When the Florida Panthers extended an invite to veteran David Booth tojoin training camp on a professional tryout contract, it seemed like one of the most likely PTO’s to turn into an actual NHL deal.
Drafted 53rd overall by the Panthers themselves at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Booth came on board as a returning fan favorite. The now-30 year old left wing from Detroit, Michigan had spent five full seasons with the Panthers to start off his pro hockey career, only leaving the team in the 2011-2012 season when he was sent to the Vancouver Canucks as a part of the trade for Marco Sturm.
In the time since, Booth has struggled to regain a reputation as the top six scorer he was when he was first on the Panthers. Once a 20-30 goal scorer in multiple seasons, Booth became known for injuries (particularly concussions, which the forward has now suffered on more than one occasion) and a lack of his original offensive prowess; by the 2014-2015 season, he was inked to a cheap one year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs that he didn’t manage to ink an extension for at the end of the year.
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I met David Booth during spring break my senior year of college. My Spring Break '15 Hockey Fan Trip-of-a-Lifetime is a story in itself, but I'll stick to just the Toronto leg for now. My two buddies and I (the two guys on the trip with me) were pretty close with David Booth's sister in college, so she set it up so that after the game we were going to in Toronto we could meet her brother, and also her mom.
Full disclosure, I had several too many Molson Canadians before said game.
We stumbled into the Air Canada Center, where I bought a Dion Phaneuf jersey on sale because I thought it would be funny and because "he's a pylon." There was a ceremony for some journeyman defender's 1000th game, I forget who. And the Maple Leafs lost to Minnesota. So all in all, great day already.
We went down to the concourse after the buzzer and met Mrs. Booth, who was really nice, and she took us down to where the families and friends meet the players after the game. (It was in this room where I saw the hottest perfect 10 girl I have ever seen in person. She turned out to be Richard Panik's model girlfriend...tall, blonde, Russian...but I digress.) David Booth got down there eventually, we chatted, he told us where to go get drinks after the game, we got a picture. In general a really cool guy.
That's why this story about him getting cut kind of sucks for me personally. Like 10 other people got cut on the same day, and I was just like, "Oh", and didn't think twice. But I met this guy one time and I'm sitting here trying to figure out where else he could go play this season, hoping someone picks him up. But hockey is a business, after all, and perfectly good players sometimes can't find a roster spot.
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