Kukla's Korner Hockey
Entries with the tag: tomas+vokoun
Is Vokoun A Proven Goaltender?
by Paul on 10/19/09 at 11:01 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Jay Feaster at The Hockey News,
Shortly after the 2006-07 season ended in another first-round playoff exit for the Tampa Bay Lightning, I began receiving calls from Predators GM David Poile offering to solve our goaltending problem by trading Tomas Vokoun to us.
Poile had been told to slash payroll and was looking to move high-dollar contracts. He suggested that our cross-state rival, the Florida Panthers, might also be in the hunt for a No. 1 goalie and if we didn’t make the move we could find ourselves facing Vokoun six or eight times a year in our division.
While we had goaltending problems in Tampa at the time, we were not interested in Vokoun. Our pro scouts were not sold on Vokoun’s ability to win a championship and thrive under big-game pressure and his contract was too rich for us, both in real dollars and available cap space.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
Vokoun Defends His Play From Last Season
by Paul on 09/21/09 at 04:37 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel,
Tomas Vokoun acknowledges he needs to be better early in the season. It’s the main reason the Florida Panthers goalie was on the ice in late July long before teammates arrived.
But Vokoun is a bit perplexed by some people’s perception that he didn’t play well at all last season.
“You know what? People make such a big deal. There were a couple, few parts I didn’t play and [Craig Anderson] played, but Andy played great. He totally deserved his playing time,” Vokoun said.
“I finished second in save percentage in the league. I can tell you, if that’s the case this year, I’ll take it right now. . . . As goalies, we both did very well. I think it was the strength of our team. That’s my opinion. Some people may have a different one.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
Save Of The Night
by Paul on 03/13/09 at 08:22 AM ET
Comments (1)
Tomas Vokoun of the Panthers with a great glove save on Thomas Vanek of the Sabres. Buffalo did defeat Florida 3-1.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Thomas+Vanek, Tomas+Vokoun,
A 14 Hour Trip To Practice
by Paul on 03/02/09 at 07:14 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Dave Joseph at FloridaPanthers.com,
Unable to fly due to an ear infection, Vokoun was joined by strength and conditioning coach Andy O’Brien and head athletic trainer Dave Zenobi while driving the approximate 640 miles between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.
Due to a winter storm dumping snow along the east cost, the trip, which began Sunday after the Panthers 6-2 victory in Washington, took 14 hours and was spread over two days.
After covering only 200 miles in six hours Sunday evening, the three decided to rest in Oxford, N.C., before driving the remaining distance Monday morning. Vokoun was in Atlanta by early afternoon and was practicing with some of his teammates at 2:30 p.m.
“I felt pretty good,” said Vokoun of his Monday practice. “You know, I haven’t played in a little time. I haven’t done too much the last four days. I felt terrible at first (in practice) but I knew I would improve.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
Move Tomas Vokoun Now
by Paul on 12/09/08 at 12:50 PM ET
Comments (0)
from John Grigg of the Hockey News,
He’s a top-10 goalie having a down season on a bad team. Over the past three seasons, he’s averaged 31 wins, a 2.60 GAA, .919 save percentage and four shutouts. No goalie averaging 50-plus games played over that period has a better save percentage than Vokoun. To put it simply, he’s good and a number of teams will likely fall all over themselves for a shot at acquiring him.
The Panthers have little to play for over the next few years. Their future is not now and once other goalies begin to be traded, Vokoun loses value as an asset. So as Denis Lemieux might say, “Trade heem right #$@*~!& now!”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
New Season For Panthers
by Paul on 10/07/08 at 10:36 AM ET
Comments (0)
from Dave Joseph at FloridaPanthers.com,
Vokoun, who has always worn his heart on his sleeve, enters the season more comfortable. He’s settled with his family in Florida, he feels optimistic about the team’s direction, and, more importantly, he returns for his second season with the Panthers looking at a new and improved blue line.
