Winning it all makes Stanley Cup pursuit more alluring for Panthers
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Now that they know what it feels like, the Florida Panthers want to experience it again.
Winning the Stanley Cup. The Panthers were close in 2023 before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games the final, but it gave them a better idea of what they were chasing through the 2034-24 regular season.
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Winning it all makes Stanley Cup pursuit more alluring for Panthers Back to video
When they beat the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to win the Cup last June, they found out.
“It’s nothing you can really describe (properly),” forward Carter Verhaeghe said on Thursday. “But now that we have had a taste, it’s not a taste you want to give up.
“It’s unbelievable and we definitely know what it takes, but it’s a sacrifice, how hard it is every single day coming to the rink and grinding. It’s about building your game to a point where, when it gets down to the critical moments, you have full trust and confidence in the way you play.”
Keep that in mind when the Maple Leafs, perhaps, say they will use scars from losing in the first round as motivation in the playoffs. We can’t say for sure, but we would assume that there can’t be greater motivation than wanting to win the Cup again after just having done so.
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Panthers coach Paul Maurice, insightful as usual, explained the difference between a defending Cup champion and a team that is trying to win, as group, for the first time.
“When you’re striving for it, there’s an edge to you, that desire, that drive to get to that place,” Maurice said. “That’s a different energy source. I think you’re angrier. And then you get to it.
“When you get there, you just want to hang on to that. You get to experience a feeling that you probably cannot explain to someone, and that becomes something that you cherish.”
How has that played out this season for the Panthers? They have 12 players on their roster who lifted the Cup last spring.
“I found that this year, when you lost a game, it was worse,” Maurice said. “Just the idea of losing drives you nuts.
“Last year, we got a lot of hard games from teams, but that was more of a perception of how we played. You knew it was going to be physical and it was going to be rough.
“From our pre-scouts (now), when we watch the games that teams will play the two or three prior to us, they don’t look like the game they play against us. It’s high-end energy, which has been good, because we’ve had a lot of tight games that didn’t go our way earlier in the year. They’re starting to go our way a little bit more now. We’re kind of prepared for their best, which I think is how we need to sharpen.”
The Panthers haven’t let up, considering they’re in the heat of the battle for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Leafs.
Verhaeghe might have nodded in agreement had he heard his coach.
“It’s definitely different now,” Verhaeghe said. “You have a target on your back. Everyone’s trying to beat us to measure their level.
“Knowing what it takes to win, is huge for us. We kind of knew after we lost in the final the year before and then actually winning it, we know.”
We won’t be surprised if that knowledge helps carry the Panthers to the Cup final for the third year in a row.
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