Panthers Go From Hunters to the Hunted in Stanley Cup Final Rematch Against Oilers
For a few years “Time to Hunt” was a marketing slogan used by the Florida Panthers organization, including in last year’s postseason, where the team won its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
This season, Florida are no longer the hunters, rather, what is the case for every reigning champion in any sport, the defending Cup champions are now the ones being hunted.
Who are the ones chasing them? It’s the same Edmonton Oilers team they completed the hunt against last season.
Same teams. Same buildings. One year apart.
Hungry for redemption from last season’s final, the Oilers mission was to get back to this point. And they did.
“We’ve been preparing for this all year long,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said at Stanley Cup Final media day.
If any team knows what McDavid and the Oilers are feeling headed into a second-consecutive Stanley Cup Final, after losing the previous year, it would be the Panthers. Florida returned to the Cup Final one season after losing in 2023, though, unlike Edmonton, they wouldn’t have to face the team that beat them for a second straight season.
“The first time, we were just excited to be there and maybe that moment might’ve been too big,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said when asked about being in the final for a third straight year. “Just too content with just being there. Now, there’s still a job to do. We’re not going to be content until that job is done. That’s pretty much our mindset and what we’re focused on.”
Going into the 2023-24 season the Panthers had one goal in mind — get back to the final and finish the job. This time around the Oilers echoed a similar message.
“[The Panthers] have our complete focus,” McDavid said. “All of our energy is going into beating the Florida Panthers. There should be nothing else on anyone’s mind.”
Storylines of Edmonton getting revenge, McDavid and Draisaitl finally getting their Cup — Canada getting back the Cup, have unsurprisingly taken over this series since the rematch was set in stone a little less than one week ago.
But the Panthers are also looking to write another chapter in their ongoing story. Entering their third straight Stanley Cup Final (just the second team since 1984 to do so), and a chance to win back-to-back Cups, Florida wants nothing more than to ruin any happy endings for their opponent.
As Matthew Tkachuk took his seat for Stanley Cup Final media day, an image of him hoisting the Cup after last year’s Game 7 win was hanging next to his pod.
“Was that planned?” the Panthers star forward asked.
A reminder, both of what they’ve accomplished and what they aspire to chase.
“It’s why we’re here,” he added. “Playing hockey in June for the third straight year and a chance to be a part of history. We’ve had two kicks at it so far and they’ve been very different summers. So, we’re hoping for the good one.”
Every little kid who has laced up the skates as a hockey player dreams of winning the Stanley Cup. Most of this Panthers group has already fulfilled that dream, one only so many players in hockey history can say they accomplished.
The Panthers aren’t satisfied with just one.
“It makes you greedier,” Tkachuk said. “It was such an incredible, life changing moment and you just want to do it again.”
One Panther who is looking to “do it again” is someone that wasn’t on the team last season. That’s Brad Marchand.
Marchand won the Stanley Cup in his first “full” NHL season with the Boston Bruins back in 2011 (played just 20 games the season before). 14 years later, with over 1,270 career games (regular and postseason) and two more appearances in the final under his belt (losing in both 2013 and 2019 with the Bruins), Marchand, now a 37-year-old veteran, is looking to get his name on Lord Stanley’s Cup again, this time with Florida.
“It’s a different opportunity than what I’m used to,” said Marchand, who was acquired by the Panthers at the trade deadline this season. “I was just excited to be here. With the depth that this team has and the guys — the leadership group they already have, it felt easy to kind of come in and follow suit. Watch what the guys do and just be a part of it.”