#4: Rat Throwing Panthers Take Down Feared Flyers- 1996 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Okay, this is the last time we’re going to talk about a third year expansion team making believers in the playoffs. However, you can’t see a list of the greatest playoff upsets and expect the 1996 Florida Panthers to be excluded. Unlike other expansion teams, the Florida Panthers had immediate success as a franchise.
During the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, their first two as a franchise, the Cats performed capably. They were a single point shy of reaching the playoffs in both years. However, no one could’ve imagined what would’ve happened in year three.
The team started the year by firing inaugural head coach Roger Nielson. This was a very controversial move at the time as Nielson had laid the groundwork for Florida’s great defensive structure. In his place, Doug MacLean stepped in as the bench boss. Just like with the 2003 Minnesota Wild, the team was mostly made up of grizzled veterans.
Of course there was captain Brian Skrudland who became the heart and soul of the team. The Panthers also sported Rob Niedermayer, Robert Svehla, Jody Hull, Dave Lowry, Johan Garpenlöv, Stu Barnes, Bill Lindsay, Tom Fitzgerald, Gord Murphy and rookie defenseman Ed Jovanovski.
However, the main backbone of the team was goalie John Vanbiesbrouck. When examining his career, it is easy to say that his best hockey was with the Panthers, even though he had won a Vezina Trophy with the Rangers. The man known as “Beezer” was the first major face of the franchise.
The player that would give the calling card to the team that year was Scott Mellanby. Right before the team’s first home game, a rat found it’s way into the cramped Miami Arena locker room. Mellanby in an effort to get rid of the fear in the room, hit the rat with his stick like a slap shot. The rat bounced of the wall and died. Then that same night against the Flames, he scored two goals while there were hairs of the rat stuck onto his stick tape.
The next morning in the Miami Herald, Vanbiesbrouck was quoted as describing the night for Mellanby as a “rat-trick”. A few nights later, a fan through a toy plastic rat on the ice and like that a tradition was born. By the time Florida made the playoffs hundreds of toy rats hit the ice after each goal was scored.
The Panthers quickly made work in the playoffs. In their first ever playoff series, they dispatched the Boston Bruins easily in the first round. They won the first three games before closing the series out in 5. Their second round opponent would be the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers were led by Eric Lindros who was the face of the franchise. In 1995-96, he had his best season scoring 47 goals and logging 115 points in the regular season. He was flanked by John LeClair and Mikael Renberg in what was know as the famous “Legion of Doom” line. There was also Rod Brind’Amour, Pat Fallon, Eric Desjardins, Joel Otto and starting goalie Ron Hextall.
In Philadelphia’s first round matchup, they took out the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Needless to say the Panthers had a lot to deal with in this matchup. In game 1, the Panthers made a big statement. In the CoreStates Spectrum, Florida made it a point that they wouldn’t get shoved around easily. Ed Jovanovski laid some big hits on Lindros and the Cats won 2-0 off of goals from Stu Barnes and Dave Lowry.
Philly would end up winning games 2 and 3 to take a 2-1 series lead. In game 4 at the Miami Arena, Rob Niedermayer scored two goals in the opening frame, including one on the power play. The Flyers would tie it up at 2 but then Florida regained the lead off a Stu Barnes goal with six seconds remaining in the second period.
After Mikael Renberg tied it up late in the third, the game had to go to overtime. Four minutes in the Panthers would tie up the series when Dave Lowry deflected in an Ed Jovanovski shot from the blue line. Game 5 was the same story. In a low scoring affair, Stu Barnes tied the game at 1 in the third period. The contest would not extend to one but two overtime periods. Eight minutes into the second overtime Mike Hough found a lose puck in front of a cluttered Ron Hextall and won it for Florida.
In game 6, the Cats dominated. They scored three unanswered goal to open the scoring sheet and would hold on to win 4-1. The Panthers eliminated the highly favored Flyers and went on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. They would advance to the Stanley Cup Finals before getting swept by Colorado.