Florida Panthers cancel rookie camp and tournament

Evidently the Florida Panthers aren’t taking any chances when it comes to the impending lockout.

The team announced last week that they intend to cancel their third annual rookie camp and tournament due to the uncertainty surrounding ongoing labor negotiations between the NHL and NHL Players Associations.

For the past two seasons the Panthers held a pre-training camp rookie camp and tournament at Saveology.com Iceplex. The first camp in took place in 2010 with the Nashville Predators, and then the Tampa Bay Lightning were added to the event last summer.

The camp would have featured rookies from the Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins and was slated to run from Sept. 15-19. Details of the camp had not been previously confirmed however.

News of the Panthers cancelling their rookie tournament comes on the heels of the Detroit Red Wings similarly announcing that their annual prospects tournament was cancelled due to doubt surrounding the upcoming season.

Eight teams were scheduled to appear at the annual prospect tournament hosted by the Red Wings in Traverse City, Mich., including the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres.

The Florida Panthers are scheduled to open their preseason with a day-night doubleheader against the Predators on Sept. 24. They are scheduled to begin the regular season at home against the Lightning on Oct. 13.