While the Florida Panthers failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, all was not lost when the final buzzer sounded.

The Panthers were in the hunt for a postseason berth right down to the final days of the regular season, falling six points shy of a spot and finishing with a 35-31-16 record. Their 86 points was a one-point improvement from last season. As a matter of fact, the Panthers became only the seventh team in NHL history to improve their record in four-straight seasons.

Several players had career season, starting right at the top of the scoring charts with Olli Jokinen. The Panther captain posted career highs in goals (39), assists (52), points (91) and plus-minus (plus-18), while also netting a team-high eight game-winning-goals. Jokinen's play down the stretch was one of the main reasons the Panthers were in playoff contention until the final days. The center had 15 goals and 16 assists with a rating of plus-17 over his last 20 games. Included in those 20 games was a franchise record six-point night (2-4-6) on March 17 in a thrilling 8-5 win over the Islanders and an eight-game point-scoring streak. Jokinen finished with 28 multi-point games on the year.
Southeast Division every week throughout the 2006-2007 regular season.

Two other veterans who had standout seasons were defenseman Ruslan Salei and forward Jozef Stumpel. Salei finished the year with six goals and 26 assists. His 26 helpers, 18 power-play assists, six goals and 32 points were all career bests. Stumpel, who registered 57 points in 73 games, scored a career-high 23 goals, nine which came on the power play and four of which were game-winners.

Forward Nathan Horton recorded his first 30-goal season of his young career. The 21-year-old not only finished second on the team in scoring, he also finished with career-highs in goals (31), assists (31), points (62) and games played (82). While Horton's '06-07 points total was good news for the Panthers, what was even better news is that his scoring increased for the third-straight season.

Another front-liner who had a breakout year was Stephen Weiss. The 24-year-old center notched the first 20-goal season, almost doubling his career-high of the 12 he scored in the 2003-04 season. Weiss ended the year with 48 points (20-28-48) in 74 games, which was a 19-point improvement over his previous career-high of 29 points, set back in the '03-04 season. Weiss was particularly productive when the Panthers had the man advantage, leading Florida with 10 power-play goals.

In a career high 75 games, 21-year old Rostislav Olesz improved all his NHL scoring stats, netting 11 goals and 19 assists. Olesz tallied his 11 red-lighters in nine different games this year. In the nine games in which he scored, the Panthers picked up at least one point. Overall, Florida was 8-0-1 in games which the youngster tallied a goal and was 11-1-3 when Olesz netted a point.

On the backend, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester had an outstanding year, finishing first on the team in plus/minus with a plus-23 and sixth on the team in scoring. Florida's top-scoring defender scored a career-high 12 goals and 30 assists in 82 games. Bouwmeester also posted career marks in power-play goals (3) and game-winning-goals (3). Before this season started, Bouwmeester had never recorded a game-winner in the NHL.

While they didn't post any career marks, veterans Ed Belfour and Martin Gelinas were consistent contributors.

Belfour, 42, netted a 27-17-10 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. The five-time all-star and one-time Cup winner was a mainstay in the crease for Florida, especially in the second half of the season from Jan. 20 to March 27 when he started in a franchise record 27-straight games. Belfour, who was voted team MVP by his teammates, also recorded one shutout, which tied him with Hall of Famer Tony Esposito for eighth on the all-time shutouts list.

The 36-year-old Gelinas played in all 82 games, finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 30 assists. Gelinas also contributed seven power play goals and one game-winner to the Florida cause this year.