Sunrise and Edmonton: Hockey cities with big malls meet up in Stanley Cup final - Hockey (2024)

The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 4:40 pm | Story: 491362

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini has a pretty good idea his NHL future rests with the San Jose Sharks, who hold the first pick in the draft.

For now, the 17-year-old center — he turns 18 on Thursday — coming off a celebrated freshman season at Boston University isn’t in a rush to get there, yet.

“There’s never really shame or there’s nothing wrong with just taking your time and just improving a little bit more,” Celebrini said at the NHL pre-draft scouting combine on Friday, in reiterating he’s not yet determined whether he’ll return to BU for a second season. “So I feel like in those ways, another year would benefit me just to get more physically ready, and just make sure I’m very fit and strong when I try to make that jump.”

Other than who gets chosen second overall, with the consensus split between Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov and Medicine Hat center Cayden Lindstrom, Celebrini’s plans for next season represent the biggest question mark entering the two-day draft, which opens on June 28 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Not only is Celebrini the projected No. 1 pick by NHL Central Scouting, San Jose general manager Mike Grier expressed his intention to select the Terriers player immediately after the Sharks won the NHL draft lottery last month.

“It’s a big hockey moment for the organization and the fans here to have the opportunity to draft someone like Macklin,” Grier said at the time. And the second-year GM hasn’t cooled on his beliefs in praising the player when asked about Celebrini earlier in the week at the combine.

As college hockey’s youngest player last season, the 6-foot, 190-pound Celebrini won the Hobey Baker as the nation’s top player, as well as Hockey East player and rookie of the year honors. He finished second in the nation with 32 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games.

Another bonus for Grier's rebuilding plans for a team that finished last in the overall standings is Celebrini’s ties to the Bay Area. Though from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Celebrini’s father, Rick, is vice president of player health and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and the youngster spent a year playing for the Sharks’ junior team.

Celebrini enjoyed his interview with the Sharks, as well as dinner with Grier, who also played at Boston University.

Despite the ties and the talk, Celebrini isn’t taking anything for granted.

“At the end of the day, you never know what’s going to happen, and I don’t think I’m getting too ahead of myself,” he said. “So, for right now, I’m just going to enjoy the last couple days of the combine and enjoy this experience.”

The Chicago Blackhawks are scheduled to pick second, followed by Anaheim, Columbus and Montreal.

In a switch from last year’s top-heavy forward draft class headed by Connor Bedard going No. 1 to Chicago, this year’s crop of prospects features four defensem*n among the top seven-ranked North American skaters on Central Scouting’s list. The group is headed by Levshunov, who is from Belarus, and includes Zeev Buium, who is from San Diego.

Buium had the distinction of helping the U.S. win gold at the world junior championships this year, and then helping Denver win an NCAA title in April.

“I was obviously very fortunate to be on two really good teams and meet a lot of great guys,” said the 6-foot, 183-pound Buium. “It was two awesome experiences.”

At 6-foot-2 and 203 pounds, Levshunov was the Big Ten rookie and defensive player of the year, and finished eighth in the nation among blue liners with 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists) in 38 games.

Central Scouting’s top-ranked international player is also a defenseman in Russian Anton Silayev. Listed at 6-foot-7 and 211 pounds, the 18-year-old had three goals and 11 points in 63 games during his rookie season with the Novgorod Torpedo of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Celebrini spent last season playing with his older brother, Aiden, who is also a defenseman and was selected by Vancouver in the sixth round of the draft last year. At BU, he's coached by former NHL forward Jay Pandolfo.

Celebrini drew a laugh when discussing playing against Boston College’s Will Smith last season — “Every time we went up against him, he lit us up,” he said. The two will likely be teammates after the Sharks selected Smith with the No. 4 pick in the draft last year.

As for the best advice he's ever received, Celebrini didn't hesitate.

“Probably, stay present. I’ve been told that time flies by,” Celebrini said. “Before you know it, like, it’s five years later.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 4:01 pm | Story: 491356

SUNRISE — Leon Draisaitl has been repeatedly asked about Connor McDavid ever since the pair first hit the ice together as teammates in 2015.

Fast-forward some nine years later, not much has changed.

And that continues to suit the big German just fine.

Draisaitl, McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers open the Stanley Cup final on Saturday against the Florida Panthers — the culmination of nearly a decade together in the Alberta capital.

The dynamic duo is a big reason for the team's ascension. But McDavid has almost always received more attention.

"That's OK," the 28-year-old Draisaitl said Friday of being consistently queried about his superstar teammate's exploits. "I know I'm a great player. I'm very well aware. I know what I can bring to the table. But I'm very rational as to understanding what I am as a player, and what I'm not.

