Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk: Florida Panthers 2024 NHL Eastern Conference Champions

Jameson um this for Matthew first congrats um so many times after losing the Cup Final guys stand at the podium and say we’re going to be back and rarely does it actually ever happened how did this team get back to to The stle Cup final this year uh just a lot of uh a lot of motivation dedication commitment um the right pieces were added um some great pieces added and just a one mindset um of doing whatever it can to get back to it and I thought the guys that are here last year um have done an unbelievable job um coming back for the start of Camp um with this on their mind so um we are not done yet um we’re very happy with the way um you know this uh playoffs has gone for us when in the first three but um it’s a different feeling this year for sure so um very proud of the effort um from everybody on the right side third row Mike uh Sasha first of all I know noed you didn’t touch the Prince of Wales trophy is that after last year uh yeah I think we needed to do something different and that’s what we did yep can I ask you going back to last last summer you guys talked about how you were not going to let the disappointment of losing in the Stanley Cup Final sort of carry into this year and then we heard about guys renting ice two weeks after the season ended and things like that where did that motivation begin and how hard when you look back at it was to get back to this point well uh I don’t know obviously like last year was first time going that far and it just like felt felt amazing uh like personally obviously it felt amazing and you just you wanted to do everything you could to to get back here and we all know it’s not one day thing like nothing’s going to happen in one day you got to start start the grind as soon as possible in the in the summer and training camp we talk about a lot about training camp and whole season like all ups and downs that’s included so we we all knew that uh we had the same same goal uh to to get back here and uh get a little better so that’s what we did and we’re here again front left Matthew I want to get your thoughts on this but uh coach has uh talked time and time again about how going into training camp you guys came in and you guys were much more um you had you guys had much more gas in the tank when it came to uh those high-intensity drills I mean how hard was that to kind of get to that point where you were even better and even more prepared after a uh a short off season like that yeah um it was a short off season but it’s one that we want to get used to right so um you know it’s nothing better than playing hockey in June so um you don’t have much time to prepare yourself especially with guys playing through injuries and everything but um it it’s just the memories that you create at this time of year are the ones that you carry with forever and the ones that stick with you throughout the whole season so um if that’s the motivation that you got to have um in the summer to to do your stuff go above and beyond work as hard as you can like that’s that’s what pushes guys I mean the the you know not winning last year obviously pushed all the returning guys to be even better at the start of training camp so um it really doesn’t matter how we got here but we’re here and I feel we’re better off this year like this time come this time um and it it starts with guys like Barky and fors you really pushing the envelope um and everybody just fallowing you know front right Sasha Bob is 35 and he plays like he’s 25 he still looks like he’s at the absolute peak of his game that you’ve been asked so often about him but nights like tonight how much of a luxury is it to know that you’re going to have first class school attending night in night out it is a luxury for sure he’s hardest working guy i’ ever seen and uh you just know like when the guy works that hard he’s he’s also like super calm every single day practice he’s having fun morning skate he’s having fun uh warm-ups all that kind of stuff like you see him being in the zone you just you just know he’s going to be on on top of his game and he’s been unbelievable so and you said he’s 35 it’s really hard to believe and uh yeah he’s he’s been amazing and it’s fun to watch from this close front row left and that and for both of you you guys both love you especially you Barky the defensive side of the game every game here was a one goal game in the third five of the six were one goal finals was this a tougher series than maybe you guys thought or is this exactly how you hoped it would be what do you mean by especially Barky I mean reinhardt’s not up here so hey we all goty you’re getting better at we all got to play defense this time what was the question do you like play defense and was this a fun series to play in defensively no yeah we obviously Rangers the best team in the regular season so much offensive offensive power and you got to be on your toes every single second you know you got to know you’re playing against so Elite goalie good defense so obviously we didn’t think it’s going to be easy at all like we didn’t expect anything about the series we just went game at a time period at a time every single period we had a one mindset what to do and game plan and that’s what we did so proud proud of guys left side second row yeah Matthew with Sam Bennett since he came back from the injury during the Tampa series just how have you