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Unfamiliar with Boston’s hometown draws, Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell look forward to Thursday 10.20.10 at 4:08 pm ET
By DJ Bean
Gregory Campbell said he enjoyed away games as a Panther so he could play in front of a crowd (AP Photo)

Gregory Campbell loved his time in Florida, but looked forward to road games so he could play in front of a larger crowd (AP Photo)

WILMINGTON — What you’re about to read is pretty sad stuff. It’s another entry in the series of the Bruins’ rescue mission of saving a couple of Florida Panthers from a smaller fan base and a team that failed to make the playoffs during their tenures. Without further ado:

Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell both played their entire careers in Florida prior to being acquired by the Bruins in June in the Dennis Wideman deal. It was as members of the Panthers that the two forwards learned the NHL game and established themselves in the league.

Though they saw a lot of things on the ice in Florida, looking above it and into the stands didn’t allow them to see much. In four of Horton’s six seasons in Florida, the Panthers finished 22nd or worse in attendance. As the Bruins prepare for their home opener on Thursday against the Capitals, it’s only natural that the Garden will be packed with die-hards donning their black and gold. After all, it goes without saying that the fans show up to see the home team, right?

Maybe not. Asked what types of games led to higher attendance in Florida, Horton noted that on games in which the opponent was a more popular team from the northeast, larger groups of that club’s fans would show up to root against the home team.

“[The attendance] went up when we played Canadian teams just because there were a lot of people from Quebec down there, but they were not cheering for the Panthers,” Horton said.

That’s brutal.

“It was,” Horton said. “Some nights you’d get no one. Some nights you’d get a lot of people when you were playing a good team like a Canadian team. It was just the way it worked, I guess.”

During the stretches in which attendance was low, the players took solace in using the crowds of other teams if they wanted to get a better sense of a fan base. If you think the low turnout for the Panthers tells the story of just how bad the situation was in Florida, an honest quote from Campbell just may push things over the edge.

“I actually always enjoyed playing on the road with Florida just because we could get that atmosphere,” Campbell said. “Not to say it wasn’t good to play at home, but [Horton] is right when he says that the bigger draws that we got were from the northeast teams and the Canadian teams. To play in front of a sold-out crowd and a crowd that’s really behind you is going to be pretty special.”

There are bad hockey towns, and there’s depressing. Neither player will say a negative word about the Panthers or their fans, a respectable move for something that undoubtedly must have been frustrating at times. But that’s in the past. The two players will now be playing for a home team that fans line up to see, and they’re glad the opportunity has finally come.

“It’s definitely nice [to be the team the fans are coming to see],” Horton said. “The crowd was so loud, even in preseason. They get so excited and it makes you want to win. It makes you push harder.”

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  • Marc

    Yeah that’s right it is in the past. The Florida Panthers, under new owner Cliff Viner and new general manager Dale Tallon now have 10,000+ season ticket holders, something the team hasn’t had in ten years.

    I have been a season ticket holder with the Panthers for eight years, and a fan for much longer. if Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell want a reason for the low attendance during their time in South Florida tell them to look in the mirror. Maybe if they played the way they are playing in Boston, instead of being two of the laziest players on the Panthers, things might have been different.

    It is really pathetic when players have to bash a fan base like this, and it’s even more pathetic that the media writes up this garbage. Mr.Bean I invite you down to a game this year to meet myself, along with a bunch of other Panthers fans who tailgate before every home game. I will personally purchase a ticket for you just so you can see how “sad” the Panthers fan base is. Maybe if you so called reporters would actually do your own research instead of relying on lazy, bitter players, you may actually get some stories right and have some credibility.

  • Cats Fan

    Campbell had a lot of heart and always played a high tempo game. His work ethic should never be questions and he actually wanted to stay in Florida, the fact that anyone would even care to write an article like this shows how pathetic they are that they’re desperate to find any type of news to print. As far as Horton goes he was always lazy, the year he scored 31 he pretty much had Jokinen (who had a career year that season) doing all of the work for him, if you want a good example of this just look at what Thorton did for Cheechoo. Horton had a history of arguing with coaches who were trying to push him to live up to his potential and he just never cared, especially as soon as he signed a long term contract. Here’s a hint, if you don’t like playing somewhere then don’t sign a long term contract, and if you do then you damn well better earn your paycheck. Just wait up in Boston, soon enough they’ll need to install a lazyboy next to the bench for Horton to park himself in.

  • Alex

    Funny how this article doesn’t mention how the Panthers havent sniffed a postseason win since 1997. what other franchise south of the border would sustain consistent fan support under those dismal circumstances? Not many.

    Absolutely terrible article written by someone who couldn’t be more ignorant on the situation. Campbell is far from lazy, but he is absolutely terrible and I find it funny how he’s losing his balance in the picture above. Get ready to see that alot, Boston! Horton is talented but once the fire burns out (and be sure, it will, he’s a lazy slug by nature) – you’re going to be slamming your head against the wall every 5 games out of 6 he decides not to show up and compete.