"We're obviously very different players, but in a way complement each other really well."

The Oilers' Batman and Robin — if Robin was a six-foot-two, 209-pound bulldozer with elite vision and soft hands — have paced the franchise to its first appearance in the final since 2006 following some frustrating recent springs.

Edmonton made the Western Conference final in 2022 before losing to the Colorado Avalanche. The Oilers then fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in last year's second round. Both teams went onto win the Cup.

"Every season you don't win … you're going home trying to dig in more, wanting more," Draisaitl said. "Last year was very disappointing, and I think we took big, big steps when it comes to defending, taking care of the moment."

The lightning-quick McDavid, 27, has overshadowed his teammate with five scoring titles and three MVP nods, but Draisaitl has registered some impressive numbers of his own.

He won the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign, and put up a career-high 128 points last season.

"Such a great player," McDavid said of Draisaitl. "It's so fun to be on the ice with him. But away from the rink, I think our relationship has just continued to get closer and closer. He's a great dude. He's hilarious.

"Somebody that I spend a lot of time with and I feel really lucky to have been a teammate (of) for so long."

Draisaitl said that bond has grown through the years.

"Wanting to win has evolved into more importance for us," he said. "Knowing how much work (McDavid) puts in — that we all put in — there was obviously a lot of disappointment over the last couple years.

"But we're here, and we've given ourselves a chance to win."

BACK WHERE IT STARTED

McDavid will play his first game in the final in the same rink where he was selected No. 1 by the Oilers at the 2015 draft.

"Funny how it's worked out," he said of being back at Amerant Arena, which was known as BB&T Center when he climbed on the stage at age 18. "It's full-circle, almost nine years to the day."

"It goes by so fast. It feels like it was yesterday."

MORAL SUPPORT

Draisaitl said he's received a number of messages ahead of the final, including from countryman and NBA great Dirk Nowitzki, who had a long and decorated career with the Dallas Mavericks.

The Oilers topped the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference final, but that didn't stop the Hall of Famer from reaching out.

"Really nice," Draisaitl. "I think he was cheering for the Stars, but he's still rooting for me a little bit, too."

JAGR'S IMPACT

NHL legend Jaromir Jagr's streak of former teammates — including international from play with Czechia — suiting up in the final now stands at 45 years.

The 2024 list includes Florida's Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitry Kulikov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett and Ryan Lomberg, while Edmonton's Adam Henrique and Brett Kulak also played alongside No. 68 earlier in their careers.

AIR MILES

The Oilers and Panthers are going to be spending lots of time in the sky this series.

Edmonton and Sunrise represent the furthest distance between Cup cities in NHL history at more than 4,000 kilometres.

"We're one of the most-travelled teams in the league," McDavid said. "It's only fitting to play in the furthest Stanley Cup final of all time. We spend a lot of time on that plane, but we have a good time."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2024.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 3:46 pm | Story: 491353

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Stuart Skinner has taken to reading books as a way of taking his mind off the sport of hockey and his job as an NHL goaltender of getting in front of frozen rubber disks fired at him at 90-plus mph.

“Recently I’ve been reading ‘Lord of the Rings,’" Skinner said. "That has not helped me with how to stop the puck.”

Something has, enough to backstop the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

After three rounds of playoffs in which he has been at times unplayable to the point of being pulled and at other times nearly unbeatable, Skinner is the biggest question mark going into the series that starts Saturday night.

“My job’s simple just because I’ve been doing it for a long time, so I’ve just got to keep the puck out of the net and do my very best to do that,” Skinner said Friday. "That’s the pressure that I take on is just being able to do my job at a very high level.”

Skinner has been lately, specifically since being yanked and replaced by journeyman backup Calvin Pickard during the second round against Vancouver. Upon returning, he has gone 6-2 with a 1.81 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

Before that? Skinner had a 3.23 goals-against average and an .877 save percentage, and the Oilers were largely winning in spite of him.

“To have the mental strength to be able to bounce back and kind of put a bad game or a bad goal in the rearview mirror takes a lot,” said Florida backup Anthony Stolarz, who had a very brief stint in Edmonton in 2019 as part of his rollercoaster career. "You have to admire the way he’s been able to do that.”

Skinner has an admirer in Panthers starter Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender and his latest challenge to try to outduel as he he did Dallas' Jake Oettinger in the Western Conference final.

"He’s a good goalie," Bobrovsky said. “You’re not going to make the final if you’re a bad goalie. He’s a good positional goalie and I think he’s very composed and he has a good mind.”

It is a mind that has endured some hardships along the way this season. If you think his early playoff numbers were bad, they were even worse to start the season: six losses in his first eight games, a 3.88 goals-against average and an .854 save percentage.