seen him basically return to the s b that we’ve seen from the last couple years in specifically how impactful was he this series yeah he was great um obviously coming back uh in the Boston series uh um you know he came back uh and wanted to get in the lineup as quick as he could um you know after speaking with doctors and everything I’m sure and I’m sure uh after missing a couple weeks it’s a little bit of an adjustment um coming back in the lineup but now him being fully healthy you can see what he is doing out there you can see what he’s capable of um the way his physicality and his speed um just kind of gets on the defense and it’s so easy to play with and play with him for a while now so I’m very proud of the way he’s been playing um you know he’s he’s leading it um each and every night he’s playing Super physical and um I think that’s what drives our line take three more questions left side third row yeah Matthew you said earlier that there a different field going back to the finals this year could you just talk about that what what’s it seems different from the outside but would talk about what you guys feel on the inside um it just feels like we have a very deep team I mean there’s guys that are you know not even able to you know be in the lineup right now that are huge parts of our team and have been huge parts of our season and in playoffs so um it’s just a different feeling this year we’re getting contributions from everybody it doesn’t matter who it is on any given night like somebody’s going to step up um you know somebody’s going to score the goals there could be a different guy blocking the shots I know I’ve said it a bunch but we’re all capable of doing everything so um especially defense right um no I mean we have so many guys on the team that are are leading um you going talk about guys like Barky and fory um you know guys like that that are bringing it each and every night that are easy guys to to follow um and we’re just the Buy in from everybody is so big that we knew we were probably going to well I don’t know how I’m where this but we expect to be back here obviously nothing’s guaranteed but we are expecting this the way we’ve been working the way we’ve been you know dialed in and detailed so um right now it feels we’re very happy to be back but um you know we were we were going to be pushing for this and kind of expecting it the way we put in all the work so um we’re very proud to be here we’re very happy but the job’s not finished two more questions left side second row Sasha two things one it looked like your coach had told you not to touch the trophy before or is that talk discuss about something else he also told me last year oh so you didn’t listen last year no last year we had like different situation so we’re not going to talk about last year but this year I think we all agreed that we’re not going to touch it and just initial thoughts I know you don’t know who you’re going to play could be for Edmonton and McDavid it could be Dallas with their team just just playing one of those two teams what that what do you expect going to be like yeah I mean we we see them play so we we see that they’re both unreal teams unbelievable teams really good players on on both teams and uh not going to go in details about the teams right now but for sure either of those teams you’re going to play against is going to be T very tough matchup so uh obviously rest right now recover and then wait for the opponent and get back to work last question front right uh for Chucky just walking around obviously we’re not in the room with you guys but it feels very different tonight than it did when you beat Carolina in game four last year is that because you know you guys have been there before it’s a little bit less not exciting but you guys know you obviously got a more pth more to do but you know can you just speak on the difference between this year and last year I just think it was you know kind of the journey to get to that that point last year was a uh it was almost you know we barely made playoffs and then you know a month and a half later were went in the East so maybe it could have been more of like a celebration whereas this more this year it’s more of just you know business like approach be happy but know there’s still some work to to be done so we know there’s plenty of work to be done and but the end of the day playing hockey in June doesn’t get much better than this thank you for your time guys Gra

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk speak after their team beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 to win the 2024 NHL Eastern Conference championship on June 1.

The Panthers will play in the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year.

Florida will open the Final next Saturday either in Sunrise against the Edmonton Oilers or visit the Dallas Stars.

Stanley Cup or Bust! Florida Panthers Moving On: https://floridahockeynow.com/stanley-cup-final-florida-panthers-2-new-york-rangers-1-game-6/

Don’t Tell the Florida Panthers What’s Ahead: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-focused-on-new-york-rangers-not-stanley-cup-final/

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On Saturday, the Panthers took a 2-0 lead on goals from Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Artemi Panarin beat old friend Sergei Bobrovsky (23 saves) to make it a 1-goal lead but the Panthers hung on.

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