Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023-24 revision of our top 50 Florida Panthers.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Florida finally did it!  They won their first Stanley Cup championship with a deep and talented squad.  As this franchise formed in the 1990s, last season’s accomplishments led to one of the most significant changes ever in our 50 franchise lists.

As always, we present our top five, which saw some significant changes:

1. Roberto Luongo
2. Alexsander Barkov
3. Jonathan Huberdeau
4. Aaron Ekblad
5. John Vanbiesboruck

You can find the entire list here.

Again, as this is still a young franchise, the changes were huge.

It was very tempting to put Barkov at #1, and perhaps it is a mistake not to have done so.  Barkov captained the Panthers to their first Stanley Cup, but Luongo was a first ballot Hall of Famer.  An average Barkov season will easily place Barkov at #1.

Aaron Ekblad, who was #5, moved up one spot to #4.

Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who was third in Vezina Trophy voting, rocketed to #10 from #19.

We might have made a mistake in not ranking Sam Reinhart last year.  That has been corrected, and the sniper who lit the lamp 57 times last year is here at #18.

Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who began his second run in Florida last season, climbed to #21 from #26.

2022/2023 Second Team All-Star Matthew Tkachuk rocketed to #25 from #42.

Defenseman Gustav Forsling reached #26 from #35.

Center Carter Verhaeghe went to #28 from #34.

Defenseman Brandon Montour, who is now with Seattle, advanced from #36 to #30.

Center Sam Bennett jumped ten spots to #39.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Florida Panthers.

As for all of our top 50 players in basketball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Florida had an excellent post-season, making it to the Eastern Conference Finals after shocking the Boston Bruins in the opening round.  Last year resulted in three new entries, and several elevations.

As always, we present our top five, which had no changes:

1. Roberto Luongo

2. Alexsander Barkov

3. Jonathan Huberdeau

4. John Vanbiesbrouck

5. Aaron Ekblad

You can find the entire list here.

Notably, Barkov was unable to surpass Luongo for the #1 spot, and remains at #2.  In addition, Ekblad also was not able to move up from his #5 rank.

Goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, reached #19 from #23.

Forward, Carter Verhaeghe, is the first of two entries, coming in at #34.

Gustav Forling made it to #35 from #45.

The second of four new entries is Brandon Montour, who enters at #36.

Forward, Matthew Tkachuk, makes his first appearance at #42.

The last new entrant is Sam Bennett, who appears it at #49.

Completing the alterations is current San Jose Shark. Anthony Duclair, who was traded during last season, and fell behind newer entrants, but did enough to remain.  He is at #50.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

It is a huge day for us at Notinhalloffame.com, as the Hockey Hall of Fame has announced the Class of 2022.

It is especially welcoming, as the Hockey Hall elected to select nobody last year, due to the inability to have a proper ceremony due to COVID-19.

Let’s get right to it!

As we expected, the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik have been chosen for the Hockey Hall of Fame.  From Sweden, and playing the entirety of their career with the Vancouver Canucks, both brothers may not have won a Stanley Cup, but they did not conclude their career with empty trophy cases.

Playing at Left Wing, Daniel Sedin won the 2011 Ted Lindsay Award and Art Ross Trophy, scoring 1,041 Points over his career.  Henrik, who played at Center, also won the Art Ross (2010), while winning the coveted Hart Trophy the same year.

Internationally, the Sedins also led Sweden to Gold in the 2006 Olympics and secured Silver in 2014.

The Canucks are very well represented with this class, as their long time Goalie, Roberto Luongo, enters Toronto on their first year of the ballot.  The winner of 489 Games (fourth overall) may not have won the Vezina, but was a Finalist three times.  Internationally, Luongo was part of two Olympic Gold Medalist teams.

After five years of eligibility Daniel Alfredsson was chosen.  The greatest player in Ottawa Senators history, Alfredsson won the 1995/96 Calder Trophy and would also capture the King Clancy and Mark Messier Leadership Award late in his career.  He left the game with 1,157 Points, and also had Olympic Gold (2006) and Silver (2014).

The Hockey Hall inducted another female to their midst, with Riikka Sallinen, the first non-North American woman to be chosen.  Representing Finland, Sallinen led Finland to three European Gold Medals, Silver in the Worlds, and had two Olympic Bronze Medals and six World Championship Bronze Medals.

Inducted as a builder is Herb Carnegie, who was one of the first black hockey players.  Predating Willie O’Ree, it was alleged that Carnegie had the skills to play in the NHL in the 1940s and 1950s, but his race kept him from the opportunity.

What comes next? 

We revise our Notinhalloffame Hockey List, based on your votes, eliminating those who have been chosen, those who become eligible in 2023 and adjust based on your votes and comments.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players and executive.  As such it is news to us that the Florida Panthers have announced that next season, they will be retiring the number 1 of Roberto Luongo on their March 7 home game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Goalie joined the Panthers after being traded from the New York Islanders where he only played 24 Games after being drafted fourth overall in 1997.  Splitting netminding duty with Trevor Kidd for the 2000/01 Season, he would quickly become the team’s primary Goalie.  