After being an All-Star in 2023 and the top rookie goalie in his first season in the league, Skinner got the job in the fall amid his struggles when the team decided to put Jack Campbell on waivers and send him to the minors.

“Certainly we believed in Stuart Skinner,” general manager Ken Holland said. “I think he’s one of the really good top young netminders in the game, and he took it from there.”

Skinner won 35 of his 51 appearances the rest of the way to clinch a playoff spot with ease.

“There hasn’t been very many poor performances, and when there has been a poor performance, he’s always responded,” coach Kris Knoblauch said.

Handling the ups and downs taught Skinner a couple of things: namely that his teammates have his back and his internal ability to withstand adversity is better than he realized.

“I’ve been able to bounce back and find myself, and finding that resiliency in myself is obviously something that I’m very proud of," Skinner said. “But it also shows just myself that I’m stronger than maybe that I think I am. And I think that’s great, especially going into where we are now.”

Where he is now is firmly in the spotlight as the hometown boy who grew up an Oilers fan four wins from bringing the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993. That drought predates him being born in ‘98, and it’s not the kind of pressure he wants on his shoulders at the most important moment of his career.

But one thing Skinner made clear when he held court on Cup final media day is that he's not overwhelmed by the moment, having already played 123 games in the regular season and 28 more in the playoffs. So nervous before his NHL debut that he could barely consume food, he's approaching this as just another series.

“It’s the same as the other rounds that we’ve played; it’s another round to try to win four games,” Skinner said. “I’ll definitely be able to eat.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 2:18 pm | Story: 491332

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — By the time he was old enough to watch NHL games growing up in Sweden, Oliver Ekman-Larsson began dreaming about playing in the Stanley Cup Final.

Now he's here, a member of the Florida Panthers in a series against the Edmonton Oilers that marks the furthest distance between two teams in a final in NHL history. That would not have mattered to that kid yearning to be in this spot.

“I would probably go back and forth to Sweden if I got a chance to play in the Stanley Cup Final,” he said.

OK, it's not quite that far, but the 2,543 miles (4,092 kilometers) between the Panthers and Oilers home arenas eclipses the old record set by Vancouver and Boston in 2011 — a series that went the full seven games. Four years after that, the Oilers drafted Connor McDavid in the same home arena they'll play Game 1 in Saturday night, a full-circle moment for the face of the sport.

“We spend a lot of time on that plane,” McDavid said. “We’re one of the most traveled in the league, so it’s only fitting that we’re going to play in the furthest Stanley Cup Final of all time.”

But this Cup final is not just one being played in opposite corners of North America. It's a matchup of complete contrasts between a history-rich franchise in hockey-mad Canada looking for its sixth title and first since 1990 and another that did not even exist until 1993 and is now finally thriving underneath palm trees looking for the organization's first championship.

“It’s pretty cool to be in Edmonton where it’s live-and-die hockey and then come down here where it’s a little different down here in South Florida,” Oilers winger Connor Brown said, also noting the play on the ice will be worth watching in either locale. “They play an in-your-face style of game and they pressure and they play on their toes, and so do we, so it’s going to make for some fun hockey.”

Hockey that is played as differently as the cities the teams represent. Feisty Florida bulldozed its way to the final by suffocating opponents with stifling pressure and stellar goaltending, while high-powered Edmonton has ridden McDavid, the three-time and reigning league MVP, and longtime running mate Leon Draisaitl on an offensive run that has included locking down and defending when it matters most.

“Both teams have it,” seasoned Oilers general manager Ken Holland said. “You don’t fluke this league. You need skill, and you need an engine and that engine of that group of players have got to drive your team on and off the ice.”

Again driving the Panthers are power forward Matthew Tkachuk, their leading scorer with 19 points, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who has allowed only 38 goals throughout this playoff run. They're back in the final for a second consecutive year and are not only healthier than when they lost to Vegas and had to watch the Golden Knights hoist the Stanley Cup but more accustomed to the grind of getting to this point.

“We're ready this year,” forward Sam Bennett said. “We have that bitter taste in our mouth still. Our mindset this year is completely different than last year. It was a little bit happy to be there, enjoying the experience. This year it’s all business. We have one goal in mind, and we’re not going to be satisfied until we accomplish that.”

Same goes for McDavid and Draisaitl, who have been playing together nearly a decade and had not reached the final until now.

“It’s a long time coming for all of us,” said Draisaitl, the German star whose 28 points in the playoffs trail only McDavid's 31 among all scorers.

Some of that production has come on the power play, where the Oilers have converted on a postseason-best 37.3% of opportunities. The Panthers, who were whistled for 57 penalties through three rounds, have talked all week about the need to stay disciplined while also not abandoning the hard-nosed approach that has defined them.

