2001–02 Florida Panthers season

2001–02 Florida Panthers
Division	4th Southeast
Conference	14th Eastern
2001–02 record	22–44–10–6
Home record	11–23–3–4
Road record	11–21–7–2
Goals for	180
Goals against	250
Team information
General manager	Bill Torrey (Oct-Dec) Chuck Fletcher (Dec-May)
Coach	Duane Sutter (Oct-Dec) Mike Keenan (Dec-Apr)
Captain	Pavel Bure (Oct-Dec) Paul Laus (Oct-Dec) Vacant (Dec-Apr)
Alternate captains	Sandis Ozolinsh (Jan-Apr) Robert Svehla
Arena	National Car Rental Center
Average attendance	16,074
Minor league affiliate(s)	Utah Grizzlies Florida Everblades
Team leaders
Goals	Kristian Huselius (23)
Assists	Pavel Bure (27)
Points	Pavel Bure (49)
Penalty minutes	Peter Worrell (354)
Plus/minus	Darren Van Impe (+3)
Wins	Roberto Luongo (16)
Goals against average	Roberto Luongo (2.77)

The 2001–02 Florida Panthers season was their ninth season in the National Hockey League. The Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Offseason

Prior to the beginning of the regular season it was announced that Pavel Bure and Paul Laus would alternate the captaincy every five games. This was discontinued when Mike Keenan was named the team’s new head coach in early December.

Regular season

On December 3, it was announced that Mike Keenan would replace Duane Sutter as head coach and Bill Torrey would step down as general manager. Assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher was named interim general manager.

Final standings

Southeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Carolina Hurricanes	82	35	26	16	5	217	217	91
2	9	Washington Capitals	82	36	33	11	2	228	240	85
3	13	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	27	40	11	4	178	219	69
4	14	Florida Panthers	82	22	44	10	6	180	250	60
5	15	Atlanta Thrashers	82	19	47	11	5	187	288	54

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Boston Bruins	NE	82	43	24	6	9	236	201	101
2	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	42	27	10	3	234	192	97
3	Y- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	35	26	16	5	217	217	91
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	43	25	10	4	249	207	100
5	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	42	28	8	4	239	220	96
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	41	28	9	4	205	187	95
7	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	39	27	9	7	243	208	94
8	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	36	31	12	3	207	209	87
8.5
9	Washington Capitals	SE	82	36	33	11	2	228	240	85
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	35	35	11	1	213	200	82
11	New York Rangers	AT	82	36	38	4	4	227	258	80
12	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	28	41	8	5	198	249	69
13	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	27	40	11	4	178	219	69
14	Florida Panthers	SE	82	22	44	10	6	180	250	60
15	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	19	47	11	5	187	288	54

