, 1993	1–2 OT	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	12–15–5
33	W	December 22, 1993	3–2	New York Rangers (1993–94)	13–15–5
34	W	December 26, 1993	3–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	14–15–5
35	T	December 28, 1993	3–3 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	14–15–6
36	W	December 29, 1993	5–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	15–15–6
37	W	January 1, 1994	4–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993–94)	16–15–6
38	L	January 3, 1994	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	16–16–6
39	L	January 7, 1994	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	16–17–6
40	T	January 8, 1994	2–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1993–94)	16–17–7
41	T	January 13, 1994	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	16–17–8
42	W	January 15, 1994	5–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	17–17–8
43	W	January 17, 1994	2–1	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	18–17–8
44	W	January 19, 1994	5–1	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	19–17–8
45	W	January 24, 1994	8–3	Montreal Canadiens (1993–94)	20–17–8
46	T	January 26, 1994	1–1 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1993–94)	20–17–9
47	T	January 28, 1994	3–3 OT	San Jose Sharks (1993–94)	20–17–10
48	W	January 30, 1994	3–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	21–17–10
49	L	February 1, 1994	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	21–18–10
50	W	February 2, 1994	4–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	22–18–10
51	L	February 4, 1994	2–7	Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	22–19–10
52	W	February 6, 1994	3–0	Boston Bruins (1993–94)	23–19–10
53	L	February 10, 1994	3–4 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	23–20–10
54	W	February 12, 1994	4–3	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	24–20–10
55	W	February 13, 1994	2–1	Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	25–20–10
56	L	February 16, 1994	3–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	25–21–10
57	L	February 18, 1994	1–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1993–94)	25–22–10
58	L	February 20, 1994	3–4 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1993–94)	25–23–10
59	W	February 22, 1994	3–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1993–94)	26–23–10
60	L	February 24, 1994	1–2	Washington Capitals (1993–94)	26–24–10
61	L	February 26, 1994	2–4	@ Washington Capitals (1993–94)	26–25–10
62	L	February 28, 1994	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1993–94)	26–26–10
63	L	March 2, 1994	2–3	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	26–27–10
64	L	March 4, 1994	1–2	Hartford Whalers (1993–94)	26–28–10
65	W	March 7, 1994	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1993–94)	27–28–10
66	W	March 9, 1994	5–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	28–28–10
67	L	March 11, 1994	2–4	@ Calgary Flames (1993–94)	28–29–10
68	W	March 14, 1994	2–1	New York Rangers (1993–94)	29–29–10
69	W	March 16, 1994	2–1	Calgary Flames (1993–94)	30–29–10
70	T	March 18, 1994	4–4 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1993–94)	30–29–11
71	W	March 20, 1994	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	31–29–11
72	T	March 21, 1994	3–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	31–29–12
73	T	March 23, 1994	1–1 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1993–94)	31–29–13
74	L	March 24, 1994	3–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	31–30–13
75	W	March 26, 1994	3–1	@ New York Islanders (1993–94)	32–30–13
76	L	March 28, 1994	4–5	Dallas Stars (1993–94)	32–31–13
77	L	March 30, 1994	1–3	St. Louis Blues (1993–94)	32–32–13
78	T	April 2, 1994	2–2 OT	Ottawa Senators (1993–94)	32–32–14
79	L	April 4, 1994	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1993–94)	32–33–14
80	T	April 5, 1994	3–3 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	32–33–15
81	T	April 7, 1994	3–3 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1993–94)	32–33–16
82	T	April 10, 1994	2–2 OT	New Jersey Devils (1993–94)	32–33–17
83	L	April 12, 1994	2–5	Quebec Nordiques (1993–94)	32–34–17
84	W	April 14, 1994	4–1	New York Islanders (1993–94)	33–34–17

Player stats

Forwards

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Scott Mellanby	80	30	30	60	149
Jesse Belanger	70	17	33	50	16
Andrei Lomakin	76	19	28	47	26
Brian Skrudland	79	15	25	40	136
Stu Barnes	59	18	20	38	30
Dave Lowry	80	15	22	37	64
Tom Fitzgerald	83	18	14	32	54
Bob Kudelski	44	14	15	29	10
Mike Hough	78	6	23	29	62
Jody Hull	69	13	13	26	8
Rob Niedermayer	65	9	17	26	51
Bill Lindsay	84	6	6	12	97
Scott Levins	29	5	6	11	69
Mike Foligno	39	4	5	9	49
Randy Gilhen	20	4	4	8	16
Evgeny Davydov	21	2	6	8	8
Patrick Lebeau	4	1	1	2	4
Jamie Leach	2	1	0	1	0
Jeff Greenlaw	4	0	1	1	2
Doug Barrault	2	0	0	0	0
Len Barrie	2	0	0	0	0
Jeff Daniels	7	0	0	0	0

Defencemen

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gord Murphy	84	14	29	43	71
Brian Benning	73	6	24	30	107
Greg Hawgood	33	2	14	16	9
Keith Brown	51	4	8	12	60
Brent Severyn	67	4	7	11	156
Alexander Godynyuk	26	0	10	10	35
Joe Cirella	63	1	9	10	99
Geoff Smith	56	1	5	6	38
Peter Andersson	8	1	1	2	0
Paul Laus	39	2	0	2	109
Stephane Richer	2	0	1	1	0
Greg Smyth	12	1	0	1	37
Dallas Eakins	1	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SV% = Save percentage ; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts

Player	GP	W	L	T	SV%	GAA	SO
John Vanbiesbrouck	57	21	25	11	.924	2.53	1
Mark Fitzpatrick	28	12	8	6	.914	2.73	1
Pokey Reddick	2	0	1	0	.822	6.00	0

Awards and records

• John Vanbiesbrouck, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

References

• Panthers on Hockey Database