As if playing 82 games in the regular season wasn’t enough! In the postseason, the Florida Panthers have also had to play at least 5 games against each opponent in all three rounds before making it to the Stanley Cup Finals! And they’ve had to do it twice in two years! Those, without a doubt, are two seriously exhausting seasons. However, Paul Maurice couldn’t be prouder of how this squad has stepped up to the challenge.
“This is absolutely nothing, just a breeze,” said the Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, in reference to how traveling long distances in today’s world is much more comfortable than what it used to be during his time in the WHL. While that is correct, we do suspect that the Western Hockey League is anywhere as high-stakes as the NHL. Maybe that’s why Coach Maurice believes his team has done a good job in keeping up with the high demands of the biggest league in the hockey world.
In a YouTube upload by FloridaHockeyNow from June 16, the Florida Panthers’ head coach, Paul Maurice, talked about how the NHL’s schedule has been braved by the players. “All of us who work in this game could look at the NHL schedule when it comes out to figure out when your team’s going to be good…And then this year happened, and we went to Finland. The last exhibition game was in Quebec City…We played three games at the end of November. We played Toronto at home. We had lost six or seven games. We played Toronto at home and then went back-to-back with Carolina. And we won all three of the games and we looked right. And that was kind of when we said, alright, we’re okay here. We just have to manage this a little better,” the coach said about how the Panthers managed to find their way through the tough schedule and still produce at a high level.
The response prompted another reporter to mention that many players in the roster have now played 300+ games thanks to the Cats’ three back-to-back trips to the Finals. But Maurice claimed that the team didn’t feel like being under that much pressure, physically or emotionally. “I felt when we came into the playoffs, it was like right back to any of the other year.”
NHL, Eishockey Herren, USA Stanley Cup Playoffs-Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs May 18, 2025 Toronto, Ontario, CAN Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice during the post game media conference following a win in game seven of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto Scotiabank Arena Ontario CAN, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJohnxE.xSokolowskix 20250518_tbs_ss9_146
“Matthew was the only question mark in terms of health. We were healthy. We weren’t like for four weeks before, but we got healthy at the right time. And there was this great sense of excitement that came back that we didn’t feel all year. They’re a very, very fit group,” he went on about how the NHL schedule couldn’t bog down the fighting spirit of any of the players.
However, while Coach Maurice keeps reiterating the fact that his players have found a way to tackle the traveling woes of the League, the exhaustion aspect remains a point of debate among the community members. Even before the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals series kicked off, the Florida boss had to face the same question of whether all the traveling across the US and Canada would take its toll on the players.
Instead, Coach Maurice claimed that the tight schedule actually helped the players to keep in good shape. “I will say we will have more energy for this series than any of the three prior, and that’s been true, and I’m sure it’s true of Edmonton as well,” the coach said, explaining how the tight schedule is actually a boon in disguise.
But now, with two games remaining (or just one, depending upon the outcome of Game 6 tomorrow), how are things looking for Paul Maurice’s boys?
Paul Maurice isn’t up for giving the traveling factor much importance
While the Panthers’ coach claims that the packed schedule is essential to keep the players in shape, he’s also not against the idea of having a couple of days of break in between when the stakes are so high. In Game 2, the Cats clinched a massive OT win to level the series after being subdued by the Oilers in Game 1. After that, they had a couple of days’ rest before Game 3, and in the defending champs took the round with a thunderous 6-1 victory over the challengers.
Credits – X / @FlaPanthers
“Both teams will take the two days gladly,” Maurice had said previously about the two-day break between Games 2 and 3. However, he still noted that given the incredible skill level of the Finals, the factors are just that, nothing more. When it comes to winning games, it’s still the players’ grit and determination to push ahead that becomes the only decisive factor, the coach made it clear.
Interestingly enough, there was only one day off for the players between Games 4 and 5. And yet, after a loss in the first of those, the Panthers managed to post a thrilling 5-2 win on the road in Game 5 at Rogers Place. Before Tuesday’s Game 6, there were again two days for Paul Maurice’s boys to recuperate from the exhaustive Game 5 win. But can they make the most of the rest and wrap things up at home to become back-to-back Stanley Cup winners? Or will it be the Oilers this time to take advantage of the break? Tell us your thoughts below!
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