Florida Panthers Cheering For Teammates in Winter Olympics

Fans of the Florida Panthers have plenty to cheer for, the men's hockey tournament begins Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia. Current Panthers Tomas Vokoun (Czech Republic) and Dennis Seidenberg (Germany) are competing in these games, as are former Panthers Roberto Luongo (Canada) and Olli Jokinen (Finland), who both make Broward County their offseason home.These Olympics will be much different for former Panther Roberto Luongo, now with the Vancouver Canucks. He will be playing in his arena, just a few blocks from his home. Luongo will not be sleeping in his bed, however. Team Canada decided that its players will stay in the Olympic Village to enhance their Olympic experiences. And there will be plenty of pressure for Team Canada to keep the gold at home. "It's definitely exciting, and I can't wait to be part of that experience,'' Luongo said. "There's always pressure in Canada to perform at your best, and that's a good thing. It's your game, and we have to perform under those circumstances. It's a big deal". Canada is favored by almost all the annalist, and is by far the favorite to take the gold home. Current Florida Panther Tomas Vokoun has carried a pretty heavy workload for the Panthers during the past few months, he has started 21 consecutive games. He will be the starting goalie for the Czechs when they open late Wednesday night against Slovakia, so he actually has had a few days off to rest. Instead of playing every other night , as he is accustomed to, Vokoun took Sunday to travel to Vancouver, with practice days Monday and Tuesday before his team's first game. This is Vokoun's second trip to the Olympics; he helped the Czechs win bronze in 2006. Aside from Luongo and Jokinen, there are plenty of other former Panthers competing in the Games. Panthers TV broadcaster Steve Goldstein also will be in Vancouver, teaming with former Florida goalie John Vanbiesbrouck to call games on radio.