In fact, some consider the Panthers’ blue line to now be one of the elite in the league. Start with Jay Bouwmeester and Bryan Allen, a healthy Noah Welch and Cory Murphy, iron man Karlis Skrastins, and add veterans Keith Ballard, Bryan McCabe and Nick Boynton.
“We’ve definitely improved,” Vokoun said.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
Stars of the Week
by Alanah McGinley on 03/17/08 at 01:29 PM ET
Comments (0)
From NHL.com:
NEW YORK—Calgary Flames right wing Jarome Iginla, Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Petr Sykora and Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun have been named the NHL’s ‘Three Stars’ for the week ending March 16.
Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: jarome+iginla, petr+sykora, tomas+vokoun,
Goalie Talk
by Paul on 02/08/08 at 08:22 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Sam McCaig of the Hockey News,
Olaf Kolzig turns 38 the week the playoffs begin, and the longtime Washington Capitals stopper is finally showing his age. Among the 45 goalies who have appeared in at least 20 games this season, Kolzig ranks dead last – 45th – in save percentage, at .884. His 3.07 goals-against average is also near the bottom of the league.
While Kolzig’s stats suffer somewhat due to a still inexperienced defense corps in front of him, the truth is, he’s played far better with far worse bluelines in past years.
more and some Nabokov & Vokoun talk too....
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Evgeni+Nabokov, Olaf+Kolzig, Tomas+Vokoun,
Right Advantage
by Paul on 02/06/08 at 03:15 PM ET
Comments (1)
from Adam Schwartz of NHL.com,
Here is a hockey fact you might not have thought about. Only seven NHL goalies catch with their right hand.
To Tomas Vokoun, one of the lefties, the difference gives him an edge, a slight one to be sure, but an edge nonetheless. And we all know how goalies love those advantages, however small.
“It’s a little bit easier for me to stop left-handed shots and most of the players in the NHL have left-handed shots,” said Vokoun, the Florida Panthers’ top goalie. “Although, I don’t think it’s a significant advantage. I don’t think a goalie that catches with his right hand has a significant advantage.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
Vokoun Not In the Net
by Paul on 12/29/07 at 05:29 PM ET
Comments (0)
A few Panthers had some fun today at practice…
from On Frozen Pond,
In net: Jozef Stumpel. On offense: Tomas Vokoun.
While Vokoun and Stumpel traded equipment and assignments, Rostislav Olesz kept feeding the puck and trying to get shots past Stumpel. Vokoun also tried defending Olesz on a breakaway, one time flipping on Olesz’s first move. Fun stuff after a pretty hard practice.
Watch the video…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
We May Have A Problem Here
by Paul on 12/16/07 at 09:19 AM ET
Comments (4)
from the Miami Herald,
‘’We played so flat, there was no energy or work ethic whatsoever,’’ Jokinen said moments after the players finished a postgame meeting. ``When the game was 4-2, I think some of our guys stopped playing. That shouldn’t happen in this league. That’s a first-place team, but it’s not a lot to ask to work your back off every single shift. Play hard. I didn’t see that tonight, and that’s the scary part.’’
Said Vokoun: ``If you don’t want to play in games like this, you’re in the wrong business. . . . If [players quit], we have a big problem here.’’
more on the loss to the Wings…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Olli+Jokinen, Tomas+Vokoun,
Countrymen Everywhere
by Paul on 11/24/07 at 08:46 AM ET
Comments (0)
from the Sun-Sentinel,
At any time inside both the Panthers’ and Rangers’ dressing rooms this season, you can hear Czech spoken.
Both rosters have six players from the former Czechoslovakia, now split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia....
“It’s not something I can’t be without, but it definitely helps, no question,” Vokoun said. “You’re always close to people who grew up the same way and have gone through the same things. It’s very good for family life.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: florida+panthers, goalies, Tomas+Vokoun,
Everyone Has To Pull Their Weight
by Paul on 11/05/07 at 08:25 AM ET
Comments (0)
from the Sun-Sentinel,
Standing in the visitors’ dressing room inside RBC Center, goalie Tomas Vokoun pointed out all of this after Florida’s 4-2 loss at Carolina, and then said he couldn’t understand why the Panthers didn’t work hard.
