BONUS EPISODE: Stanley Cup Final Preview

the Stanley Cup finals are set what do Emma and I at lockon Predators think of this Oilers Panthers matchup your locked on Predators your daily podcast on the Nashville Predators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to the lock down Predators podcast and thank you for making us your first listen of the day we are your free daily Nashville Predators podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day want to kick off this special Short episode with a shout out to our lock on pred heads our everyday listeners who tune in to talk Nashville Predators hockey with us we thank you for your support and we love that we get to spend a part of your day with you I’m Anne Kimmel I’m a writer at Penalty Box radio and I have a partner in crime you do I’m Emma lingan and I’m the Predator site editor and reporter for the hockey news today’s bonus mini episode is brought to you by our great friends at FanDuel it is winner take all time in the NBA in NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more of course we’re going to be talking about this Stanley Cup Final fanduel’s got all the action on their website so be sure you go and check it out visit fanduel.com locked on and make every playoff shot count FanDuel America’s number one sports book so Emma and I wanted to jump on here and do a quick reaction video the Stanley Cup finals Emma are finally set it’s going to be the Florida Panthers against the Edmonton Oilers so my first question for you Emma how surprised are you to see these two teams in the Stanley Cup finals if I would have told you around American Thanksgiving that this was going to be the finals what would your response have been honestly Florida does not surprise me um I think Florida it with the way that the New York Rangers were just tearing through people in the playoffs I thought if any team can beat the Rangers can finally take them down I think Florida was the only one that could and they did and so that you know that I I don’t think it was a super sure thing but if you had told me the Panthers were going to be in the final I wouldn’t have been surprised um Oilers that that one would have surprised me around American Thanksgiving for sure I think it would have surprised anyone um yeah you know having a a coaching change midseason and just having a a rough start to the year I will say I I think the I’ve heard a lot of this you know The Narrative of it being kind of a Cinderella story for the Oilers this year I think that’s maybe a little much like it’s they still have Conor McDavid and Leon ridol it’s not like they started at the bottom of the league and you know that there was no hope for them they were supposed to be this good and they are right so um you know I I don’t want to overhype that storyline too much but I think that you know I would say what surprised me the most and maybe this is because as I have said earlier on this show I was all aboard the duchaine train and I was pulling for Dallas in the Western Conference Final I do think Dallas kind of they almost went a little more quietly than I would have expected like I I just feel like they kind of petered out there and I I would not have expected that from Dallas I thought you know if they that they would have maybe put up a little bit more of a fight made it a little bit more interesting at the end um I I mean they did if if you look at the the score of the game six of the Western Conference Final that Edmonton obviously won it was two to one right but Dallas outshot them 35-10 and it’s like like that how like it just it still didn’t feel that way it just felt like Dallas exited stage left like very quietly and it’s like it’s not really what I would have expected from that team but you know I’m now again I was all aboard the duchaine train I’m now all aboard the eckholm train I was I’m rooting for the Western Conference no matter who makes it to the Stanley Cup finals so go Oilers go Oilers I’m with you though when you’re talking about Western Conference Finals in the sense that I felt like this was going to be a seven game series I felt like they were going to going to be games where Dallas dominated more and they didn’t and I was really surprised by that even in game six you know where there was this late one goal you know one-goal lead for Edmonton I really don’t think we felt the push from Dallas that we know they had so I’m with you I was a little bit surprised by how that series ended when it comes to Florida I think Florida is just built for this I think you know they made some great moves at the trade deadline you know a little before the trade deadline to add a couple of pieces but I feel like they had so many major components already in place and I’m with you with Edmonton they were 29 and one around American Thanksgiving of course you’re welcome that Nashville gave you one of those two wins Edmonton you’re welcome but you know huge coaching change and everything is possible I remember conversations during that coaching change and people saying they’re not even going to make the playoffs and and I remember thinking have you met Conor McDavid at the title have you met these guys they can do it and I think it’s a really interesting uh trajectory for their season to get there and they and they’ve done it with players not just McDavid and dry sidol but Zack Heyman has been incredible for them I think goal tending has been a a little bit of a struggle during the season but Stuart Skinner has kind of settled in especially during that Dallas series where they really needed him I I’m interested to watch this when I look ahead at this matchup the one question that I have is is the physicality that Florida is playing with is that going to outweigh the talent that Edmonton has because you know one of my friends always says you have to catch a player to hit a player and I’m like can Edmonton out play can move the puck fast enough can Conor McDavid do Conor McDavid things enough to get that puck in net for Edmonton against a Florida team I’m telling you Florida has pulled out all the stops in this postseason they are a scary team to play they are they’re very scary and Sergey bosski is a very scary guy to face he is such an enigma to me that he will have like he’s a guy that will have just a vzna winning season just like be off the charts and then he just disappears for like five years and you don’t hear about him at all and then like five years later there he is again just having the season of his life at age 36 like I I mean again I go back to the game six of the Western Conference Final like I don’t think 10 shots on goal is GNA cut it against uh I I would not I would not put money on that um no and you know and and that’s no disrespect to Jake ottinger or Dallas but I just the way that they’re playing it’s just different I will say about you mentioned Skinner um for the Oilers I have been extremely impressed by him as well I think for you know he he did lose his starters net earlier in the playoffs um to to Calvin Pickard and I think that the way that he responded you know being as young as he is and and being able to bounce back from that like in the middle of the playoffs and and not just come back but he’s really come back with a