Florida would struggle to put together a competitive hockey team but it would become quickly clear that this was no fault of Luongo, who was the main reason why they were even in most games.  In each season from 2002-03 to 2005-06 (2004-05 never occurred due to the lockout) Luong would finish first in Goalie Point Shares and he was named a Second Team All-Star in 2003-04.

Luongo would be traded to the Vancouver Canucks before the 2006/07 season as he was set to become a free agent the year after and negotiations were not going well.  With the Canucks, he would take them to the Stanley Cup Finals and after seven and a half years in Vancouver, he was traded back to the Panthers during the 2014/14 campaign where he would still thrive and have two top ten Vezina voting finishes before retiring at the end of last season.

Luongo would record 230 of his 469 Wins with the Panthers while posting a 2.61 Goals Against Average.

This marks the first time in franchise history that a jersey is being retired.

Luongo is eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Roberto Luongo for earning this impending honor.

A major retirement has just taken place in the world of hockey as Florida Panthers’ Roberto Luongo has announced that he is hanging up the goalie equipment.

Luongo was the 4^thoverall pick in 1997 by the New York Islanders but his stay in New York would be a short one.  He had a mediocre rookie season (1999-2000) and after the Isles selected fellow goalie, Rick DiPietro 1^stoverall in 2000 and along with Olli Jokinen he was dispatched to the Florida Panthers in what is now considered a lopsided trade.  

The native of Quebec would show steady improvement and in 2002/03 he would lead the NHL in Goalie Point Shares. The next season would be his true breakout year as he would finish first in Saves and Goalie Point Shares with a 2.43 Goals Against Average.  He would be named to his first All-Star Game, finished third in Vezina Trophy voting and would also be chosen to be a Second Team All-Star.  2004 would be a great year for Luongo as he would backstop Canada to a win at the World Cup of Hockey.  This was after he would win the World Hockey Championship, his second straight. The NHL was locked out in 2004/05 but he remained an elite Goalie when play resumed in 2005/06 and was again the leader in Saves.  

Luongo was surprisingly traded to the Vancouver Canucks for the 2006/07 season and in the next five years he would finish in the top ten in Vezina Trophy voting with a second place and third place finish in 2006/07 and 2010/11 season respectively.  In the former year, he was again a Second Team All-Star, the latter he was the William M. Jennings Trophy winner and would take the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011.  He would notably be the starting Goalie for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Gold Medal win.

The butterfly style goalie would be traded back to the Florida Panthers in 2014 where he would finish his career and go to his fourth and fifth All-Star Game.  He retires with 489 Wins (3^rdOverall), 28,409 Saves (2^ndOverall) and a 2.52 GAA.

Luongo is eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022 and we will be adding his name to our hockey futures section soon.  He has a first ballot Hall of Fame resume and he will be ranked very high on our list once eligible.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Roberto Luongo the best in his post-playing career. 

Our process is slowly continuing as we have another Top 50 to present in our look at the best players for every major sports team. 

The random process continues as we now look at one of the newer teams in the National Hockey League, The Florida Panthers. 

While the Panthers do not have that many trips to the playoffs, they did reach the Stanley Cup Finals in their infancy, a surprise trip in 1996, their third year of existence.  As of this writing, they haven’t been back since, but some good players have suited up in Miami. 

As this is a young team, the Top 50 Florida Panthers are likely to have significant fluctuation in the upcoming years but for now, you can find the complete list here.

We will however state here that Goaltender, Roberto Luongo has been named by Notinhalloffame.com as the greatest Florida Panther to date.

The remaining top five are 2. Robert Svehla, 3. Olli Jokinen, 4. John Vanbiesbrouck, 5. Pavel Bure.

You know what we want you to do!

Take a look and let us know what you think!

In three weeks, our next Top 50 team will be coming to Notinhalloffame.com

Note: Hockey lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics and post-season accolades. 


This list is up to the end of the 2015-16 Season. 

After his rookie year with the New York Islanders, Roberto Luongo was traded to the Florida Panthers with Olli Jokinen in what can be best described as one of the most lopsided trades in favor of the Panthers in their history.  Luongo played more in his first two years in Florida, gradually, acclimating to the faster-paced game and he would ascend to the upper-echelon of NHL netminders.

During the entirety of Luongo's run in Florida, the Panthers were not serious contenders, and much of the success that they did have was thanks to Luongo.  We will argue that his breakout season was in 2003-04, where even though he did not receive any Vezina votes, he led the NHL in Goalie Point Shares (14.4).  Luongo was not to be denied in terms of recognition the season after, as he led the NHL in Saves (2,303) and Goalie Point Shares with a whopping (20.9).  He was awarded a Second Team All-Star and was third in Vezina voting with a sixth-place finish for the Hart.  The year after was almost as good, again leading the NHL in Saves (2,275) and for the third year in a row, GPS (18.5).  Not many Goalies can say that.

