Paul Maurice, Stanley Cup Final Off Day No. 1: Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers

Paul Maurice, Stanley Cup Final Off Day No. 1: Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers

things but what kind of benefit does this team have now with this year starting home compared to last year yeah I I the interesting thing is like both teams have almost identical travel over the year right they got a team they got G we got Tampa so two teams in one provins two teams in one state and then everything else is a long flight so they’re used to it they’re it’s part of how they operate it’s the same with us getting on a plane for 5 hours you you probably wouldn’t sign up for it um but we all know how to deal with it so I don’t know if there’s an advantage both teams got kind of almost The Identical time off so that makes which is good it’s fair it’s it’s it’s right Paul spoke to a few guys about this just in terms of you guys completing some crazy buildings to through the playoffs this year but now you’re heading up to Edmonton it’s probably going to be nuts because it’s a Canadian team in the final how do you guys prepare for that so much and what do you expect this to mean for not just them and fans but for the entire country of Canada well there’s lots of people watching hockey straight into June up there right and uh it’s a big part clearly the fabric of of life if it was a 40,000 seat Arena they could probably fill it for an event like this every every city thinks they got the loudest building they do and and theirs is going to be loud ours is going to be loud I think we’re six weeks in and it’s our second tour going to the final I don’t think it has a major I don’t think it has much of an impact at all like sometimes you you you get a little bit of a a bump from being on the road because it’s just you there’s that great caderie that it feels like the crowd’s all jacked up and um feels like it’s just you and so I don’t I don’t it’s going to be loud it’s going to be great energy for sure I just don’t think it’s something we haven’t felt already Paul we know what your guys’s defense is able to do we know what their offense is able to do just the best best battle at the biggest stage just to see that match up playing out in the final and I end up answering questions like that for the whole week but the interesting thing is they’re way better defensive team than like their defensive analytics are almost as good as ours we’re a way better offensive team than people know as well so it’s both sides of the puck you you have to defend against the the whole group active backend clearly Superstars up front and then we get some really good players too so it’s both sides of the puck equally weighted we we play an aggressive defensive game when we don’t have the puck and I think we attack pretty smartly when we do I feel the same way about their game their defensive game um is far stronger far more structured um than I think I hear on when I’m watching the games or I read about Paul with five days you know where you know your opponent between now and Saturday um how do you split I guess time between working on things that you want to improve for your own team game planning for Edmonton and I guess trying to avoid being like overloaded with information yeah I think part of it is you relate to what you’ve learned so we’ll take the Edmonton’s game the Edmonton other’s game and try to attach it to other teams that we’ve played if they run the same Diesel and if if they’re trapping you know 131 whatever it is that they do we’ve seen it before and we have a plan for that and we’ll just kind of try to draw those connections with our players we’re going to run it like this like we did in the past this is our neutral zone this is what we’re looking for in the dzone and then after that like it’s almost all video now right you’re two years into your program we got a probably good idea what we’re trying to do we’re not going to be running any heavy systems drills out there and moment getting the body you know making sure that you stay sharp um and then getting them to feel good going it in series open you ever been to a Tim Hortons sure I think they have those in Edon do you want me to pick up some beans or something anything I’ll take um speaking of that a couple years ago in in Winnipeg you guys made it to the Western Finals and there was some talk about my gosh Winnipeg playing for the is there a little bit of more pressure on Edmonton that they’re carrying asides from Calgary the entire country is probably behind them to to to win this cup I mean did you feel any of that in winipeg being step you know what it would be an interesting if you go to Calgary and ask them well that’s what I meant notary but I don’t know what the answer is there are they cheered for the Oilers or they cheered for the Panthers go to Tampa I don’t think they’re Ching for the Panthers so it will be Electric in that town it’s not a a huge City it’s a major city in Canada but it’s not an $8 million doll it’s not New York uh but every single person that be wir for their home team and be fired up it’ll be electric and that’s that’s what you want right if you get to the final you want it to be a big stage you want it to be important we’ll have two countries watching their teams play and it should be great um so last four month uh foring forcings had a baby signed a new 8year deal bought a new house and now he’s back in the finals how do you how do you feel that he’s handling everything going on right he’s I think it goes to the kind of guy because none of those things have to be negative distractions right they should be brilliantly phenomenal things you get married you have a kid you secure your future um you buy yourself a place to live and it turns out he’s playing by far the best hockey of his life at the best of his career he’s peaked hopefully he can stay there for about eight years um but that goes to how he got there he had to work every day without a guarantee that it was going to turn out like this so five years ago when he scratched and Claw to be in the league his character is formed or it’s uh proven so when the good things come from all the hard work it doesn’t distract him from the game he’s been he’s been brilliant to go back to the point on Calgary Tampa do you think Toronto’s rooting for