Florida Panthers prep for third straight Stanley Cup appearance
In the past three years, no team has played more games than the Florida Panthers, and if they repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, they'll be among the few teams in recent memory with as much success as them.
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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
No state tax is why the Florida Panthers are succeeding? Not exactly, Bill Zito says
As the Florida Panthers prepare for their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final and attempt to win a second consecutive championship, there has been a lot of talk in hockey circles recently how a select group of teams possibly have an upper hand in the NHL because they play in states without an income tax. This applies to six teams: the Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken. So naturally, the topic was addressed to Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito on Tuesday during the team's media day ahead of their Cup Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers. Zito, who since being hired ahead of the 2020-21 season has taken the Panthers from a team that hadn't won a playoff series since reaching the Cup Final in 1996 to being one of the last two teams standing each of the past three years, scoffed at the notion that the lack of in-state tax is the primary reason for Florida's success, calling it 'marginal at best.' 'I think the most important thing for us in attracting players is I think the players have understood now how much we've been empowered by ownership to try to do the right things,' Zito said. 'And it can't be overstated what the Viola family has done for us to allow us to implement [what we need]. We need a new practice facility? 'OK. Here you go.' And it's beautiful. And to allow us the flexibility to try to do the things that we think are necessary to try to win and to try to have an excellent organization. I think the players feed on that. They know that if the chicken isn't right that we're going to get new chicken. And it sort of transcends all that we do. It sounds silly, but it's true and it's real. The sun doesn't kill us. It's a nice environment to live in. It's a good place for families. It's a good place for singles. It's got a little something for everybody and I'll point to [coach] Paul [Maurice] and the coaching staff and that room. Players know — I'm not going to go through each one — but so many of the players who have come to us have had career years, and it's a function of the coaches in the room. Players from the outside think that the tax thing is marginal at best, and I think the real reasons are that we're trying to figure out a way to do our best to try to win.' Checkers in the Final, too The Panthers aren't the only team in the organization playing for a championship. The Charlotte Checkers, Florida's American Hockey League affiliate, advanced to the Calder Cup Finals on Tuesday after completing a four-game sweep of the Laval Rocket in the Eastern Conference finals. Charlotte clinched the series with a 3-2 win, rallying back from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of goals in the second period before Jesse Puljujarvi scored the game-winner with 2:04 left in regulation. This is the first time since 2008 that teams from the same organization have reached the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup Finals in the same season when the Pittsburgh Penguins and their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did so. The last affiliates to win both championships in the same season were the New Jersey Devils and Albany River Rats in 1995. Charlotte will play either the Abbotsford Canucks (the Vancouver Canucks' AHL affiliate) or the Texas Stars (the Dallas Stars' affiliate) in the championship.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Panthers ready to face off against Oilers in Stanley Cup Final rematch
The second incarnation of the Florida Panthers against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final opens in the opposite corner of North America from a year ago. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Edmonton, where fans in the hockey-crazed capital of Alberta get to see their team start a series at home for the first time during this playoff run. "To be able to start the Stanley Cup Final on home ice, you can just feel a buzz in the city and these people deserve it," NHL MVP finalist Leon Draisaitl said. "They've waited a long time for this and, obviously to us, it's all about finishing it." Panthers going for back-to-back wins Starting at home last year, the Panthers went up two games to none and won the first game in Edmonton to take a 3-0 series lead. They lost the next three before winning Game 7 to capture the first title in franchise history. Florida is in the final for a third consecutive season and is four wins away from becoming the NHL's first back-to-back champions since cross-state rival Tampa Bay in 2020 and '21. "It's why we're here: We're playing hockey in June for the third straight year and a chance to be a part of history," standout winger Matthew Tkachuk said. "We've had two kicks at it so far, and they've been very different summers, so we're hoping for the good one." The Panthers have won 10 of 11 playoff series since Tkachuk joined in a trade from Calgary in 2022 and coach Paul Maurice took over that same offseason. As one of those 10 opponents who ended up on the wrong side of the handshake line against the burgeoning hockey powerhouse in South Florida, the Oilers don't want history to repeat itself. But veteran defenseman Mattias Ekholm, back from an extended injury absence, doesn't want to load up too much pressure on Game 1. "You ask every single guy in our locker room, we want to come out flying, we want to play great and we want to win Game 1," Ekholm said. "You go to their locker room, they're probably saying the same thing. One team's going to win it and one team's not."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Excitement mounts as Oilers get set for Game 1 of Stanley Cup final
The anticipation in Edmonton is building as the Oilers prepare to take the ice against the Florida Panthers. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final gets underway on Oilers home ice Wednesday night, and some fans didn't mind traveling for the occasion. On Tuesday, Neil Boyle landed in Edmonton, newly arrived from Oregon. "This is the ultimate lifetime chance to go to a Stanley Cup game. I never thought I would. So I started looking for tickets, found some tickets, got tickets for Game 1 and Game 2 and here we are," he said. Boyle's Canadian connection is through his mother, who was born in Kelowna, B.C. "But I became an Oilers fan primarily because of Gretzky. He was awesome," he said in an interview inside the Edmonton Oilers Team Store. Deepak Sharma, who was also looking at team merchandise, moved to Canada roughly three years ago and started watching the Oilers last year, when the team also made it to the Stanley Cup Final but lost to the Panthers in Game 7. Everyone at his workplace was sporting an Oilers jersey, he said, and he didn't have one; he was trying on jerseys to find a way to support the team. In a tribute to Oilers' players, ice from various Canadian hockey rinks with connections to players on the team was collected through the first-ever This Is Our Ice initiative by Rogers. The thermoses of ice were mixed into the ice-making tank of a zamboni at Rogers Place and used to resurface home ice ahead of Game 1. In Edmonton, it was scraped from a face-off circle at Confederation Arena, where goalie Stuart Skinner used to play. "It's going to be more interesting for the players, if they understand where all that ice came from, to take them back," said Barry Swanson, who works on special projects with City of Edmonton arenas. "Hopefully that takes them back a little bit to some of those days where all of the hard work and all of the traveling and all the fun they had is now paying off and it's now bringing their dreams to fruition hopefully." Meanwhile, in Newmarket, Ontario, viewing parties will be held to watch captain Connor McDavid, who hails from the community, and the team. Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said the community is buzzing with excitement and crowds will be able to gather at what has been dubbed Connor McDavid Square. "We want to give people a way to come together to enjoy the moment. It's a special moment for this community. Hockey is a big deal in Canada and it's a big deal in Newmarket and Connor McDavid is our hometown hero," said Taylor. "To have him hailing here from Newmarket, I think it's an inspiration to all kinds of athletes … So many people have memories of Connor and his family." Quinn Phillips, host of The Bits, a sports podcast, said that there are two things that are different for the team this year compared to last year. "One, home ice advantage. Just being able to be here, they've been so good at home, kind of just be relaxed at home. And then the other thing for me that I think is really important is the experience. You have to learn how to win, and the Oilers have been doing that over many years now," she said. "You can see it in their composure. You can see it in the emotional output that they've given to the other series." Last year, the Oilers were down 3-0 and clawed their way back to force Game 7. Phillips said it will be pivotal for the team to start off strong. "It is an entirely different series emotionally and physically if the Oilers can find a way to win one of those first two games because then you're not digging out of a monster hole that's very difficult to get out of." As for a prediction, Philips points to the number five. "They have five Stanley Cups, they won their last two series in five games, so I am playing on they're going to win this in five. I'm just going with the number five this year being the big number for the Edmonton Oilers," she said with a smile.
