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.
'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
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark will miss 5th game with quad strain but could soon start 'ramping back up'
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, right, and guard Sophie Cunningham celebrates on the bench in the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics in Indianapolis, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark will sit out a fifth consecutive game with a quadriceps strain when Indiana visits Atlanta on Tuesday, shifting the focus to whether the Fever star will return against the WNBA champion New York Liberty. Indiana coach Stephanie White stopped short Monday of saying Clark had been cleared for basketball activities, saying the club was ready for the reigning Rookie of the Year to start 'ramping back up.' Advertisement The Fever initially said Clark would miss at least two weeks, and it has been 16 days since Clark was injured in a 90-88 loss to the Liberty. She finished the game, saying later adrenaline likely allowed her to play with the strain. Clark told reporters last week she was targeting a Tuesday return, but said she wouldn't rush it. White reiterated the patience part Monday. The rematch with the Liberty isn't until Saturday at home, which should give Clark some decent practice time. 'We're going to be smart, and we're going to be cautious and we're going to play the long game and work her back in very intentionally,' White said. Clark is averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists and six rebounds in four games this season. This is the first time in her college or pro career that she's missed games. She averaged 19.2 points and a WNBA-leading 8.4 assists as a rookie. The Fever are also without guard Sophie Cunningham, who has been limited to four games by ankle injury. White ruled out Cunningham against the Dream. ___ AP WNBA:
Hamilton Spectator
25 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Top NHL draft prospects have breakfast with Marchand, meet McDavid at the Stanley Cup Final
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Visiting the Stanley Cup Final weeks before hearing their names called early in the NHL draft, top prospects Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, James Hagens and Jake O'Brien got a surprise at the Panthers' practice facility on Monday. Brad Marchand pulled up a chair and joined them for breakfast. The 37-year-old veteran shared some laughs and chatted with them hours before he and the Florida Panthers face the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3. 'You think you're just going to say hi, and then you're sitting at a table with Marchand and he's talking to you,' Schaefer said. 'We were talking about the draft and the (scouting) combine, and he was like, 'I didn't get to go there.' And he's laughing, and I'm like, 'Well, look where you are now: You're in the Stanley Cup Final.'' Schaefer, Misa, Hagens and O'Brien also met Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and took in the Oilers' morning skate. Schaefer first met McDavid in January when the three-time MVP returned to Erie, where his No. 97 was retired by the Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. This interaction — in the arena where McDavid was drafted first a decade ago — went a little smoother. 'I didn't think I was going to have to talk at his jersey retirement, and then I ended up talking to him,' Schaefer recalled. 'I ran out of things to say, and I ended up looking at McDavid and go, 'I'm proud of you.' Nobody would say that.' Schaefer is NHL Central Registry's top-ranked prospect, though there is still considerable debate as to whom among Schaefer, Misa and Hagens the New York Islanders will select with the first pick after winning the draft lottery . Hagens grew up on Long Island cheering for them and went to games at Nassau Coliseum. Recently, he saw a bumper sticker that read, 'Bring Hagens home,' but he's also a realist about the possibility of his hometown team not selecting him. 'I just want to be (with) a team that wants me the most — I want to play for any of these teams,' Hagens said. 'It's just a competitive nature that you want to be the first person off the board. It's exciting, so I can't wait.' RNH a game-time call Edmonton's longest-tenured player, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, missed practice Sunday, skated some on Monday and is considered a game-time decision, coach Kris Knoblauch said. It is not clear what is ailing Nugent-Hopkins, though he is expected to take part in pregame warmups. Jeff Skinner, who played an NHL-record 1,078 regular-season games before finally making his playoff debut earlier this spring, is on standby if Nugent-Hopkins cannot go. Skinner has been a healthy scratch for all but two of the Oilers' 18 games this postseason. 'It's just part of being a team,' Skinner said. 'You've got to have guys who are ready to step in when there's an opportunity.' 'Trading' Barkov Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov did not register a point in either of the first two games of the final and has a minus-4 rating. Leave it to coach Paul Maurice , ever the jokester, to cut the tension. 'We're trading him.' Maurice quipped. 'No, I'm not (worried) at all. There's action at both ends of the ice all the time. I don't think this is a statistical series because it's not relatable to series that you played in the past. Shot attempts, the sheer volume of quality offense driven by both teams and at the same time, both teams are defending very well. He got a minus on the 4 on 4 with a heck of a shot block, but it's in the back of the net.' Barkov recently won the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward for a third time. He played a big role in keeping McDavid off the scoresheet in Game 7 of the final last year when Florida won 2-1 to capture the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
USA Today
33 minutes ago
- USA Today
Darius Garland injury update led to fans searching 'what is a great toe?'
Darius Garland injury update led to fans searching 'what is a great toe?' The biggest reason the Cleveland Cavaliers' 64-win season went down the drain was injuries. Arguably, the most consequential injury pertained to All-Star point guard Darius Garland, who missed four games in the middle of Cleveland's playoff run with something similar to turf toe. When Garland later returned as the eventual Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers eliminated the Cavaliers, he was clearly not himself. You might (understandably) think that an explosive athlete like Garland simply couldn't play through a tricky injury to the most important of his (ahem) phalanges. But maybe, just maybe, it's because he doesn't actually have a "big toe" like all other eight billion people on planet Earth and, quite literally, everyone else in human history. No, no, dearest readers. Garland apparently has a "great toe." That's at least according to ESPN's Shams Charania, who reported that Garland underwent surgery on his injured ... great toe. I'm not entirely sure what Charania is talking about. Neither did any NBA fans who looked up what a great toe is on X. But we can make educated guesses, can't we? That's right. It's INVESTIGATION time. A cursory Google search tells me that a "great toe" is just another name for a big toe. That makes sense, and it's what I thought initially anyway. I didn't actually believe that Garland was superhuman and had different anatomy than everyone else ever to walk this floating rock in space. That would be silly and rooted in absolutely zero logic. I know better. You know better. We all know better. The caveat here is that I've had a pulse for over three decades. Never in my life have I ever heard anyone refer to a big toe as a "great toe." Not in school. Not informally amongst family or friends. Not in a medical environment with so many check-ups over the years. Not on television. Not in movies. Not in music. Not in video games. Not on social media. Not once. Also, remember that I write professionally for a living. You would think, at a certain point, that I would be exposed to someone at least writing "great toe" in an email, in a group chat, or in Slack, what have you. Maybe I would've seen it in some other news publication. And nope! It's never happened. Not a single instance. So, there's a rather simple explanation here. Consider the source of Garland's injury/surgery update, Shams Charania. Please note that Charania, like the others in his "scoop artist" line of work, is able to report these kinds of things specifically because agents fill them in after they've established a healthy rapport. And, pray tell, how do you establish a rapport with the agent of a professional athlete? You launder your update about the players they represent through the language they specifically want. In exchange, they let you share that news. In this case, it's not a stretch to assume that Garland's agent wanted Charania to describe his client's big toe as a great toe. Why? Because he's not like the rest of us. He's a one-of-one NBA star, folks. His toes are special. No, wait, they're great. Never mind that no one with functional brain cells would've thought less of Garland for a post saying he had surgery on his big toe. This was Charania taking agent-speak to its natural conclusion: a needless butchering of the English language in the name of (trying) to make someone look better.
