"The three-hour flight from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas was very rough for young goalie Tyler Plante, and it had more to do with the turbulent nature of professional sports than any atmospheric disturbances.

While most of his teammates were making the one-day turnaround to play the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, Plante was waived before they took off. If he clears waivers on Friday, he will join the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, in nearby Austin, where they play the Texas Stars. After the game, the Panthers also sent center Tim Kennedy to join the Rampage.

Plante, 24, was given a small window of opportunity to earn a backup role behind projected starter Jose Theodore after Scott Clemmensen underwent knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on Monday.

However, that window slammed shut on Plante after he allowed four soft goals on 16 shots in Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss to Dallas, while Jacob 'goalie of the future' Markstrom stopped all 10 shots in the first 31:02."