2011–12 Florida Panthers Season
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The 2011–12
Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
was the 18th season for the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL) franchise that was established on June 14, 1993. The Panthers qualified for the
Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs () is the annual elimination tournament to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, and the league champion of the National Hockey League (NHL). The four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the NHL's regular s ...
for the first time in 12 years after their previous playoff appearance in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, and also won their division for the first time. However, the Panthers could not further their progress, losing in the opening round to the
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...
, who would go on to be the
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...
runner-up. The Panthers had a 3–2 lead in the series before losing Games 6 and 7 (both in overtime) to be eliminated from the playoffs.


Off-season

On June 1, 2011, the Panthers introduced their new head coach, former NHL player
Kevin Dineen Kevin William Dineen (born October 28, 1963) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. From 2021 to 2024, Dineen was the head coach of the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League (AHL). Dineen previously served as the hea ...
.Kevin Dineen Named Head Coach Of The Florida Panthers
/ref> Dineen had spent the previous six seasons coaching the
Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks ...
of the
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
(AHL).


Regular season

:''See the game log below for detailed game-by-game season information.'' The Panthers had their first quality season in over a decade in 2011–12, having never finished above third place in the Southeast Division since 1999–2000. Despite losing more games than they won, competition for the Panthers within the Division was not fierce, and the team was in third place in the Eastern Conference as the Southeast Division leader throughout much of the season. Although the Panthers amassed more losses than wins, 18 of these losses were in overtime or a shootout (the highest number of any team in the NHL for the 2011–12 season), meaning Florida often gained a point even when they failed to win.


Playoffs

The Panthers clinched a
playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
berth on April 5, 2012, securing the return of playoff hockey to South Florida for the first time in 12 years. The third-seeded Panthers had home ice advantage by virtue of winning their division, despite the sixth-seeded
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...
besting them in regular season point totals (102 to 94). The Devils won the first game of the series, but the Panthers bounced back with a win in Game 2 to even the series as it headed to New Jersey. The Panthers would return the favor by winning Game 3, 4–3, but the Devils recorded a shutout in Game 4, 4–0. The Panthers returned home to play Game 5 and were one win away from winning their first post-season series since
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after notching a shutout of their own, 3–0. The series went back to New Jersey for the final time of the series, with the home team tying the series after winning Game 6 in overtime, the first extra period of the series. The seventh and deciding game went even longer than Game 6 after the Panthers managed to score two power-play goals in the third period to force overtime. The game—and series—was still even after the completion of one extra period. Less than four minutes into the second overtime, the first shot on goal by either team was recorded by Devils rookie center
Adam Henrique Adam Henrique (born February 6, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 82nd overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. Henrique previous ...
and notched his second goal of the game and deciding goal of the series, eliminating the Panthers from the playoffs, 3–2.


Standings


Schedule and results


Pre-season


Regular season


Playoffs


Player statistics


Skaters

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes''


Goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts'' Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Panthers. Stats reflect time with Panthers only.
Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record


Awards and records


Awards


Records


Milestones


Transactions

The Panthers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2011–12 season.


Trades


Free agents acquired


Free agents lost


Claimed via waivers


Lost via waivers


Lost via retirement


Player signings


Draft picks

Florida's picks at the
2011 NHL entry draft The 2011 NHL entry draft was the 49th entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the ...
in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
.


See also

*
2011–12 NHL season The 2011–12 NHL season was the List of NHL seasons, 95th season of operation (94th Season (sport), season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Los Angeles Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Florida Panthers Season Florida Panthers seasons F 2011 in sports in Florida 2012 in sports in Florida