    Enjoy!

  • DJ Bean

    I apologize if anything I have written comes off as offensive to Panthers fans, and you most certainly have the right to criticize whatever you read, but the players said nothing negative about the Panthers or their fans. They’ve both actually spoken quite highly of their time in Florida since arriving here. Thanks for reading.

    -DJ

  • Cats Fan

    It becomes really upsetting to hear the same story over and over again ever since the trade went down. These two never amounted to anything while here and in Hortons case got a lot of scrutiny for being lazy and lacking heart when he stepped on to the ice. Our team has traded far better players in the past such as Pavel Bure, who never once spoke a word of negativity towards the fans or anything. Hell he can even be spotted in the crowd at games still he loved his time here so much. Jokinen during free agency had mentioned how he had interest as well about returning. If Boumeester and Luongo didn’t have their heads so far up their own asses maybe they would have stuck around as well (by the way Luongo was voted the most overrated player by his peers and Boumeester was also somewhere on the list) so that doesn’t even say much for them.

    The main thing that bothers me about the negativity towards our fan base or lack of is that it’s coming from C-listers, let a superstar like Bure say it, then maybe it’d be more creditable.

  • Marc

    “There are bad hockey towns, and there’s depressing.”

    How can you not consider that offensive towards the fan base? What if I were to write an article about how Boston is depressing and sad in terms of baseball fans?

    Honestly, have you ever been to Florida yourself and attended a Panthers game?

    Also, for those games involving Canadian teams Campbell and Horton I guess forgot to mention that for the past couple of years those games have been pretty divided 50/50, and during the 08-09 season in which the Cats tied for a playoff spot but lost out based on a tie breaker there were more Panthers fans then out of town fans.

    Like Cats fan said it is just tiring hearing the same story over and over from players who did nothing to improve the situation down here.

  • Coop

    Hey DJ,

    Its a disappointment to hear the view of previous Panther players. I can’t disagree that there have been plenty of nights in the last few years that the Canadian crowd surpassed the amount of Panther fans in the seats. What I can say is that the people who could have changed that are the players. Campbell always appeared to play with a love of the game in his step but unfortunately that cannot be said about Horton. I do not mean it in a disrespectful manner only stating what I observe at Panther games. It was confirmed when Mr. Tallon came on board and asked each player if they wanted to be here…and Horton said he didn’t want to be. As a fan of the sport & a faithful supporter of my Panthers, we have been through some of the worst business decisions, GM’s, unfair trades and general bashing in the league. Please Mr. Bean, refrain from adding to the bashing. Its a new season, we’ve got a positive change in ownership, we have a GREAT GM who’s leadership speaks volumes to the players and fans, and our home opener was kick-butt!
    Maybe you can come with the team for Horton’s return in November. I don’t think he’s going to get a reception like Gagne or Modano did.
    I wish the bruins a great season, I hope Campbell and Horton are improved additions to your team.
    Thanks for letting me put my 2 cents in.

  • Kyle

    Wow DJ apparently you managed to offend all 4 of the Florida Panthers fans! I like the article and I like what I have seen so far from Campbell and Horton. To all the “Cats” fans: these two guys probably should have given an empty non-disparaging quote about their time in Florida but they didn’t. They were honest and I find it refreshing. I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been playing at your “Home” ice where you are supposed to be awarded an advantage from the 7th man and the visiting team had more fan support(like when the Sox go to Baltimore). As you guys admitted in your comments your team has been run pretty poorly for a while. We have had some pretty bad GM’s and owners in Boston too (Dan Duquette, The Jacobs get a pretty bad rap too), the difference is we always came out to support the players on the ice/field and that is the difference between a real sports town and the depressing sports town. I’m sorry u live in Florida.

  • deano

    I have to agree with the Bean. Clearly Florida is not an ideal location to have an NHL team, alot of the fans are transplants from places where hockey is actually played like Canada, the northeast and the midwest. You would be hard pressed to find a rink in every floridian town like what you have in MA. The real difference is alot of people in Boston’s market grew up playing ice hockey and following the Bruins. These fans, like myself, will stick with the Bruins no matter how bad they suck. In Florida I am sure you have some die hard fans but not clearly as many as other real NHL Cities.

    The Panthers will never be competitive for a long period of time because they keep letting their talent walk out the door. Sorry Luongo is far better than any of the goalies in the Panthers system. Also Horton is far better than Wideman (I’d rather have talented and lazy than someone who just plain sucks). In my opinion the Panthers are one of the teams that has lead the NHL to be less talented by having too many teams. The expansion of the league has hurt the level of play and if you want to see an example of how fast the game could be, watch the olympics. The size of the rink is not the only difference, teams like Russia and Canada are stacked with talent and far more fun to watch because of it. With all these teams being in non hockey cities it really has spread out the talent and lowered the level of play in the NHL. Panthers may put it together for one season maybe two and generate excitement but they will never sell out consistently or put together the next NHL Dynasty, sorry. The NHL will never be the NBA and should stop trying to be.

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