"You have to find that fine line," gritty winger Nick Cousins said. "We have to make sure that we’re physical and clean and getting in on the forecheck because that’s our DNA, that’s our style of game.”

The Oilers' DNA also is not one-dimensional, as they got superb play in net from Stuart Skinner in the Western Conference final against Dallas and will be counting on more where that came from after a rough start to the playoffs and a history of miscues this time of year.

Edmonton has also killed a franchise-record 28 consecutive penalties, “so they have all the confidence right now to be effective,” Florida defenseman Brandon Montour said.

Which team will be more effective in those aspects of the game — and playing the style it prefers — will determine who wins the series, which won't be for the faint of heart.

“There’s going to be some more nastiness,” Oilers winger Evander Kane said. "Both teams have some passionate players on each side. I think there’s going to be some intangibles that guys have on both teams that are going to play out and maybe tip a team over in the right way and tip a team over in the wrong way.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 2:07 pm | Story: 491333

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Okposo's first Stanley Cup memory came as an 8-year-old boy, when he watched the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Florida Panthers in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.

That series — a quick sweep for the Avalanche, who won their first ever NHL title — ignited Okposo's love for hockey. Now, after a career that has lasted 17 years and spans three teams, the 36-year-old Panthers right winger finally gets a shot at his own championship experience.

“It’s been a long road to get here," Okposo said Friday, one day before the Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the final.

He grinned eagerly at the thought of hoisting the trophy that has eluded him, despite piling up more than 1,000 career NHL games, 242 goals, 372 assists and a 2017 All-Star nod.

“There was a long time where I wasn’t close to getting to this point,” said Okposo, who made 24 postseason appearances with the New York Islanders in his first nine NHL seasons but never got past the second round. “I’ve had a long career and some ups, some downs and (thought) maybe it’s just a good career, and I don’t even get a chance.”

For a while, that was enough for him.

Then came the chance to join the Panthers fresh off their 2023 run to the final with room for his experience and leadership, and Okposo wasted no time, knowing the expectations were to get back to the same spot.

“I wanted to make sure that I was giving myself the best opportunity to win, and this is where I thought it would be,” Okposo said.

The former Buffalo captain's role has looked different with the loaded Panthers. He played a total of 65 minutes in six regular-season games and has gotten into 11 playoff games, but he's perfectly fine with that.

“Pretty special thing for me in the last couple of years, where I’ve worn a lot of hats,” Okposo said. "I’ve been a first-line guy, first power play, penalty kill guy. And then you play fourth line, healthy scratch, I’ve done a lot. So I have appreciation for everything a team requires to win. It’s not just your first-line guys, it’s not just your fourth-line guys. You all have to be in unison. And that’s why this sport is the best in the world — is because your star players alone cannot win you a championship."

WHERE IT STARTED

Connor McDavid's career started in South Florida, so it's only fitting that the chance to win his first Stanley Cup trophy comes in the same building where Edmonton drafted him first overall in 2015.

“It’s kind of funny how it’s worked out,” McDavid said. “It’s full circle, almost nine years to the day in this building.”

Expectations then were just as high as they are now for the three-time league MVP and five-time leading scorer. He's been compared to the greats of the game — from Wayne Gretzky to Sidney Crosby, and even greats of other games like LeBron James — and expected since the moment he entered the league to lead the Oilers to their first Stanley Cup title since 1990.

“I think looking back, it goes by so fast,” McDavid said. “It feels like it was yesterday that (draft) night was happening, and here we are nine years later.”

OIL CHANGES

Edmonton appears to be making a couple of lineup tweaks for Game 1, with Warren Foegele back on the fourth line in place of Derek Ryan and Philip Broberg moving to the right side on defense.

Foegele was a healthy scratch for the final three games of the Western Conference final against Dallas after scoring 20 goals during the regular season.

“What he provides us is a little bit of offense,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Also he’s just another guy who adds some more speed to our team. Obviously, we took him out of the lineup, which wasn’t easy for us to do after the year he had. But it’s nice to have the opportunity to put him back in.”

Foegele, an offensive player prone to turnover trouble, knows he has to make better decisions. Broberg said he’s comfortable playing either side on the blue line.

The Panthers are not expected to make any changes from the lineup they had in their East final clincher against the New York Rangers.

FLORIDA FREE AGENTS

The Panthers have more than a handful of pending free agents who, without a new contract before July 1, could be playing elsewhere next season. None is more prominent than forward Sam Reinhart, who scored 57 goals during the regular season and eight more in the playoffs.

“Honestly, really haven’t thought about it too much, certainly not now,” Reinhart said. “Maybe personally you get off to a good start, it’s easy to keep everything else on the back burners in the back of your mind. I’ve had no issues with it. The team’s had no issues with it. We’re focused on the task at hand.”

