“Saw all the boys signing here, so it was a no-brainer.” | Mikkola & Maurice on Extension 10.2.25

“Saw all the boys signing here, so it was a no-brainer.” | Mikkola & Maurice on Extension 10.2.25

Uh feels awesome. Yeah, it’s uh it was the talking through through the summer and saw the all the boys signing here. So, it was a no-brainer to uh keep the band together. What’s like now 11 guys now on long-term contracts to the course here for for quite some time. Yeah, for sure. That was the one one thing I I look around, you know, the guys and all the guys are great guys and I’ve been enjoying the uh since I since the first day I came at Florida. So, uh, it was like a no-brainer to stay. You guys have built so much. You already won two cups. How much is there also an element of just wanting to keep building here? Yeah. A lot like you, uh, it’s way more fun when you’re playing with a good team. Let’s say that. Nico, obviously guys come here and they just thrive under Paul Ry in the system. Where do you feel like your game personally has grown the most as a Florida panther? Uh probably uh all around play. I feel like the uh it’s all about the confidence and I feel like I can do uh what I do best on ice and I kind of kind of have the h have a freedom to do do those things and uh it’s also like pretty aggressive style what we play. So uh that’s that’s how I like when X signed you a lot of Also, you want to stay with it with Gus for yourself now. I know you just came together last year. How excited are you now for more years of you and Jones together? Very excited. He He’s a great player and like I feel like the when he came in the first game right away I knew like that this is this is special and he’s a great player and I Yeah, it’s great to great to play with him. I think your longest contract before was three years before this. When when you saw eight years on paper and you you were talking about that number just what was that like? Yeah, it’s it’s pretty awesome. Uh yeah, I feel like this might be my last contract. So it’s awesome to have like you know you know the ne next nine years where you’re going to play. So it’s awesome. And just now we hear two preseason games left guys to get get back out there and get started again. Yeah, very excited. Like uh it’s a long time coming. I feel like the summer is short, but like you’re still waiting for it to get on the ice and uh feel the game and uh yeah, it’s going to be exciting. One thing that you and I talked about last season kind of joked around when you score a goal, just the way not only the bench goes crazy, but the fans, they love it too. Just what kind of support have you seen from the fans? A lot. Uh yeah, it feels like a second home or the first home now I guess for a long time and like uh the fans are great. Uh atmosphere at the rink, it’s been unbelievable last two years and uh every time you step on the ice like it feels amazing. What’s it like going into the locker room today after that news breaks with with the guys? Uh yeah, they knew they knew it already. So uh yeah, they were exciting and I was excited. So it’s a it’s a good thing like the uh players want to stay here. So yeah, you love those guys um because they are part of the fabric of your group and they do all the hard things and sometimes you know the players sometimes in that role because you got to take care of your top end guys, they get missed or you lose them, right? So he’s a did not want to see him go to free agency. He’s a big part of that back end, so we’re real happy. And he’s a funny as hell. So, it’s good to keep him around. 11 guys now on these long-term here. Do you feel like that that group in particular and these guys kind of have an ownership over this team and the success now? Cuz obviously they’ve already won twice, but it seems like they just want to keep this thing going together. It’s just how many levels of connection can you get? So, there’s a big chunk of guys that have kind of made it happen here. They wasn’t easy at first and ground and and got success through hard work and and now they also there’s not a lot of concern about who we’re going to lose in the near future with some of those core guys. So they that’s their family now their their wives and their kids can grow up together too. Coach, you mentioned just the hard work that Nicola does. Yeah. How much does it speak to not only that but just the type of teammate and person he is when he scores a goal? the way we see the bench go crazy and the fans too. We get to enjoy that for a few days because you know what’s making the video the next day too. He’s just such a beyond an honest player kind of he plays so hard that everybody can identify with him and cheer for him or you come to the rink and you’re a hockey fan, you’re a Florida Panther fan and you want to see your team play hard. may not be great every night, but put the effort in and he’s going in practice and he goes in the games and yeah, he’s he’s exciting to watch and is a fan favorite for sure. With trimming down the roster and seeing so many regulars out there on the ice, how much do you maybe anticipate tonight’s lineup uh being pretty similar to what we can expect to see on opening night? This will be the lineup that if we were starting today, it would be. We’ll make adjustments to Saturday night’s game just one on health. Um, this is a little different this year. All the guys, the veterans from last year are only going to get two exhibition games, but this is the way it’s going to be going forward. So, we want to try to get ahead of it. Is, you know, two games enough? There may be players that feel they’re ready and they don’t need both games and then we’ll we’ll work those other guys back in just before that final decision has to come. I’m sure there’s still a lot of moving parts decisions to be made possibly about line combinations, but Conan looked really good the other night and g kind of that instant chemistry. How much do you maybe like the the way they look together and and that potentially as an option for depth line? Yeah, the the most important thing is the chemistry on that line maybe more than any other because you know you saw they developed it with Tom Mcnosk last year and became a really important part of what we do. So, we need them to play that way. So, was pleased with how that game unfolded. The stylewise, they look like they’re connected on what they’re trying to do, which will make them faster. Two of those guys are pretty heavy, so they need to get in and get in on the for check. And I don’t I don’t see that line slowing down as it’s structured. Uh tonight, no. No, he’s not. Uh no. Uh Terasol will go the whole night tonight. Obviously, he’s had some impressive showings. as a new guy coming to camp, what he’s done so far. Well, really happy. I don’t again what I what I know about goalending, I like the way he moves in the net and his ability to stay on a puck that goes across the crease. He’s got good strength to do it. After that, what you want is a guy to come in and feel good about his game and good about his performance. He’s a hard worker and so we think he can continue to grow. Uh, but I’ve been pleased with this camp. Well, nice one on going back. Obviously him and J are so good in the playoffs and we saw them come together. How much are you looking forward to obviously going forward but just a full season of those two guys together what they can accomplish what they can do together once they get to know each other even better. They like playing with each other. Uh Seth really I think he’s got a whole another level that he can get to. I I mean if he plays can play the way he did in the playoffs that would be just fine, right? Uh, but the two of them I think can get to another level and we can at some point take some of the minutes away from Forsling and Eklad against the other team’s best every night. Uh, and and throw a different style of pair against them. So, there’s some heavier lines that we think that those two guys will excel against. And then Eklad and Forsling take the speed. So, I think we’ve got a nice uh there’s a difference between the two pairs. We got some good kind of texture back

0:00 – Niko Mikkola
3:13 – Paul Maurice

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