‘There’s 27 of you, everybody’s important’: Panthers bonds play big factor in reaching Stanley Cup Final

Before walking out of the room following their second consecutive Eastern Conference Final win, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice left a message for his team. 

“You’re all f*ing brilliant, I love every one of ya.”. 

The Panthers are set to open the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at home on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers and they’ll have 13 returnees from the 2023 team that fell short in the Final to Vegas. 

After retooling in the offseason to make a deeper and stronger team, the Panthers have shown they have a special group of players in Sunrise. But it’s not just the on-ice product. 

This year’s Panther team is as close of a group as you’ll see in professional sports. They ride and die together and it has been that way all season.  

“It starts at day one of training camp when Mo (Maurice) sets the standard of how hard things are gonna be,” Steven Lorentz said on when the team started to get close. “It’s not always going to be the most fun, but when you see a group of guys buy in, it doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’re coming from, where you played before. As long as you got that number of guys — whether it’s 20-25 guys — pulling on the same rope, eventually you’ll come together, and you form bonds and friendships that last a lifetime.”

Before Game 5 of the ECF in New York, the Panthers group were their usual selves at morning skate. 

The team was loose; they laughed, cheered and joked around while taking their line rushes. 

They weren’t in an easy situation — tied in the series, on the road at Madison Square Garden. Yet the calmness of the team was backed up by a message that the team has made clear all season.

“We really like each other,” Gustav Forsling said after the Game 5 morning skate. “[We] like to hang out with each other, we care about each other. So I think that goes on the ice too.”

Forsling was right. The bond they have clearly shines on the ice and it has elevated as the playoffs continue. 

Playing on the road isn’t easy, especially in the postseason. But Florida truly hasn’t seen a drop off in their play when they leave Sunrise, if anything, they’ve been even better away from home.. 

Winning six out of eight road games over this playoff run — compared to a 6-3-0 record at home, the Panthers haven’t strayed away from their game when they leave the sunshine state and a lot of that can be relayed back to the team’s closeness. 

Between the chartered flights, team meals and most importantly, the poker games, the guys love being on the road together. 

“One of my favorite things to do is just play poker in the team suite and on the plane. I think about those times being the things that I’ll remember most about my time in the NHL,” said Aaron Ekblad, the second longest tenured Panther. “Especially on runs like this and last year where you’re together so much. Those moments are definitely one’s I’ll never forget.”

What jumped out to me the most and what I believe truly ties this group together is when Niko Mikkola awarded Jonah Gadjovich the game puck following their Game 5 win over the Rangers. 

Gadjovich, who was a fairly consistent face in the lineup when healthy during the regular season, hasn’t appeared in a playoff game to this point. He was away from the team for pretty much the entirety of the Conference Final as his partner was giving birth to twins. On the night that he returned, he was presented the game puck from his teammate,

In Paul Maurice’s nearly minute long post ECF win speech, he told the team there’s two things that he takes away from that part of the journey (the ECF) they are on.

One takeaway was their great third period to clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final berth, the other was when Jonah Gadjovich was given that puck. 

“There’s 27 of you, everybody’s important,” Maurice said to his team after the ECF. “Everybody’s a lead dog, we’re all part of the pact.”

From captain  to the 27th skater that hasn’t touched the ice — everyone in that room is treated the same. 

The Panthers have created something special in Sunrise and this team won’t go down without a fight. 

And if that fight becomes a war when the Stanley Cup Final rolls around later this week, you better believe they are fighting that war together.