Defenseman Brandon Montour, who can also become an unrestricted free agent, said only, “I’m just trying the best I can for this team, and the rest will take care of itself afterwards.”

TATUM, TKACHU

K CHASING TITLES

Stand up, Chaminade College Preparatory in St. Louis.

A pair of former Chaminade students — the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and the Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk — are currently playing for titles. The Celtics lead the NBA Finals 1-0; the Panthers open the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton on Saturday.

Tkachuk and Tatum have been friends for years.

“It’s actually really cool when you think about it,” Tkachuk said. “I think everyone from St. Louis, you know, whether they were going to watch or not ... they’re pulling for both teams. So, it’s super cool to have that support back home, for not only myself but for the Celtics as well. I think it would be unreal for Chaminade and all of St. Louis if we can both win it.”

And yes, even in the Miami Heat home market, Tkachuk says he’s rooting for Boston — which eliminated the Heat in Round 1 of this year’s NBA playoffs.

TWIN CELEBRATION

Jonah Gadjovich has not played in a single playoff game for the Panthers this spring. Even as a healthy scratch, he’s still someone that teammates insist is worth celebrating.

The Panthers have a tradition: The player of the game gets the game puck, and then that player gets to put it on the makeshift plaque that has 16 puck-sized holes cut out — one for each win that it’ll take to capture the Stanley Cup.

After the Panthers beat the New York Rangers on May 30 for a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference final, Niko Mikkola presented the puck not to someone in uniform — but to Gadjovich, who was in a suit. The Panthers couldn’t have been happier.

“I was not expecting that,” Gadjovich said. “That was really special. ... It just shows that we’re a family, seriously. People say that. They throw it around. We mean it here.”

Gadjovich and his wife welcomed twins — son Lion, daughter Adalee — on May 22. That Rangers game was the first one where he was back around the team following the births.

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 1:56 pm | Story: 491324

SUNRISE — Connor McDavid was in the midst of a hockey nightmare.

The superstar captain's Edmonton Oilers — among the Stanley Cup favourites in training camp — had just suffered another demoralizing loss.

The last-place, torn-down-to-the-studs San Jose Sharks were celebrating a 3-2 victory down the hall that brought the rebuilding club even on points with McDavid's confused and frustrated group.

Edmonton was in a tailspin. It was Nov. 9, 2023. There were a boatload of questions and few, if any, answers.

Seven months later, McDavid and his teammates — somehow — sit four wins from the Stanley Cup.

The Oilers open the title series Saturday against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Arena, the culmination of a roller-coaster campaign that was nearly lost a month into the schedule.

"Our group always believed that we were a good team," McDavid said Friday. "Even when things weren't going well, I think we always believed that if we just stuck with things we were going to turn it around.

"When you're going through it, obviously it sucks and it doesn't feel like that. But our group came together."

The Oilers are looking to win their sixth Cup — and first since 1990 — after last making the championship showdown in 2006 when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

"It's exciting," Edmonton winger Zach Hyman said. "You're very close to your dream, but at the same time, you're far away. You have to win a series against a really good team."

The Panthers — a league backwater for more than two decades — are making their second consecutive appearance in the final after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 a year ago. Florida's only other four-round spring came in 1996 when the Colorado Avalanche secured their first Cup.

"It's kind of like a Christmas Eve feeling right now," Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk said. "It's been a long week trying to keep your mind off it as much as possible, and just enjoy the warm weather outside as much as you can, but it's hard not to think about Game 1."

A matchup that features the furthest distance between cities in the final in league history at 4,089 kilometres, the series will be one of contrasts.

Committed to defence more so than ever before in the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era, the Oilers have a high-flying offence that downed the Los Angeles Kings in the first round before having to come back from series deficits to defeat the Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars for the Western Conference crown.

That attack includes the first four names in post-season scoring with McDavid, Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins topping the list, along with Hyman, who leads in goals.

It took a while for the Oilers to figure things out.

"You're not going to go through the playoffs and win 16 games winning 5-0 every game," Draisailt said. "We were young kids coming in and the weight of the world on our shoulders, it felt like. Everyone expected us to do everything. We weren't ready to understand what it really takes to win. When you're 19, 20, 21 years old, that's just a fact.

"Sometimes it takes a little longer."

The Panthers, meanwhile, are a tough, four-line juggernaut built from Sergei Bobrovsky's net out that rolled through the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins before dispatching the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers.

Tkachuk, who is familiar to Edmonton fans from his six seasons with the Calgary Flames, and captain Aleksander Barkov pace a balanced attack.