“We’re not consistently doing that enough to be successful on an every-night basis,” Vokoun said. “We are whatever we feel like that day, and that’s just not winning hockey. If you want to be in the playoffs, you have to be a whole lot better than that.
“No team is going to give you an easy game and say, ‘We’ll just let you win tonight.’ Especially with our team, we need everybody pulling their weight. That’s the bottom line for us to win. If that’s not happening, we can’t blame anyone but ourselves. We’re on the ice.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: florida+panthers, goalies, Tomas+Vokoun,
Vokoun Returns To Nashville
by Paul on 10/27/07 at 10:18 AM ET
Comments (0)
from the Tennessean,
Under normal circumstances the Panthers likely would rest their starter tonight. But with the buzz sure to accompany Vokoun’s return, this isn’t a normal situation. Trotz said he would enjoy a matchup between Vokoun and his former backup, Chris Mason.
“I would love that,” Mason said. “I have a lot of respect for Tomas, and it would be a thrill to compete against him.”
Vokoun was not so sure.
“I have mixed feelings about that,” he said. “Sometimes people come back and say, ‘I have something to prove.’ I don’t feel that way. When I got traded I knew the exact reason why I was traded. Everyone was so nice to me from the bottom to the top. I play for Florida and want to win the game, but I wish nothing but the best for the Preds.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Tomas+Vokoun,
Vokoun’s Game Has Changed
by Paul on 10/10/07 at 10:20 AM ET
Comments (0)
from the Palm Beach Post,
Former Panthers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck and Terry Crisp, a former player and coach who’s now the Predators’ TV analyst, have noticed a slip in the enormous confidence that helped make Vokoun one of the league’s top 10 goalies.
“He’s had a lot of things happen the last couple years: the blood disorder, the thumb injury,” said Vanbiesbrouck, now a national broadcaster who worked Tuesday night’s Toronto-Carolina game for Versus. “Talking to him after all that, I thought everything was fine. Then I started focusing on him and saw he was a lot further back in the net than he had been.
“Before, he had been personified as a real rock - a guy who would challenge shooters and was hard to score on in the third period. Now he gives up four goals (to the Rangers) in the third his first game out.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: florida+panthers, goalies, Tomas+Vokoun,
From Luongo to Vokoun
by Alanah McGinley on 10/02/07 at 11:45 PM ET
Comments (0)
From Steve Gorten at the Sun-Sentinel,
Jacques Martin has never publicly said, and probably never will, that trading Roberto Luongo was a mistake, despite how it shook the Panthers’ organization.
Martin ultimately gave his approval of the trade to then-General Manager Mike Keenan not because he wanted to — Luongo was the reason Martin chose to coach the Panthers instead of the Coyotes — but because he felt he had no other choice after contract negotiations with the star goalie grew too contentious.
So Martin, the coach, made do with Alex Auld and Ed Belfour in goal. In June, Martin, the general manager, made a major move to stabilize that position and this franchise: He traded three draft picks to the Nashville Predators for goalie Tomas Vokoun.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: florida+panthers, goalies, tomas+vokoun,
Goalie Expectations in Florida, Boston and Toronto
by Alanah McGinley on 09/27/07 at 05:18 PM ET
Comments (0)
From the CP via Yahoo! Sports,
A trio of Eastern Conference teams feel they’ve made themselves better this off-season by acquiring goalies who couldn’t hold on to No. 1 jobs in the West.
Trades brought Tomas Vokoun to Florida, Manny Fernandez to Boston and Vesa Toskala to Toronto this summer and every one of those teams is hoping those guys can carry them to the playoffs.
Expectations might be a little high.
All three have shown some shaky form during the pre-season, although it would be foolish to put too much stock in the exhibition play.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: boston+bruins, florida+panthers, goalies, Manny+Fernandez, tomas+vokoun, toronto+maple+leafs, vesa+toskala,