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

2001–02 regular season
October: 3–7–2–1 (home: 1–3–0–1; road: 2–4–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 L October 4, 2001 2–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) 0–1–0–0 Recap 2 L October 6, 2001 0–3 New York Islanders (2001–02) 0–2–0–0 Recap 3 W October 7, 2001 5–0 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) 1–2–0–0 Recap 4 L October 10, 2001 0–2 Ottawa Senators (2001–02) 1–3–0–0 Recap 5 L October 13, 2001 2–5 Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) 1–4–0–0 Recap 6 T October 16, 2001 2–2 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (2001–02) 1–4–1–0 Recap 7 L October 18, 2001 1–3 @ Calgary Flames (2001–02) 1–5–1–0 Recap 8 L October 20, 2001 2–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (2001–02) 1–6–1–0 Recap 9 OTL October 24, 2001 3–4 OT Washington Capitals (2001–02) 1–6–1–1 Recap 10 W October 26, 2001 3–2 Los Angeles Kings (2001–02) 2–6–1–1 Recap 11 T October 28, 2001 2–2 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) 2–6–2–1 Recap 12 L October 30, 2001 2–3 @ New York Islanders (2001–02) 2–7–2–1 Recap 13 W October 31, 2001 3–1 @ New York Rangers (2001–02) 3–7–2–1 Recap
November: 3–7–0–2 (home: 2–4–0–1; road: 1–3–0–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 14 L November 3, 2001 3–5 New York Rangers (2001–02) 3–8–2–1 Recap 15 W November 7, 2001 2–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) 4–8–2–1 Recap 16 OTL November 10, 2001 2–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) 4–8–2–2 Recap 17 L November 12, 2001 3–5 Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) 4–9–2–2 Recap 18 L November 14, 2001 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) 4–10–2–2 Recap 19 W November 16, 2001 2–0 @ Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) 5–10–2–2 Recap 20 OTL November 17, 2001 0–1 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) 5–10–2–3 Recap 21 L November 19, 2001 1–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) 5–11–2–3 Recap 22 W November 21, 2001 6–0 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2001–02) 6–11–2–3 Recap 23 L November 24, 2001 1–5 New Jersey Devils (2001–02) 6–12–2–3 Recap 24 L November 27, 2001 1–4 @ Colorado Avalanche (2001–02) 6–13–2–3 Recap 25 L November 29, 2001 0–6 @ Minnesota Wild (2001–02) 6–14–2–3 Recap
December: 6–6–1–0 (home: 4–4–0–0; road: 2–2–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 26 L December 1, 2001 2–5 Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02) 6–15–2–3 Recap 27 W December 5, 2001 2–0 Columbus Blue Jackets (2001–02) 7–15–2–3 Recap 28 L December 8, 2001 2–3 Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) 7–16–2–3 Recap 29 L December 12, 2001 1–4 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) 7–17–2–3 Recap 30 W December 14, 2001 3–2 @ New Jersey Devils (2001–02) 8–17–2–3 Recap 31 W December 15, 2001 3–1 @ New York Islanders (2001–02) 9–17–2–3 Recap 32 L December 17, 2001 2–4 @ New York Rangers (2001–02) 9–18–2–3 Recap 33 W December 19, 2001 5–2 Washington Capitals (2001–02) 10–18–2–3 Recap 34 L December 22, 2001 0–2 St. Louis Blues (2001–02) 10–19–2–3 Recap 35 T December 26, 2001 3–3 OT @ Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02) 10–19–3–3 Recap 36 L December 28, 2001 1–7 Boston Bruins (2001–02) 10–20–3–3 Recap 37 W December 29, 2001 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) 11–20–3–3 Recap 38 W December 31, 2001 4–3 Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02) 12–20–3–3 Recap
January: 4–10–1–0 (home: 1–7–0–0; road: 3–3–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 39 L January 2, 2002 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (2001–02) 12–21–3–3 Recap 40 W January 4, 2002 2–1 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2001–02) 13–21–3–3 Recap 41 L January 5, 2002 0–6 @ San Jose Sharks (2001–02) 13–22–3–3 Recap 42 W January 7, 2002 2–1 @ Washington Capitals (2001–02) 14–22–3–3 Recap 43 L January 9, 2002 2–3 Dallas Stars (2001–02) 14–23–3–3 Recap 44 L January 11, 2002 2–4 Ottawa Senators (2001–02) 14–24–3–3 Recap 45 L January 12, 2002 0–1 Washington Capitals (2001–02) 14–25–3–3 Recap 46 L January 16, 2002 0–3 Chicago Blackhawks (2001–02) 14–26–3–3 Recap 47 W January 18, 2002 3–2 @ Dallas Stars (2001–02) 15–26–3–3 Recap 48 L January 19, 2002 1–6 Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02) 15–27–3–3 Recap 49 W January 21, 2002 7–5 Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) 16–27–3–3 Recap 50 L January 23, 2002 1–3 New Jersey Devils (2001–02) 16–28–3–3 Recap 51 T January 25, 2002 1–1 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) 16–28–4–3 Recap 52 L January 26, 2002 2–4 @ Boston Bruins (2001–02) 16–29–4–3 Recap 53 L January 30, 2002 1–3 Phoenix Coyotes (2001–02) 16–30–4–3 Recap
February: 1–5–1–1 (home: 0–1–1–1; road: 1–4–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 54 T February 4, 2002 6–6 OT New York Islanders (2001–02) 16–30–5–3 Recap 55 L February 6, 2002 2–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) 16–31–5–3 Recap 56 W February 7, 2002 3–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) 17–31–5–3 Recap 57 L February 9, 2002 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (2001–02) 17–32–5–3 Recap 58 L February 12, 2002 0–1 @ Nashville Predators (2001–02) 17–33–5–3 Recap 59 L February 13, 2002 4–5 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2001–02) 17–34–5–3 Recap 60 L February 26, 2002 3–4 @ Washington Capitals (2001–02) 17–35–5–3 Recap 61 OTL February 27, 2002 2–3 OT Detroit Red Wings (2001–02) 17–35–5–4 Recap
March: 4–7–2–1 (home: 2–3–2–0; road: 2–4–0–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 62 L March 2, 2002 2–3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) 17–36–5–4 Recap 63 OTL March 5, 2002 5–6 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) 17–36–5–5 Recap 64 W March 8, 2002 5–4 Edmonton Oilers (2001–02) 18–36–5–5 Recap 65 T March 9, 2002 2–2 OT Nashville Predators (2001–02) 18–36–6–5 Recap 66 T March 13, 2002 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (2001–02) 18–36–7–5 Recap 67 W March 15, 2002 5–2 Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) 19–36–7–5 Recap 68 L March 17, 2002 0–2 @ Ottawa Senators (2001–02) 19–37–7–5 Recap 69 L March 20, 2002 1–4 Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) 19–38–7–5 Recap 70 L March 21, 2002 2–3 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) 19–39–7–5 Recap 71 L March 23, 2002 1–3 Boston Bruins (2001–02) 19–40–7–5 Recap 72 L March 25, 2002 1–3 @ New Jersey Devils (2001–02) 19–41–7–5 Recap 73 W March 26, 2002 2–1 @ Montreal Canadiens (2001–02) 20–41–7–5 Recap 74 W March 28, 2002 4–3 @ Ottawa Senators (2001–02) 21–41–7–5 Recap 75 L March 30, 2002 2–4 New York Rangers (2001–02) 21–42–7–5 Recap
April: 1–2–3–1 (home: 1–1–0–1; road: 0–1–3–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 76 W April 3, 2002 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02) 22–42–7–5 Recap 77 L April 5, 2002 1–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (2001–02) 22–43–7–5 Recap 78 T April 6, 2002 2–2 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02) 22–43–8–5 Recap 79 T April 8, 2002 4–4 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02) 22–43–9–5 Recap 80 T April 10, 2002 4–4 OT @ Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02) 22–43–10–5 Recap 81 L April 12, 2002 1–3 Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02) 22–44–10–5 Recap 82 OTL April 14, 2002 2–3 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02) 22–44–10–6 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Panthers only.

			Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
10	Pavel Bure‡	RW	56	22	27	49	−14	56
22	Kristian Huselius	LW	79	23	22	45	−4	14
18	Marcus Nilson	LW	81	14	19	33	−14	55
28	Jason Wiemer	C	70	11	20	31	−4	178
39	Ivan Novoseltsev	RW	70	13	16	29	−10	44
44	Sandis Ozolinsh†	D	37	10	19	29	−3	24
12	Olli Jokinen	C	80	9	20	29	−16	98
24	Robert Svehla	D	82	7	22	29	−19	87
14	Niklas Hagman	LW	78	10	18	28	−6	8
25	Viktor Kozlov	C	50	9	18	27	−16	20
20	Valeri Bure	RW	31	8	10	18	−3	12
45	Brad Ference	D	80	2	15	17	−13	254
16	Kevyn Adams‡	C	44	4	8	12	−3	28
43	Byron Ritchie†	C	31	5	6	11	−2	34
11	Bill Lindsay‡	RW	63	4	7	11	−11	117
4	Bret Hedican‡	D	31	3	7	10	−4	12
8	Peter Worrell	LW	79	4	5	9	−15	354
26	Pierre Dagenais†	RW	26	7	1	8	−5	4
3	Paul Laus	D	45	4	3	7	1	157
29	Darren Van Impe†‡	D	36	1	6	7	3	31
26	Dan Boyle‡	D	25	3	3	6	−1	12
49	Lance Ward	D	68	1	4	5	−20	131
38	Eric Beaudoin	LW	8	1	3	4	−2	4
17	Ryan Johnson	C	29	1	3	4	−5	10
5	Jeff Norton†	D	29	0	4	4	−5	8
55	Igor Ulanov†	D	14	0	4	4	−3	11
21	Denis Shvidki	RW	8	1	2	3	−4	2
2	Lance Pitlick	D	35	1	1	2	−14	12
19	Stephen Weiss	C	7	1	1	2	0	0
32	Ryan Jardine	LW	8	0	2	2	0	2
42	Brad Norton	D	22	0	2	2	−2	45
36	Joey Tetarenko	RW	38	1	0	1	−5	123
37	Trevor Kidd	G	33	0	1	1		0
1	Roberto Luongo	G	58	0	1	1		2
31	Wade Flaherty	G	4	0	0	0		0
42	Matt Herr	C	3	0	0	0	−2	0
29	Lukas Krajicek	D	5	0	0	0	0	0
33	David Morisset	RW	4	0	0	0	−7	5
23	Kyle Rossiter	D	2	0	0	0	−1	2
41	Nick Smith	C	15	0	0	0	−1	0
23	Rocky Thompson	D	6	0	0	0	0	12