Florida head coach Paul Maurice will take part in his third final still in search of a first Cup. His opposite, rookie bench boss Kris Knoblauch, took over in November with Edmonton sitting 31st in the standings at 3-9-1.

The Oilers' special teams are a big reason they're four victories from sipping from the silver mug. A lethal power play came through late against the Stars, while a middle-of-the-pack penalty kill in the regular season hasn't allowed a goal in its last 28 short-handed chances — a stretch of 10 games.

"They're a great team," Tkachuk said. "Got to watch some of their games against Dallas. They played really well and ultimately deserved to win the West.

"It should make for a great final."

Edmonton is also carrying the weight of Canada's collective Cup drought, which stands at 30 years since the Montreal Canadiens last raised the glistening trophy in 1993. The Canucks (twice), Oilers and Calgary Flames have all lost the final in seven games in the years since, while the Ottawa Senators and Canadiens also got agonizingly close.

McDavid and his group felt about as far away from this moment as the journey from Edmonton to South Florida back in November.

Now they can almost taste it.

"It's been good for our group to have gone through that," McDavid said. "You find out what your group's made. We showed that we can go through adversity together and stick together.

"And come out the other side."

The final climb towards hockey immortality begins Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2024.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 12:36 pm | Story: 491298

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Some numbers and notes going into the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, a series that starts on Saturday night:

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LONGEST YEAR?

Edmonton has already played 100 games this season, while Florida has played 99.

And that means a record for season longevity is in play for both teams.

Edmonton’s record for games played in a season is 106, set during its run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2005-06. The Oilers would tie that figure if this series goes six games; they’d break it if it goes the full seven games.

Florida played 104 games in its run to the final in the 1995-96 season. A five-game Cup final this year would tie that mark for the Panthers; they’d set a new club record if this series goes six or seven games.

The NHL record for games played in a season isn’t within reach for either club. That mark is 108, done on six occasions — by the 1992-93 and 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings, the 1993-94 Vancouver Canucks, the 2003-04 Calgary Flames, the 2014-15 Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues.

IRON MEN

The Panthers have three players — Sam Reinhart, Eetu Loustarinen and Niko Mikkola — in position to play every game this season. They’re the only Florida players to have appeared in all 82 regular-season contests and all 17 playoff games so far.

The only Oilers player who could play in every Edmonton game this season is defenseman Brett Kulak. Forward Warren Foegele played in all 82 regular-season games but missed three in the West final against Dallas.

Kulak has played in all 228 Oilers games since getting traded to Edmonton in March 2022. Reinhart has played in each of Florida’s last 212 contests.

STREAKS

Edmonton was unbeatable for about a month and a half this season, winning 16 consecutive games from Dec. 21 through Feb. 6 — tying the second-longest regular-season streak in NHL history.

Somehow, that rarely bodes well for championship aspirations.

Excluding the Oilers’ streak this season there have been 12 runs in NHL history where a team won at least 13 consecutive regular-season games.

Of those 12 teams, only one — the 1981-82 New York Islanders, winners of 15 straight that season — went on to win the Stanley Cup. Among the franchises on the list of having such a long streak and not winning it all: the Panthers, who won 13 in a row in 2021-22 but wound up falling in the second round of the playoffs to Tampa Bay.

WHAT ABOUT BOB?

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is on pace to lead the NHL in minutes this season, with 4,451 so far — about 128 more than Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner.

Bobrovsky, 35, would be the oldest player to lead the league in goalie minutes over a season since Dominik Hasek, then 37, played 5,326 minutes for Detroit in 2001-02.

MCDAVID MILESTONE

Edmonton's Connor McDavid needs one point in this series to reach 1,089 in his career, including playoffs.

That'll tie Glenn Anderson for fourth-most as an Oiler. And that would leave only Wayne Gretzky (1,921), Mark Messier (1,249) and Jari Kurri (1,245) ahead of McDavid on the team’s all-time list.

MOVES LIKE JAGR

This is the 45th consecutive Stanley Cup Final that includes a current or former teammate of Jaromir Jagr, counting one instance of Olympic overlap with the Czech national team.

This series actually has nine former Jagr teammates: Florida’s Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sergei Bobrovsky and Dmitry Kulikov, along with Edmonton’s Adam Henrique and Brett Kulak.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 5:32 am | Story: 491239

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Oilers not only have the opportunity to bring the long-awaited Stanley Cup back to Canada, they also could bring a major financial windfall to two Colorado sports bar owners.

An Edmonton championship couldn't come at a better time for Jeremy Malone and Judson Dymond, whose establishment was forced to close after an arsonist burned it Jan. 26.

Two weeks earlier, they placed a three-team parlay with BetMGM Sportsbook that would pay $584,000 if the Oilers beat the Florida Panthers in the final, which begins Saturday.

