Welcome to my 3rd hockey writeup. I am interviewing Andy Sorensen today. He is a Panther fan from Minnesota. You can give him a follow at @Sorensen_andy on Twitter. Here is the interview:

Superk116: You live in Minnesota right? How is it like being a Panther fan in Minnesota?

Andy: I do. I get a lot of weird looks. One year at work for Halloween we could wear costumes to work. I wore my Panther jersey and only one person got it right.

Superk116: That’s weird for the State of Hockey I mean if you know the Wild you should know the other teams. Do you ever get to attend Wild-Panther games at the Xcel Energy Center (the home of the Wild)?

Andy: I don’t. I mean people know the Panthers a little bit because of Bjugstad being from here, but it’s not like people recognize them on the street.

Superk116: Oh, How did you become a Panther fan?

Andy: I came into the game in the stage between the North Stars leaving and the Wild coming’ so I’d watch whoever was on. Long story short, Wild never really caught on with me and after I got done covering the college game in college I could devote to an NHL team. I’m a native South Floridian, Vinny and Doug just bought the team and I had season tickets for about a year.

Superk116: Would you trade Jakub Kindl?

Andy: I wouldn’t. Depth Defenseman aren’t the worst thing to stock up on.

Superk116: Who do you think should be the 7th defenseman (Kampfer, Kindl, McCoshen, Pysyk or Petrovic)?

Andy: It’s very much a tough call: Kampfer and Kindl each have the experience  but I think are outclassed talent and potentialwise by the younger guys. That said, I’d go McCoshen

Superk116: How do you think Luongo will do in the postseason if we limit him to 55 games?

Andy: I think he’ll do fine. He has so much experience and I trust him.

Superk116: Trocheck and Smith. Do you think they are one hit wonders or long term key core players?

Andy: I think both are long term guys, no doubt. If you look at stats from last season for both, they more mirror what he’s done in the AHL and juniors/college where 20+ goal seasons aren’t out of the question.

Superk116: Which prospects (McCann, Rau, Shaw, etc.) do you think will be up in 2016-17 for the full season?

Andy: I’d be surprised if Rau doesn’t make the squad. The other name Id watch even though he won’t be up the entire year is Connor Brickley.

Superk116: Do you think Ekblad can reach 20 goals?

Andy: I think he can. His goal totals have been inching up by three each year (12 in 14-15 and 15 in 15-16) so I think there’s a shot he can even top that.

Superk116: Do you think instead of blaming the refs, Panthers fans should blame the players on the ice after the trip for ignoring Tavares and seeing the puck got loose or just keep on blaming the refs?

Andy: I’ve always seen blaming the referees as a pretty weak excuse unless the call was so blatant that they missed it. That said the Isles outmuscled and out worked us. Tavares just happened to get one favorable call.

Thanks to Andy for being a guest on my hockey Writeups. If you want to be a guest DM me on Twitter at @sun_puck. Don’t forget to give @sorensen_andy a follow too. Here are my hours for Twitter:

Monday-Thursday 7:45am-8:35am and 4:30pm-9:00pm

Friday: 7:45am-8:35am and 4:30pm-11:00pm

Saturday: 8:30am-11:00pm

Sunday: 10:45am-9:00pm

Holidays: It Depends