
A.J. Greer is making his Stanley Cup Final debut for the Florida Panthers in Game 3
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A.J. Greer is back in for the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night after missing the first two in the series against the Edmonton Oilers because of injury.
Coach Paul Maurice confirmed Greer would return on Florida's fourth line. Jesper Boqvist comes out of the lineup to make room for Greer, who will be making his first career appearance in the final.
'It's definitely a dream come true, but I'm not really trying to focus on that,' Greer said after the team's morning skate. 'It's another game for me and I'm just trying to enjoy it, but I'm not trying to associate anything bigger than just my next shift, really.'
Greer, 28, gutted through injury for part of this playoff run before exiting in the Eastern Conference final against Carolina when it was clear he wasn't healthy enough to stay in. Maurice lauded Greer for his lack of selfishness and an abundance of self-awareness to understand when the pain threshold was reached and do what's best for the team.
'Good on him for recognizing that,' Maurice said. 'We were fortunate that we were able to heal A.J. to a place that he's really confident in what he's doing. … He's been such a positive part of what we do.'
Greer almost wasn't here at all. A little over four years ago, he was languishing in the minors and almost giving up on his NHL dream.
'I was pretty much 24 hours away from just calling it, going to Europe and trying to just get a paycheck, trying to squeeze out every dollar that I can out of this sport and then live my life,' Greer said. 'Fortunately, things kind of bounced my way.'
Greer was essentially a throw-in as part of a trade to the New Jersey Devils that got the New York Islanders Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, who helped them reach the East final. Greer — who was a second-round pick of Colorado in 2015 and played 37 games for the Avalanche from 2016-18 — developed some confidence with the American Hockey League's Utica Comets and cracked the Devils' roster a few times.
Agent Philippe Lecavalier challenged Greer over whether he wanted to be an AHL player or adapt his style to be a role player in the NHL.
'You could say I wanted to try to prove him wrong,' Greer said. 'I kind of just went day by day, got better mentally, physically and matured with my game. I understood if I wanted to ever play in the NHL again, the way I have to play and the things I have to do — and I got a chance, so I'm very grateful for that. It all led up to here.'
At 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, Greer has been a physical force for Florida as the Panthers try to repeat as champions. He is one of the newcomers, along with their leading scorer in the final, Nate Schmidt, and teammates are happy to have Greer back.
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
'He's a pain to play against,' Evan Rodrigues said. 'He's a guy that can change the momentum of a game. He's heavy on the forecheck. For the most part, I don't think you want to get hit by him. He's a really good presence for us. And he chips in offensively. He lays the body. Just overall a pain the neck to play against.'
That came with time and trial and error as Greer learned how to have an impact with limited ice time. This spring brought his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and he has made the most of his nearly eight minutes a game.
'My game's grown, especially this year,' Greer said. 'My confidence has grown, and I'm ready to take on the biggest challenge that I've really faced in my career.'
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CTV News
37 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘O(ilers) Fortuna': Edmonton choir cheers Oilers on like only a choir can
Edmonton is cheering for the Oilers to take the lead again in the Stanley Cup Final, including the Chorus Inspira, in an octave all their own. The group, formerly known as the Richard Eaton Singers, rewrote the lyrics of the classic song O Fortuna to give the song an Oilers spin. 'Number one fans! Filling the stands! Proud to wear o-range and blue,' the choir sings. The famous song by Carl Orff is about the inescapable nature of fate, a force that Tim Shantz, the artistic director of Chorus Inspira, believes is on Edmonton's side in the Stanley Cup Final. He and his wife came up with the new lyrics, making sure to include all the starters. 'I've actually done different lyrics with this before, I know it's hard to say, even for the Calgary Flames when I lived in Calgary, but I was always an Oilers fan,' Shantz said. His favourite part in the song is 'Goodbye Tkachuk! We'll win the cup!' The performance was a surprise part of the encore for the audience at the Winspear Centre on Sunday where Chorus Inspira performed Carmina Burana, which O Fortuna is a part of. 'All the singers enjoyed sort of taking this on as an encore after just performing the piece,' Shantz said. 'It's great to get the response from the crowd too … It's really fun for us.' Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final takes Place Friday in Florida. If the Oilers win, they may want to consider adding O Fortuna to their victory playlist.


Ottawa Citizen
an hour ago
- Ottawa Citizen
The Edmonton Oilers are... America's team?
Sunrise, Fla. — Sonya Gabriel grew up in Alberta. but she has called Florida home for the past 25 years. Article content Wearing 1990s-era copper and blue Oilers' throwback jerseys, Gabriel and her husband, Sam, walked towards Amerant Bank Arena ahead of the faceoff of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Article content Article content Article content 'I've really been getting into it,' he said. Article content 'We'll see about Game 4,' said Sonya. 'We'll see how they do tonight.' Article content Article content Jay McIntyre and his son, Kyle, are rabid hockey fans from Philadelphia. Article content 'We're every NHL team's fan,' said Jay (Just not the Flyers or Panthers, it seems). 'We've actually been to 23 venues. We were actually going to go to Rogers Place this year, but we couldn't make it.' Article content 'Watching games that come from there, they just look so cool,' said Kyle. Article content Article content Getting to Edmonton is task No.1 left on their hockey bucket list, though. Article content 'I want to see McDavid lift the Cup for the first time,' said Kyle. 'The Panthers have already won it last year, so I'm, like, meh. It's somebody else's turn.' Article content 'I wanted to see them win last year,' said Jay. 'But I'm here to watch them this year.' Article content Shelly Shively is from Elk Rapids, Michigan. She arrived at the arena wearing an Oilers home blue jersey. The Red Wings? Not her thing. Article content She became an Oilers fan in 1987, during the Rendez-Vous series, which saw an NHL All-Star Team face the Soviet national side. Article content 'A friend of mine was already a hockey fan, and she asked me, 'Pick your player,'' Shively said. 'So I picked my player, and it was Mark Messier. So, the next day, I looked in the paper to see who he played for.'


Calgary Herald
an hour ago
- Calgary Herald
The Edmonton Oilers are... America's team?
Sunrise, Fla. — Sonya Gabriel grew up in Alberta. but she has called Florida home for the past 25 years. Article content Wearing 1990s-era copper and blue Oilers' throwback jerseys, Gabriel and her husband, Sam, walked towards Amerant Bank Arena ahead of the faceoff of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Article content Article content Article content 'I've really been getting into it,' he said. Article content 'We'll see about Game 4,' said Sonya. 'We'll see how they do tonight.' Article content Article content Jay McIntyre and his son, Kyle, are rabid hockey fans from Philadelphia. Article content 'We're every NHL team's fan,' said Jay (Just not the Flyers or Panthers, it seems). 'We've actually been to 23 venues. We were actually going to go to Rogers Place this year, but we couldn't make it.' Article content 'Watching games that come from there, they just look so cool,' said Kyle. Article content Article content Getting to Edmonton is task No.1 left on their hockey bucket list, though. Article content 'I want to see McDavid lift the Cup for the first time,' said Kyle. 'The Panthers have already won it last year, so I'm, like, meh. It's somebody else's turn.' Article content 'I wanted to see them win last year,' said Jay. 'But I'm here to watch them this year.' Article content She became an Oilers fan in 1987, during the Rendez-Vous series, which saw an NHL All-Star Team face the Soviet national side. Article content 'A friend of mine was already a hockey fan, and she asked me, 'Pick your player,'' Shively said. 'So I picked my player, and it was Mark Messier. So, the next day, I looked in the paper to see who he played for.'