Their $1,000 wager hit on the first two legs when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl and European soccer power Real Madrid claimed the Champions League title.

Malone was in Arizona with a friend over the weekend when Real Madrid won and the Oilers closed out the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.

“It was a very good weekend,” Malone said.

Malone said he and Dymond have taken out a partial hedge bet on the Panthers in case the Oilers don't come through, guaranteeing them a profit either way.

“We made the (larger) bet in the beginning,” Malone said. “We're gamblers when it comes down to it. We still want the Oilers.”

The timing is especially good after an arsonist broke into and burned down The Sportsbook Bar & Grill in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Insurance is taking care of the rebuild and revenue losses that includes paying employees, so the extra money will assist in making improvements to the sports bar.

“It was a very surreal phone call,” Malone said. “You get there and you see water pouring out of the front of your building because of all the sprinklers. It'll be built back better. It keeps getting pushed back because of city stuff, permit stuff. I feel bad for our employees. A lot of these people are with us five, six, seven years.”

A person was arrested and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

A CLOSE SERIES?

The Panthers are -130 favorites at BetMGM to win the Cup, meaning a $130 wager pays $100. Edmonton is nearly even money at +110.

BetMGM favors the series going six or seven games at +200 each.

“Florida is the team that I'm leaning on,” said Alex B. Smith, who co-hosts “The Ice Guys” podcast. “I have a future on them at 9-1 going back before the season. I like them to win it in five or six games.”

The key matchup could be the Oilers' offense led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl against the Panthers' shut-down defense and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

“Florida's defense is rock solid right now,” Smith said. “When you combine how well the blue liners are playing and then how well Bobrovsky is and how in tune he is as well, it's a tough task for any offense. But Edmonton certainly has the horses. If any team is going to beat Florida, Edmonton should give them that push-back based on their offensive talent.”

BACKING THE PANTHERS

Smith isn't the only one hoping Florida players are skating with the Cup when the series ends. BetMGM oddsmakers would love to see it, too.

The Oilers were as high as 25-1 to win the championship when they got off to a slow start, resulting in coach Jay Woodcroft getting fired Nov. 12 and replaced by Kris Knoblauch.

“So we have way more liability when it comes to Edmonton, whereas Florida has been pretty close to the top favorite throughout the season,” BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini said. “The fact we're not in the state of Florida means we don't get a lot of hometown bets in general, so most of the people that have bet them have bet them at a much lower price point.”

BetMGM's presence north of the border is only in Ontario, but there is a little bit of the rallying around the Canadian flag. In Ontario, 76% of the money-line wagers for Game 1 are on the Oilers compared to 52% throughout North America.

A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.

McDAVID FAVORED TO WIN CONN SMYTHE

It's unusual for the favorite of the Conn Smythe Trophy, which goes to the playoffs MVP, to be on the underdog team, but McDavid is tops at +200.

“But McDavid is pretty much on another level when it comes to this,” Cipollini said. “He is the face of the league. We really can't see many scenarios where the Oilers win and it doesn't go to McDavid just off the basis you know the NHL is going to want to give him the award.”

Bobrovsky and Panthers teammate Aleksander Barkov are next at +400 each.

IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIENCE

The Panthers also were in the final last season, losing in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.

“I think last year with Florida, they simply ran out of steam,” Smith said. “It was a team that needed to play like hell the last two weeks of the regular season using their third-string goaltender just to even get into the playoffs. ... I think now they know how to manage themselves.”

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 1:00 am | Story: 491229

The Edmonton Oilers are set to face the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final beginning Saturday.

The Panthers host the first two games in the best-of-seven series in Sunrise, Fla.

Here's a quick breakdown of how the two hockey cities compare:

Population

Sunrise: 92,000

Edmonton: 1.1 million

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Size

Sunrise: 41 square kilometres

Edmonton: 784 square kilometres

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Average June temperature

Sunrise: 31 C

Edmonton: 19 C

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Stanley Cups

Sunrise: 0

Edmonton: 5

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Location

Sunrise: 2,900 kilometres from equator

Edmonton: 1,448 kilometres from Arctic Circle

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Average house price

Sunrise: C$412,00

Edmonton: C$388,500

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Climate

Sunrise: tropical monsoon

Edmonton: humid continental

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Nearby natural wonders

Sunrise: Florida Everglades

Edmonton: Rocky Mountains

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Time zones

Sunrise: eastern daylight time

Edmonton: mountain daylight time

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2024.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 7, 2024 / 1:00 am | Story: 491230

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 1:03 pm | Story: 491159

The media relations staffs from the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars were announced Thursday as the winners of this year's Dick Dillman Award, which is presented annually to recognize excellence by the Professional Hockey Writers Association to one team from each conference in the NHL.

