Maybe there could be a whole new subset for the sports card industry. Mugshot cards!

With the season over and no hockey on the horizon for Ed Belfour, it seems that as the old adage goes idle hands make for troubled times.

Belfour and fellow Panther Ville Peltonen found themselves in trouble with Miami Dade Police early Monday morning after an alleged scuffle with a police officer which according to the Miami Herald resulted in Belfour having to be tasered.

The incident apparently spiraled out of control when Belfour is reported to have refused to leave a bar he had been requested to vacate, as the situation, Belfour would end up arrested and hauled off to jail for disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer without violence.

Peltonen in the mean time is alleged to have broken a metal pole off of a responding fire-rescue vehicle and was charged with criminal mischief.

By the time all was said and done, Belfour and Peltonen would be guests this morning of Miami Dade corrections, released later in the day after posting bond.

Both Belfour and Peltonen at least can say that they made new friends while in jail, Miami Dade Police had also arrested Miami Heat basketball player James Posey for DUI early Monday, at this rate the Miami Dade police may wish to disband their gang squad and set up a special unit to deal with unruly athletes.!

The Panther’s have withheld comment on the situation until they can investigate things further, but it’s just another bit of trouble that the team most likely would have preferred to not have had hoisted upon it. The brush with the law provides for an exclamation mark on a season where everything seemed to have gone wrong in Florida for hockey this year.

Even more telling is the fact that the Miami Herald reports that the two Panthers got into trouble after they went out to "celebrate the end of the season". Which kind of sums up everything you need to know about Panther hockey this year, the players were so glad to be done with hockey for the year that they couldn't wait to celebrate.

Panthers' Ed Belfour Is Arrested at Bar

Monday, April 9, 2007
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -

Florida Panthers goalie Ed Belfour was arrested at a popular South Beach bar early Monday after a scuffle with a police officer.

Belfour and teammate Ville Peltonen were at the bar when security guards from the club asked police to make Belfour leave, police said.

The 41-year-old hockey player refused and walked toward the officer "in a fighting stance" and pushed him, a Miami Beach police report said.

Belfour pulled away from the officer trying to arrest him and grabbed his shirt. The hockey player then fell forward on the ground, kicking and refusing to place his hands behind his back, the report said.

Belfour had slurred speech, blood shot eyes and smelled of alcohol, police said. He was charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer without violence.

Peltonen, 33, was charged with criminal mischief after he broke a metal pole off a fire rescue truck parked in the area, a police report said.

Belfour was released later Monday from Miami-Dade County jail on $1,500 bond. Peltonen was released on $500 bond.

"We have been informed about the incident that occurred last night and we are currently in the process of gathering all the information," the Panthers said in a statement. "We have no further comment at this time."

While playing for the Dallas Stars in 2000, Belfour pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest following a scuffle with a security guard at an upscale hotel.

He was sentenced to two years' probation and a $3,000 fine.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)