Goaltending

		Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Roberto Luongo	58	16	33	4	1653	140	2.77	.915	4	3030
37	Trevor Kidd	33	4	16	5	857	90	3.21	.895	1	1683
31	Wade Flaherty	4	2	1	1	148	12	2.94	.919	0	245

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Kristian Huselius (Forward)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Sandis Ozolinsh
	NHL Rookie of the Month	Kristian Huselius (October)
		Niklas Hagman (March)
	NHL YoungStars Game selection	Kristian Huselius
		Roberto Luongo

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
400th goal scored	Pavel Bure	January 26, 2002

Transactions

The Panthers were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2001, the day after the deciding game of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 13, 2002, the day of the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 23, 2001	To Florida Panthers St. Louis’ 1st-round pick in 2001	To New Jersey Devils Phoenix’s 2nd-round pick in 2001 Vancouver’s 2nd-round pick in 2001
June 23, 2001	To Florida Panthers 2nd-round pick in 2001	To Philadelphia Flyers Rights to Jiri Dopita
June 23, 2001	To Florida Panthers Valeri Bure Jason Wiemer	To Calgary Flames Rob Niedermayer Philadelphia’s 2nd-round pick in 2001
June 23, 2001	To Florida Panthers 3rd-round pick in 2001	To New York Islanders 4th-round pick in 2001 3rd-round pick in 2002
June 30, 2001	To Florida Panthers Future considerations	To New York Rangers Dave Duerden
July 10, 2001	To Florida Panthers Ryan Johnson 6th-round pick in 2003	To Tampa Bay Lightning Vaclav Prospal
January 7, 2002	To Florida Panthers 5th-round pick in 2003	To Tampa Bay Lightning Dan Boyle
January 16, 2002	To Florida Panthers Sandis Ozolinsh Byron Ritchie	To Carolina Hurricanes Kevyn Adams Bret Hedican Rights to Tomas Malec Conditional 2nd-round pick in 2003
March 18, 2002	To Florida Panthers Igor Ulanov Rights to Filip Novak 1st-round pick in 2002 2nd-round pick in 2002 4th-round pick in 2003	To New York Rangers Pavel Bure 2nd-round pick in 2002
March 19, 2002	To Florida Panthers 5th-round pick in 2003	To New York Islanders Darren Van Impe
March 19, 2002	To Florida Panthers 6th-round pick in 2002	To Boston Bruins Jeff Norton

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 5, 2001 (2001-07-05)	Paul Elliott	Regina Pats (WHL)		Free agency
July 10, 2001 (2001-07-10)	Jeff Norton	San Jose Sharks		Free agency
July 27, 2001 (2001-07-27)	Brad Norton	Edmonton Oilers		Free agency
August 2, 2001 (2001-08-02)	Andrew Allen	Dayton Bombers (ECHL)		Free agency
	Wade Flaherty	Tampa Bay Lightning	2-year	Free agency
August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20)	Matt Herr	Philadelphia Flyers	1-year	Free agency
August 23, 2001 (2001-08-23)	Bill Lindsay	San Jose Sharks	2-year	Free agency
December 18, 2001 (2001-12-18)	Darren Van Impe	New York Rangers		Waivers
January 12, 2002 (2002-01-12)	Pierre Dagenais	New Jersey Devils		Waivers