vengeance and he’s been playing extremely well again blocked 34 or stopped 34 shots uh from Dallas in game six and so I mean he’s been I’ve been very impressed by his maturity and his Poise throughout this whole process so um you know it’s something you hope that he can carry over into the final if you’re Edmonton um talking about the physicality you know I think Edmonton has guys who can who can probably match that you know that’s why you keep that’s why you have a guy I know he’s not a guy that Nashville fans like to talk about but that’s why you keep a guy like Corey Perry in your lineup you know to to kind of deal with that Darnell nurse Evander Kan I I think that those are guys that you know will come that will be helpful in that but again it’s a cliche for a reason you need your star players to Be Your Star players and you need Conor McDavid and Leon dry Sidle but especially McDavid because dry sidol has been very good throughout all like the whole postseason McDavid not as much um he was he was in the last couple games against Dallas he started to pick it up um there’s been a lot of speculation maybe he’s dealing with an injury or something that is making him not quite look like himself but again a you know if he’s only operating at 70% or 60% you’d probably rather have 70% of Conor McDavid than you know 100% of anyone else so you know you need him to to kind of continue the momentum it’s going to be hard though because now we’re gonna have six days you know between hockey games that’s a long time uh for both of these teams so you’ll it’ll be interesting to see yeah I’m also interested to watch the Special Teams match up between these two you look at Edmonton they have been phenomenal on the penalty kill in the postseason 93.8% on the penalty kill they just limit space they don’t allow you know teams to really set up when they do set up they play so tight in front of that net they’re also very good on the power play which again you know you’ve got Conor McDavid you’ve got leand drle you’ve got Zack Heyman you’ve got so many um depth players who really step into that special teams role for them they’re 37.25% on the power play but Florida not necessarily terrible in either of those so it feels like one or two special teams plays could swing a game or two in in a seven game series between these two so for me I really want to keep an eye on that and because Florida is playing a really uh I feel like they have played one of the most physical games the most high emotion games they’re going to want to be sure that they don’t take that just that step too far where they’re going to end up in the Box because Edmonton can make a team pay so it will be interesting to see if Florida goes in and says you know what we are going to play the exact same way we played through this postseason and not pull back at all or if they feel like they have to kind of take into consideration what Edmund can Edmonton can do on a power play and sort of adjust to that if you’re looking at this series what is your prediction Emma how many games is this going to go and who do you have hoisting the Stanley Cup H it’s hard I just I I did think you know while my heart says otherwise uh my head says that I think I I was saying from the beginning if Florida makes it to the final they’re winning the cup um I I just think that they have been Unstoppable they’ve been taking down all these teams they and they’ve been one thing they’ve been really good at throughout the postseason has been completely neutralizing the top players on other teams so they held I think Nikita coocher off without a goal I think you know our Tami panan had one goal in that Series against them like that it was they were completely you know just really shutting down the top guys from the other team so if they can do that with McDavid and dry cdle then I mean that’s a game Cher for me but yeah I I still I want to say I think it goes I think it’ll go six I’m gonna go Florida Florida and six is my prediction yeah you and I are on a very similar wavelength my heart desperately wants Edmonton to win this one uh of course for Matias eckholm my Gateway hockey drug but also because I feel like this is a the window for Edmonton you know Leon drle he’s going to be a free agent after this and and if they’re going to win it I want to see McDavid and dry Sidle win it together because they’ve been so important and and look ridle may be back they may resign him but I I just feel like you know Edmonton feels like this is their year and and it’s been a hard year they’ve had to work really hard to make this happen but I am with you if I’m talking straighte head I just don’t see very many opportunities to exploit anything that Florida does short of the power play and if Florida can play with the same uh energy the same physicality the same execution level that they have through this and stay out of the box I’m going to have to say that it’s it’s going to be a tough battle for Edmonton and I think Florida I would go ahead and say Florida in seven because friends I want all the hockey I’m gonna say Florida in seven I just man they’re going to be a tough team to beat they’re going to be a tough tough team to beat they are I’m excited about this matchup though this is a really going to be a really really good matchup because I think Florida has been consistently dominant throughout the playoffs edmont it’s almost like has gotten progressively a little bit better with each series it’s like they’ve leveled up to the opponent with each series that they’ve had and so it’ll it’ll be interesting to see these two teams meet and I mean as a as a hockey fan I this is a great series I’m looking forward to it yeah Emma and I are going to talk about what these two teams and what their success in the postseason has to teach us about the Nashville Predators what do the predators need to look at these two teams and maybe adjust and do in the offseason we’re going to be tackling all of that in some upcoming episodes so be sure to tune in here to locked on Predators for that before we sign off Emma where can everybody find you and find your work you can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Emma lingan and you can find my work at the hockey news you can find me on social media at an Kore Mama on Ice you can find my work at Penalty Box radio and of course you can find us here every Monday through Friday at the locked on Predators podcast you can follow us on social media _ Predators as well that’s going to do it for this special Stanley cuup final brief edition of locked on Predators thanks for making us your first listen of the day we’ll be back with an all new episode we’ll see you then

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final matchup has been set. The Edmonton Oilers have been playing their best hockey of late, but they will be facing an absolute beast of a Florida Panthers team that was in the same position a year ago. Will former Nashville Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm hoist the Stanley Cup with the Oilers, or will the second time be the charm for Florida? On this special bonus episode, Ann and Emma discuss the keys to the series and make their predictions.

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