Peter Worrell had to dig into his memory bank again to remember the last time he scored a hat-trick.
For the curious. It happened in 1998. on January 27, to the New Haven Beast of the American Hockey League, less than three months away from making his NHL debut with the Florida Panthers.
That changed Wednesday, when the 45-year-old was known more for his skills as an enforcer than a scorer in the three-time Panthers-NHL alumni game at the Ice Den. Springs as part of the lead-up to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game on Saturday at Sunrise’s FLA Live Arena.
When Worrell scored his third goal early in the second period, players on the Panthers’ alumni bench threw their helmets onto the ice in celebration while those on the ice mobbed the 6-7 forward, who spent the first six of his seven seasons in the NHL. Panthers.
“This [hat trick] “It was a little different,” Worrell said, “but just as much fun.”
The alumni game featured 30 former NHL players, and the NHL alumni team defeated the Panthers alumni team 15-11 in a game that consisted of two 30-minute periods and a running clock.
The 15-man Panthers alumni team included two players from the 1995-96 team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals (Bill Lindsey and Ray Shepard), a pair of players who recently retired in Keith Yandle and Brian Boyle, and, of course, Hall of Famer the hall goalkeeper Roberto Luongo, who played in the center and scored the final goal of the game.
For several hours, different generations of Panthers shared the locker room and the ice as they played the game they had dedicated years of their lives to.
“The best part,” Luongo said, “was just hanging out in the locker room beforehand and talking about things that happened in our careers from there.”
Yandle added: “It was worth the price of admission. Just coming back here and playing in this game, coming to the locker room and hanging out with the guys, you miss it. You miss being in the locker room, you miss being around the boys, the smells, the sounds. It was a fun day.”
All proceeds from the event benefit the Florida Panthers Foundation. According to the team, the alumni game raised $50,000.
“It’s great, and I think it’s going to be even bigger,” Yandle said. “When you see things like that, I think there’s an opportunity for alumni to come together down here. There are plenty of guys who live here to get involved. They see the support we have received from the fans. It was a great night. Hopefully, the first of many.”
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