Although it's probably not safe to say that Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers were just happy to get to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, it is safe to say that it was a cinderella run that no one saw coming. The Cats were the final seed in the Eastern Conference and made a miraculous comeback win over a Boston Bruins team that set all kinds of records in 2022-23, before marching all the way to the Finals.
Not this time. After winning the Atlantic Division in 2023-24 and dispatching the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, the Panthers enter this year's postseason championship as the betting favorites against Connor McDavid and the West champion Edmonton Oilers.
And Tkachuk, like last season, has been a catalyst. The 26-year-old leads his club with 19 points in just 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games, and will be relied on again as Florida looks to win its first-ever championship at the end of June.
The Scottsdale native explained just how this team is different than last year's roster at Stanley Cup media day on Friday.
“You guys have watched us the last couple series. There's nothing after the whistle. There's no nonsense or chirping or really anything that's not just playing hard,” he told reporters at Amerant Bank Arena, including ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. “So that's probably a big difference from last year. This year we're super disciplined. That's been our biggest achievement so far and probably our best asset.”
The star power forward added: “It's kind of like a Christmas Eve feeling right now. It's been a long week trying to keep your mind off it as much as possible, and just enjoy the warm weather outside as much as you can. But it's hard not to think about Game 1, and now that it's finally almost here, it's more exciting now.”
Game 1 is set for Saturday night in Sunrise, and there's a ton at stake for both franchises.
Tkachuk's Panthers, Oilers both desperate for a Stanley Cup
The Panthers have never captured Lord Stanley, getting swept in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final by the Colorado Avalanche and losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games last year.
But the roster is built to win, evidenced by the club coming out of the Eastern Conference two straight times. After the Lightning advanced to three straight championships between 2020-22, it's now been five consecutive Stanley Cup Finals featuring a team from the southern state.
The Oilers won five Cups in a seven-year stretch in the heydays of Wayne Gretzky, capturing hockey's ultimate prize in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. But they haven't broken through since, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2006 but losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in a heartbreaking Game 7.
Now, 18 years later, the Oil are back and looking to bring a championship to the city for the first time in over three decades. It promises to be a phenomenal series from start to finish, as a Canadian team looks to capture a championship for the first time since the Montreal Canadiens won it all in 1993.
But Tkachuk and his Panthers will look to make sure the trophy remains in America in a couple of weeks' time.
“I've kind of learned what works, and what works is playing as hard as I can for 30 to 45 seconds — well, sometimes I take the long shift, so 30 seconds to a minute — and just leave it all out there, come back to the bench and get rested for the next one. There's no need to waste your time doing extra stuff,” the superstar explained at media day.
Tkachuk will be a huge factor, but there's no shortage of storylines ahead of a maiden playoff meeting between the Panthers and Oilers on Saturday night.
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