D Ed Jovanovski Named Florida Panthers Team Captain

SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers Head Coach Kevin Dineen announced today that D Ed Jovanovski has been named team captain for the 2012-13 season. He joins Brian Skrudland (1993-1997), Scott Mellanby (1997-2001), Paul Laus/Pavel Bure (2001-2002), Olli Jokinen (2005-2008) and Bryan McCabe (2009-2011) as the other team captains in the club’s 20-year history. In addition, the club announced F Stephen Weiss and D Brian Campbell have been named assistant captains.

Jovanovski, 36, was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers first overall in the 1994 National Hockey League Draft. He sits fifth all-time among Panthers defenseman with 319 games played and sixth with 96 points (32-64-96). The Windsor, Ontario native has also played in 76 postseason contests helping the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996.

For his career in the NHL, the 17-year veteran has played in 1,085 games for Florida (1995-1999 & 2011-current), Vancouver (1999-2006) and Phoenix (2006-2011) scoring 136 goals with 358 assists and 1,452 PIM. Florida signed Jovanovski to a four-year contract on July 1, 2011.

Florida opens their 48-game regular season schedule on Saturday, Jan. 19 when they host the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start as low as $7 a game and fans can call 954-835-PUCK or log on to Ticketmaster.com to purchase Opening Night tickets, season plans or single game tickets.

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