Due to contract issues, the Panthers traded Luongo to Vancouver, and as a Canuck, he was still one of the best Goalies in the game and would take them to a Stanley Cup Final.  Seven years later, Luongo was traded back to Florida, and while he was older, he was still competent.  Luongo would have two more seasons with the Panthers where he finished in the top ten in Vezina voting.

Luongo retired after the 2018-19 season, and while he had a losing record as a Panther, Luongo was by far the best Goalie that the Panthers ever had, and one of the best ever.  The Panthers retired his number 1 in 2022, and he received the call from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022 in his first year of eligibility.

The Hockey Hall of Fame works a little faster than other North American sports hall doesn’t it?

With only a three year waiting period after retirement from the game (playing in Europe still counts as being active), we have decided some time ago that active players over the age of thirty-five would be profiled and made available for your vote.

Rather than only mention the new entries, we are listing all of the “TBD” players who are currently in that section.

The players listed are as follows:


Alex Tanguay, a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche and an All Star in 2004.

Andrei Markov, a two time All Star and member of the 2011 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions.

Brad Richards, a key member of the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup winners and past winner of the Conn Smythe and Lady Byng Trophies.

Brian Campbell, a member of Chicago’s 2010 Stanley Cup Champs and was once a Second Team All Star and Lady Byng winner.

Dan Boyle, a two time All Star Defenceman and member of the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup Champions.

Eric Brewer, a traditional Defenceman who won Olympic and World Cup Gold with Canada.

Jarome Iginla, a former Art Ross Trophy Winner, two time Goal Scoring Champion, two time Olympic Gold Medalist and three time First Team All Star.

Jaromir Jagr, a scoring machine who has won two Stanley Cups, an Olympic Gold Medal, a Hart Trophy, and has appeared in nine All Star Games.

Joe Thornton, a former Hart Trophy winner and multi-time All Star with both the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks.

Lubomir Visnovsky, an All Star in 2007 and four time representative for Slovakia in the Olympics.

Marian Hossa, a three time Stanley Cup Champion with the Chicago Blackhawks and one time Second Team All Star.

Mark Streit, a four time Olympian with Switzerland and one time NHL All Star.

Mike Ribeiro, a one time All Star known for his shooting accuracy.

Niklas Backstrom, a Finnish Goalie who has played his NHL career thus far with Minnesota Wild.

Olli Jokinen, a multi time Finnish Olympian who was an All Star in 2003.

Patrik Elias, a ling time player for the New Jersey Devils with two Stanley Cup Rings and three All Star nods. 

Patrick Marleau, a longtime San Jose Shark with two Olympic Gold Medals and three NHL All Star Games.

Pavel Datsyuk, a Russian who won two Stanley Cup Rings (Detroit), the Lady Byng four times and the Frank J. Selke Award three times.

Roberto Luongo, a two time Gold Medalist with Canada and three time NHL All Star.

Scott Gomez, the Alaska born forward who won two Stanley Cups with New Jersey and was the Calder Trophy Winner in 2000.

Sergei Gonchar, a smooth Russian who is a four time Al Star.

Shane Doan, who spent most of his career with the Coyotes and is a two time NHL All Star.

Shawn Horcoff, who was a one time NHL All Star. 

Simon Gagne, who is a former Olympic Gold Medalist and Stanley Cup Champion.

Stephane Robidas, a one time All Star Defenceman.

Vincent LeCavalier, a four time All Star, Stanley Cup Champion with Tampa Bay and a former Rocket Richard Award winner.

Zdeno Chara, a former Norris Trophy winner, six time post season All Star and Stanley Cup Champion with the Boston Bruins

I think you know what we are looking for you to do!

When your time permits, take a look at this group and let us know if their Hall of Fame inductions are justified!

The name Roberto Luongo either made fans cheer or cringe, but although he has not yet won a Stanley Cup, he was a member of Team Canada’s Gold Medal win in 2010 and 2014 and on the 2004 World Cup winning team. Luongo led the NHL in Saves twice and also was a Second Team All Star twice. His Hall of Fame chances lie on how his final NHL seasons play out.



The Bullet Points:
Country of Origin:
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Eligible In:
TBD

Position:
Goalie

Played for:
New York Islanders
Florida Panthers
Vancouver Canucks
Team Canada (Olympics 2006, 2010 & 2014; World Cup 2004; World Hockey Championship 2001, 2003, 2004 & 2005)

Major Accolades and Awards:
Second Team All Star (2) (2004 & 2007)
William M. Jennings Trophy (1) (2011)
NHL All Star (3) (2004, 2007 & 2009)
Olympic Gold Medal (2) (Canada, 2010 & 2014)
World Cup Gold Medal (1) (Canada, 2004)
World Hockey Championship Gold Medal (2) (Canada, 2003 & 2004)
World Hockey Championship Silver Medal (1) (Canada, 2005)