It’s simpler to be the hunters than the Hunted. The Florida Panthers’ motto this season remains to be #timetohunt, nonetheless, different groups will attempt to get their spots because the defending Stanley Cup Champions attempt to go back-to-back.
Are the Florida Panthers the Crew to Beat This Season?
It’s not going to be straightforward for the Florida Panthers, both. Florida misplaced a number of key gamers on its backend this season, together with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour. On offense, they misplaced Steven Lorentz, Kevin Stenlund, Ryan Lomberg, and Anthony Stolarz between the pipes.
Basic Supervisor Invoice Zito saved Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell on extensions to stay with the Panthers core of Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, and Sergei Bobrovsky. On evening one of many common season, Carter Verhaeghe bought his new extension.
Even with this summer season’s additions and the season’s expectations, head coach Paul Maurice is aware of different groups will carry their finest each evening, particularly given the Panthers’ onerous model.
So we’ve bought, I’d say, 5 groups in our division that we confronted within the playoffs over the past two years, and it’s on when the Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins get collectively, Maurice mentioned. Prefer it’s as onerous a recreation as I’ve ever been behind the bench for. So now we’ve bought 5 or 6 of these groups, however that additionally leaves three or 4 groups in our division that groups will get wired up nearly final yr for our model of recreation. It’s going to be bodily, it’s going to be quick, after which now, I don’t assume anyone ever took us calmly, not that we’re that good, however we do play fairly onerous.
We already noticed by way of groups that the Bruins and Panthers have been in a bodily recreation. However as Maurice explains, there’s a historical past there, particularly the final two years within the playoffs. Then, in Ottawa, the Senators have been amped up of their residence opener to play the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Will the Florida Panthers Stay Aggressive Sufficient to Repeat?
That’s going to be each evening, too, and the Florida Panthers must be up for the problem. This season, this membership has a special mindset, being the defending Stanley Cup Champions as an alternative of making an attempt to win the final word prize.
We have now seen totally different coaches attempt totally different methods. Most famously, Invoice Belichick took down the previous glory from the hallways after the New England Patriots received the Tremendous Bowl. Nonetheless, Paul Maurice took a special strategy with the Florida Panthers.
We speak about it, we speak about it by way of day one, and we discuss so much concerning the adversity that we are going to face that’s essential. And I feel that that’s poignant to our gamers over the past two years, Maurice mentioned. Any time, we have been in bother, we have been eight or 9 factors out in January, and we had a extremely powerful schedule in January wasn’t wanting good, however the classes of adversity and the acceptance of adversity, that it’s so onerous to win a Cup, to make the playoffs on this league, it’s a problem, so that you simply form of settle for it earlier than it occurs, settle for how onerous it’s going to be earlier than it occurs. So while you get on the market and it’s onerous. It doesn’t shock you.
Properly, the Panthers might be coping with some adversity early on within the season, with Aleksander Barkov out of the lineup after struggling an damage in Florida’s second recreation late within the third interval. Barkov suffered a lower-body damage and couldn’t get off the ice alone. Fortunately, he’ll solely be out for 2 to a few weeks..
Who’s the Greatest Menace to Florida Panthers within the East?
The Panthers will lean on the adversity and classes realized from coping with essential gamers’ accidents. Keep in mind final yr, Brandon Montour (now in Seattle), Aaron Ekblad, and Mathew Tkachuk all handled accidents coming into the season. They lastly bought wholesome and located their recreation.
However Maurice is aware of that he has to maintain his workforce on degree floor and never let their egos get too huge, particularly after successful the Stanley Cup.
The problem is to not really feel particular due to what you probably did, that one way or the other it will get barely simpler, as a result of it received’t, not even the littlest quantity, Maurice mentioned. So so long as you settle for that when it will get onerous on the market, and we’re down to at least one in the course of the sport, it’s not the top of the world. That’s precisely the place we in all probability have been final yr right now, we figured a technique to grind one out.
Don’t anticipate the Florida Panthers to take an evening off; in the event that they do, anticipate their coach to provide it to them. Nonetheless, as NHLRumors.com has documented, the Panthers are nonetheless the category of the Atlantic Division.
