EDMONTON – The Florida Panthers arrived in Edmonton on Tuesday with one thing on their minds: chasing the Stanley Cup, again.
As Media Day wrapped up at Rogers Place, the focus shifted from the podium to the ice, with the puck set to drop in just over 24 hours for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.
Among the players addressing the international media was Panthers forward Brad Marchand, a trade deadline acquisition whose playoff pedigree and physical style have added depth to Florida’s third line.
“He’s brought some extra juice like he always does this time of the year,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said earlier this week. “He’s got that championship pedigree.”
Marchand, who won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins early in his career, admitted Tuesday that the move to Florida wasn’t easy — emotionally, at least.
“Just be part of the group, it’s been an incredible experience and one that I was, you know, a little worried about and didn’t know how I was going to come into the team and how I was going to be able to kind of gel with everyone going through a situation I haven’t gone through before,” Marchand said. “I was really nervous about it. I’m just, yeah, I’m extremely grateful for it and really, really excited about it.”
Maurice, when asked about the differences from last season’s Final — also against Edmonton—pointed to one major change: depth.
“Both teams are just much deeper,” Maurice said.
The Panthers are trying to become the first team since the 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. For Edmonton, the goal is to hoist the Cup for the first time since 1990.
The series, already billed as a battle between high-end speed, physicality, and goaltending, could very well go the distance.