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via	Ref
N/A	Yan Golubovsky	Metallurg Magnitogorsk (RSL)	Free agency (VI)
July 1, 2001 (2001-07-01)	Greg Adams		Contract expiration (III)
	Len Barrie		Contract expiration (UFA)
July 4, 2001 (2001-07-04)	Anders Eriksson	Toronto Maple Leafs	Free agency (UFA)
July 5, 2001 (2001-07-05)	Mike Wilson	Pittsburgh Penguins	Free agency (UFA)
July 19, 2001 (2001-07-19)	Richard Shulmistra	Eisbaren Berlin (DEL)	Free agency (VI)
August 14, 2001 (2001-08-14)	Peter Ratchuk	Pittsburgh Penguins	Free agency (UFA)
August 15, 2001 (2001-08-15)	Andrej Podkonicky	HIFK (Liiga)	Free agency (UFA)
September 13, 2001 (2001-09-13)	Paul Brousseau	AIK (SHL)	Free agency (VI)
September 21, 2001 (2001-09-21)	Ryan Bach	Sheffield Steelers (BISL)	Free agency (VI)
N/A	Sean Gauthier	Reading Royals (ECHL)	Free agency (VI)
October 2, 2001 (2001-10-02)	Chris Allen	B.C. Icemen (UHL)	Free agency (UFA)
	John Jakopin	Pittsburgh Penguins	Waivers
October 23, 2001 (2001-10-23)	Remi Royer	Pensacola Ice Pilots (ECHL)	Free agency (UFA)
March 19, 2002 (2002-03-19)	Bill Lindsay	Montreal Canadiens	Waivers

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 30, 2001 (2001-06-30)	Vaclav Prospal	1-year	Option exercised
July 5, 2001 (2001-07-05)	Niklas Hagman		Entry-level
	Kristian Huselius		Entry-level
July 16, 2001 (2001-07-16)	Dan Boyle	1-year	Re-signing
	Ivan Majesky	1-year	Entry-level
July 18, 2001 (2001-07-18)	John Jakopin	1-year	Re-signing
July 20, 2001 (2001-07-20)	Olli Jokinen	1-year	Re-signing
July 27, 2001 (2001-07-27)	Joey Tetarenko	1-year	Re-signing
	Rocky Thompson	2-year	Re-signing
August 14, 2001 (2001-08-14)	Marcus Nilson	3-year	Re-signing
August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20)	David Morisset	3-year	Entry-level
	Lance Ward	2-year	Re-signing
September 13, 2001 (2001-09-13)	Roberto Luongo	4-year	Extension
September 15, 2001 (2001-09-15)	Ryan Johnson	2-year	Re-signing
September 20, 2001 (2001-09-20)	Valeri Bure	3-year	Re-signing
April 16, 2002 (2002-04-16)	Lukas Krajicek	3-year	Entry-level
	Stephen Weiss	3-year	Entry-level
May 31, 2002 (2002-05-31)	Filip Novak		Entry-level
	Byron Ritchie	multi-year	Extension

Draft picks

Florida's draft picks at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft held at the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Stephen Weiss	Canada	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
1	24	Lukas Krajicek	Czech Republic	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
2	34	Greg Watson	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
3	64	Tomas Malec	Slovakia	Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
3	68	Grant McNeill	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
4	117	Michael Woodford	United States	Cushing Academy (USHS-MA)
5	136	Billy Thompson	Canada	Prince George Cougars (WHL)
6	169	Dustin Johner	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
7	200	Toni Koivisto	Finland	Lukko (Finland)
8	231	Kyle Bruce	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
9	263	Jan Blanar	Slovakia	Dukla Trencin (Slovakia)
9	267	Ivan Majesky	Slovakia	Ilves (Finland)

See also

• 2001–02 NHL season

References

• "Florida Panthers 2001-02 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
• "2001-02 Florida Panthers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2023.