BETWEEN THE PIPES: LuONGoING FOR STABILITY primepucks.com Tue 10/28/14 8:25 AM

Most likely, Roberto Luongo is not high on most fantasy poolies lists these days being the number 1 net minder for the Florida Panthers. After winning the Southeast division title in 2011-2012, the Cats have missed the playoffs as they continue to rebuild as GM Dale Tallon is masterminding the Florida resurgence that is to come.  Remember that he rebuilt the Chicago Blackhawks team that won the Stanley Cup in 2009-2010 with most of the core players still around for their second Cup win in 2012-2013 When Dale Tallon took over as GM of the Florida Panthers in 2010, you knew the game plan was to restore the Cats to being a more competitive team while stockpiling the cupboards with fine, young talent. After his first season as GM where the Panthers finished last in their division for the second consecutive year, Tallon's patchwork team worked wonders and the hot start of a line consisting Kris Versteeg-Stephen Weiss-Tomas Fleischmann catapulted the Florida Panthers to their first Southeast division title ever, restoring enthusiasm at the rink.  The past two years haven't been so kind to the Panthers but Tallon still held true to his vision and has selected some fine young talent at the entry drafts while continuing to acquire fine young talent wherever possible. What does all this have to do with Luongo? Well, Luongo returns to Florida where his NHL career began so there is familiarity to the team and location.  Secondly, his wife is from the Miami area so there is the serenity of home life that it brings as well.  Although the team is not projected to do very well this season by a lot of critics, there is hope on the horizon.  Just look at what Tallon has done with the defense alone.  At the beginning of the "Dale Talon era", The Florida Panthers chose 3 defensemen in the first round in the past 3 of 5 NHL Entry Drafts and in the other two drafts selected big center men in Jonathan Huberdeau (6'1" 171) and Aleksander Barkov (6'2" 205). Big, hulking defensemen such as 2010 draftee Erik Gudbranson (6'5" 210), 2011 draftee Michael Matheson (6'2" 189), and last year's Number 1 overall pick Aaron Ekblad (6'3" 216) were all brought in to complement Dmitri Kulikov (6'1" 196), drafted in 2009, to form a solid foundation in front of a goalie who had come within one game of winning the Stanley Cup in 2011. The future looks bright in sunny Florida, but what can you expect for this season? At first glance, you would think that Luongo isn't going to be seeing a lot of ...