" On the night Olli Jokinen was traded from the Panthers to the Phoenix Coyotes, he was entertaining friends at his house in western Broward County.

``This will always be home,'' he said June 20, 2008.

Apparently those weren't empty words. For Jokinen, South Florida has really become his home.

He comes back Saturday.

Jokinen, the former Panthers captain who played in Florida from 2000 until the draft-night trade to the Coyotes, will play his first game at BankAtlantic Center since the Panthers' home finale of the 2007-08 season when the New York Rangers play Florida at 7 p.m.

``This is going to be a special game,'' Jokinen said from Tampa on Thursday night. The Rangers played the Lightning on Friday.

``It'll be nice to go back there. I have a lot of good memories in that building. But it will be weird. I don't know what to expect, but I think there will be some booing and cheering. I really did enjoy my time playing for the Panthers. There's a good group of hardcore fans there, and I got to know a lot of them. Hopefully, there's a lot of people there.''

At the end of the 2007-08 season, there were plenty of whispers that Jokinen's time with the Panthers had expired. A few days after that season ended, Jacques Martin was fired as coach but asked to stay on as the general manager."