anybody in this series you know what I got I got one team I got to worry about one city I’m going to have to answer a bunch of questions about another team in another city I’m not doing wasn’t a real question I appreciate that um this is a semi-real one though um people that just look at Stats would look at Matthew kachuck numbers and say only 26 goals only 88 points he went down in this down and this down in this we all see the player that he is where has his game matur in these two years here with you where do you I I guess why should people have for for people to just look at numbers why should they have a greater appreciation than just what the stat sheet says about Matthew kach you just have to look at some different numbers and that’s 92 points to 110 or year over for a much better hockey team this year than we were last year when we had three critical pieces out were line up in the early part of the year his numbers weren’t great his defensive numbers were really really good he’s a leader in there so the culture and the shape of our team uh he has a major impact on that the biggest growth by far probably worth looking at the numbers and in order to do it you would have to subot a number of aberration is his discipline and his game he’s just not in the penal box anymore and I would say straight through November and into January last year he was I mean he was a Tasmanian devil out there spent a lot of time in the dog pound I think he he he is just not now he went I believe and you guys will check this but last year from around mid January to the end I think he had six miners then his brother rolled into town or we rolled into Ottawa and he had 17 minutes so the numbers at the end go wow he still has 100 minutes whatever but when you look at it there’s only a four or five inflection points over the course of the Year where something oh there’s a blip on the radar that would also be in a game we play a fairly physical game game of hockey that when we play another team that’s wound up for that game that’s when the referee start tossing everybody out on 10 so we got a whole bunch of guys with tens and that usually is us well nobody’s going to believe me but if you go back and look at them those weren’t fire as we started we got in got some physical hits on teams they maybe they’re three or four opponents before us maybe weren’t particularly physical teams so they they’re they’re offended or they’re just wired and we get a bunch of rough start throwing everybody will you take a sub the 10 Matthew PUK has been an exceptionally disciplined hockey player one one quick follow sorry the it’s old history now but that moment in pasta how much did you find yourself enjoying that if you win man like I I I appreciate we there’s some rehashing we can do maybe when this thing’s all over but I would say what that was two willing combatants that wasn’t that wasn’t like the other guy had his gloves off first and I always there’s a this is too obscure but anyway Jerome MCA got in the fight in Calgary in the playoffs last year years ago might have been the year they lost to Tampa oh my God they went three weeks on should the skilled players fight this this a good thing it’s a terrible thing it it’s it’s two leaders on two teams since I think the score was pretty good for our team at that point in the game wasn’t you up I think we got up big on that then there was another scrum and we ended up taking the extra penalty in front of our net and then the fight happened after that I don’t know that Matthew was looking for it we’re up big in that game they’re running they’re doing I had no problem with what they’re doing they’re trying to finish every check game’s over trying to get a pound um two guys wanted to go out him I the our guy kind of want to came out on top on that one so so it was good then I didn’t think about it again yeah like it was good but it it wasn’t something we put on the video and show 10 times now all you had to do is turn your TV on and find it the evil man s Bennett was and Chuck stting fires all over that’s just not what happened last question um can’t let you get get out of here without talk asking about Conor McDavid what makes him anything I thought it was the first one coming in and course of course sometimes when I gain that I kind of work on an answer but I don’t have them okay well anything in particular that you have to guard against as you draw up how to defend them and do you expect a little cat Mouse with match matching up against his his line well we spent some time up there in Winnipeg and we saw a bunch of different rotations whether the Leon drle plays with uh Conor McDavid or not and that that changes some of the Dynamics of what you got to prepare for but these two and um it’s just it’s a you can’t play a one-on-one game with them they’re just too fast too strong two skilled so it’s a a fiveman defensive game and and everything else I just kind of come out of my mouth would be a cliche sometimes there’s a reason for it right they those cliches stick around because they’re true can’t do anything to generate offense for Evington they’re going to generate the RO and we have to be mindful of the position that we are in on change of possessions thought we can’t be in an passive position worried about that all night thanks everyone for your you

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice talks on his team’s off day on Monday, June 3, as they prep for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Panthers will play in the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year; Edmonton is vying for its sixth title and first since 1990. This is the Oilers’ first trip to the Final since 2006.

Game 1 is Saturday in Sunrise at 8 p.m. (ABC).

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

Meet the Edmonton Oilers: https://floridahockeynow.com/what-to-know-edmonton-oilers-stanley-cup-final-florida-panthers/

Panthers Have Unfinished Business to Take Care Of: https://floridahockeynow.com/not-finished-florida-panthers-hungry-to-complete-redemption-tour/

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Florida took out the New York Rangers in 6; Edmonton did the same to Dallas.

On Saturday, the Panthers beat the Rangers 2-1.

Florida 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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