Florida at the beginning of what seemed to be a long and difficult uphill climb, have now surfaced with some pizzaz of actual contenders for the playoffs.  Between October 27 and November 23 they lost 12 games in a row but now led by an unlikely Jozef Stumpel, the Panthers are making a huge turnaround.  Stumple has scored 16 points in December so far, a distant cry from what his contribution was prior to this month.  How real is this Panthers team?  They outscored the seemingly unbeatable Sabres on Friday, that may be some proof.