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Panthers owner says he wants Islanders, not Rangers, in Round 1

Panthers owner says he wants Islanders, not Rangers, in Round 1

The Florida Panthers are the Atlantic Division champions, meaning that they’ll face whichever teams ends up in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. That will most likely be the New York Rangers or the New York Islanders, depending on which team most wants to not play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

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Panthers co-owner Doug Cifu was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio this morning to discuss the team’s division title and all the strangeness surrounding the team this season, from rats to Kevin Spacey to a lack of relocation rumors.

During the interview, he started talking about home ice advantage in the playoffs, and what that means for the first round:

“The great news is that we got home ice advantage for the first two rounds, because we won the division. The Rangers and the Islanders are both really strong teams. I don’t know which team I’d rather get.”

Thus ends the clichéd portion of Cifu’s answer. We’re now entering locker room bulletin board material.

“I guess the Rangers have a great, world class goalie. In a coin flip, I’d probably prefer the Islanders but it’ll be a great buzz down there. Obviously a ton of transplanted New Yorkers down there.”

Here's the full interview: 

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this statement at face. Henrik Lundqvist is a world-class goalie with a storied playoff history. The New York Islanders’ goaltending situation is … well, they started a guy named Gibson last night who wasn’t John or Mel. And the Rangers generally have a deeper team than the Islanders, and a coach that’s guaranteed to be there next season.

That said … WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

Yes, you’re stating the obvious. No, it’s not a state secret that you don’t want to face Henrik Lundqvist in a playoff series. But now the Islanders are going to come into that playoff series with a “you want us, you got us” chip on their collective shoulder and upset you and deprive us of that all-Florida Atlantic Division semifinal we all want to see.

But like Cifu said, there will be a large number of Islanders in Sunrise who will enjoy it.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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