It's the third time Dallas has been recognized, the second time for Florida.

The Panthers’ group is led by vice president of communications Adelyn Biedenbach, along with her staff — Chrissy Parente, Thomas Harding, Veronica Lempicki and Julie David. They're assisted by a group of interns and others from the franchise's corporate communications team.

“Addie is brilliant, hardworking, communicative, welcoming and gracious, a complete team member who would do anything for anyone," Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said. "She’s almost become like her own brand as far as being an ambassador of professionalism.”

Florida will play host to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton on Saturday night.

Dallas' staff is led by chief communications officer Dan Stuchal and director of communications Joe Calvillo, along with Kyle Shohara, Rina Zell and Emily Schumacher.

“We strive to support local and national media members by providing timely access and the best available resources to tell the stories of our team, none of which we could accomplish without the support and collaboration of our players, coaches, hockey operations and executive staff," Calvillo said.

The Dillman Award is presented in honor of the late Minnesota North Stars public relations guru Dick Dillman, and dates back to 2006. It is voted on by a panel of senior PHWA members.

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The Canadian Press - Jun 6, 2024 / 11:00 am | Story: 491126

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk’s basic offensive numbers for the Florida Panthers are all down this season. Goals, down. Assists, down. Points, down. Shooting percentage, down.

On paper, that doesn’t look great. On ice, Florida sees things very differently.

“You just have to look at some different numbers,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

The one in particular that Maurice points to: 92 standings points for Florida last season, 110 standings points for Florida this season. Both seasons ended up in the same place — the Stanley Cup Final — but there is no question that this Panthers team was better over 82 regular-season games than last season’s club was.

And in a room filled with leaders, Tkachuk most definitely stands out. He helped the Panthers be considerably better from start to finish, and at both ends of the ice, which is why Maurice is raving about his year — not obsessing over less scoring as Game 1 looms Saturday night against Edmonton.

“He’s a leader in there, so the culture and the shape of our team, he has a major impact on that,” Maurice said. “The biggest growth, by far … is the discipline in his game. He’s just not in the penalty box anymore. I would say straight through November into January last year, he was. He was the Tasmanian devil out there.”

Including the playoffs, Tkachuk finished his first Florida season with 133 points and 197 penalty minutes and was the second player in NHL history to have that many points and PIMs in the same season; Kevin Stevens had 151 points and 282 penalty minutes for Pittsburgh in 1991-92.

This year, Tkachuk's numbers so far: 107 points, 107 PIMs. No other player in the league has 100 of both, so he still stands alone on that front but he's clearly been more disciplined or at least more choosy about when it's time to visit the box. Case in point: when he and Boston's David Pastrnak decided to fight in Game 2 of that series, a rare display of big-time stars throwing punches at one another.

“Two guys wanted to go at it and I think our guy kind of came out on top of that one," Maurice said. "So, I thought it was good and I didn’t think about it again.”

There is a clear evolution to Tkachuk, on and off the ice. He's only 26 but is wrapping up his eighth year in the NHL. He got engaged a couple months ago. He's in the title series for the second straight year; Florida got rolled by Vegas last year in part because several key players, Tkachuk included, were dealing with serious injuries.

He played some of that series through a fractured sternum, an issue that was so painful teammates had to help him put his pads on, get his jersey over his head and tie his skates. Tkachuk couldn’t play in Game 5, when Vegas clinched the series in a rout.

“Obviously, getting hurt in Game 3 was not the way to draw it up," Tkachuk said. "Felt like, maybe if I’m healthier, it could have maybe changed it a little bit, that series. But at the end of the day, I couldn’t control anything of what happened. I just had to go into the summer with that kind of hanging over my head a little bit.

“I basically had to work … as hard as I can to get back healthy, to get back to feeling good and ultimately work as hard as I can to give myself another crack at it,” Tkachuk said. "And here we are, having another chance at it.”

That chance starts on Saturday, on home ice against the Oilers.

And that adds another layer of intrigue to all things surrounding Tkachuk in this series — since he spent his first six NHL years in Calgary, a rival of Edmonton. They are not fans of his in Edmonton, to put it mildly. It is a mutual feeling. A respect exists between the sides, at least from Tkachuk's perspective. But a warm ovation does not await him in Games 3 and 4 when this series shifts to Alberta.

“Obviously, this is way bigger than that," Tkachuk said. “But I'm very comfortable playing in these games against them. It's been a big rivalry ever since I was 18 years old. I know the passion and I just know that rink, I know that city, been there, played a lot of games there. I should feel very comfortable going back. They're not big fans of me. I'll try to take advantage of that.”

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