Panthers run to Stanley Cup Final has been hockey storyteller's dream

This postseason run by Florida has included an 11-1 stretch and the first sweep in franchise history

It’s probably safe to say the Florida Panthers have never been this popular of a topic in the month of May.

At least not in, oh, say 30 years or so.

But here we are.

There has been a plethora of stories told about this Panthers team as they’ve embarked on one of the most unexpected playoff runs in recent memory.

Stories about what the team had to endure during the regular season just to get into the postseason in the first place.

Between injuries and illnesses to key players like Sasha Barkov, Aaron Ekblad or Sam Bennett to the ridiculous travel schedule, and all that combined with learning a different system from a new head coach, the Panthers can certainly feel gratified in what they’ve achieved to this point.

“We worked hard all year to put ourselves in this position,” said Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg. “I’m tremendously proud of all the guys. Truly a team effort.”

Stories about how the team has transformed over the past two months.

The Panthers look a bit different than they did for most of the season, don’t they?

It starts on the ice, with the aggressive forechecking and punishing physicality in the offensive end and the five-man unit defensive zone coverage that has helped goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky take his game to another stratosphere at a time when it mattered more than ever in his career.

Bob has been a different goalie during these playoffs than he has been during his entire run with the Panthers.

He is, as they say, in the zone.

“I am enjoying this moment,” said Bobrovsky. “It feels great, definitely. It’s a great opportunity, a great spot, and I’m proud to be with my teammates in this spot. It’s a privilege for me to compete shoulder to shoulder with them.”

Stories about how during the conference final, Bobrovsky was lights out.

He went 4-0 against Carolina, making frustratingly good saves seem like natural reflexive reactions while sweeping the Hurricanes out of the playoffs.

Bob’s 1.12 goals against average and .966 save percentage during the series are elite numbers.

Conn Smythe numbers.

“You can't say enough good things about him,” said Lomberg. “It’s been the story all playoff run long, how hard he works, how dedicated he is. For us in this locker room, there's really no surprise that he's getting the payoff that he is.”

Stories about how the team has been a remarkable combination of focused and loose, intense and disciplined, and comfortable yet driven.

While not taking away from the moments they celebrate their accomplishments, the Panthers have maintained a mindset of keeping their collective eyes on the prize, while doing it their own unique way.

It comes down to not getting too high, not getting too low, and understanding that while there are potentially amazing accomplishments to achieve along the way, they’re all doing this for one reason.

To win the Stanley Cup.

“We're enjoying the moment right now, but we also want to get back to regeneration mode and make sure we ready for the next games,” said Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas.

Stories the Panthers tell us, like Matthew Tkachuk breaking down his series-clinching goal in Game 4 against Carolina with 4.9 seconds left in the game.

It was the biggest goal in franchise history, and it happened on Florida’s home ice, in one of the most dramatic ways one could imagine.

It’s amazing the roof didn’t come off FLA Live Arena after Tkachuk put that puck in the net.

“Barky had a great fake, he froze everybody and gave it to me, and I had just a ton of room and some time to get across and put it in,” he explained. “A lot of people contributed on that…Reino to start it, Barky the pass, Benny at the net, so it was fairly easy for me to score there.”

Sitting next to Tkachuk, Barkov was quick to say, “I wouldn’t say it was easy.”

“The patience he had at the end, not too many guys have that, but we can talk about that later,” Barkov said through a smile. “That was probably the quickest you skated when you skated through the neutral zone (after the goal). I couldn’t catch you.”

Stories about Tkachuk and the legacy he’s carving out for himself as a clutch playoff performer.

Four of his nine postseason goals have been of the game-winning variety.

Three came during sudden-death overtime, and the fourth may as well have.

But it’s so much more than just the offense.

It’s the physicality, the grit, the amazing teammate he is, the fact that he gives every ounce of himself every time he touches the ice, and how one of the lasting memories of him during the conference final was when he dove headfirst to block a 2-on-1 chance for Brent Burns and Jordan Martinook late in Game 2.

There have always been players who are known for taking their game to another level during the playoffs.

It’s looking like Tkachuk is one of those guys.

“We are lucky to have Chucky on our side,” Bobrovsky said of Tkachuk after Game 4. “He knows how to score big goals. He’s been great for us all season and tonight he stepped up at the perfect time.”

Stories about a team that is so confident and comfortable, they’re not letting silly superstitions stand in the way of enjoying the moments.

Moments like when you’ve just won the Eastern Conference Final and are presented with the Prince of Wales Trophy.

There are some in the hockey world who refuse to touch the conference final trophies, whether it be the Prince of Wales Trophy presented to the Eastern Conference champion or the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl given to the winner in the Western Conference.

They believe it’s bad luck to touch them simply because they aren’t the goal. The Stanley Cup is.

The Panthers have reached the point where they are in a real comfort zone with their routines and the way they’ve been playing.

If they want selfies with the trophy, they’ll get selfies with the trophy.

“I think that we're the type of team…the last thing that we're going to do is be superstitious about not touching it,” said Tkachuk. “I think it's pretty cool to touch it and carry it around and take pictures with it. We earned that thing, and we definitely didn't do it the easy way. I feel like if you're blocking shots, taking hits and doing whatever it takes to win a trophy like that, you might as well enjoy it.”

And then there are stories that have yet to be told.

Anyone paying attention to what the Panthers have been up to this spring knows the team probably isn’t done providing fun, entertaining and inspiring content for us to talk about.

Florida is four wins away from doing the unthinkable.

For a player like Barkov, who has been with the team for a decade, it has to feel incredibly rewarding.

He was there when the team finished at the bottom of the standings and when they were at the tippy-top, always quietly smiling while leading by example and working his tail off.

Now, finally, after all the blood, sweat and tears he’s given since joining the team as an 18-year-old rookie, Barkov has a chance to play for hockey’s ultimate prize.

The captain isn’t going to let himself, or his teammates, focus on anything but their primary objective.

“We're really, really happy for what we just did, but obviously we all know there's another big series coming up soon,” Barkov said. “So we can’t get to too high on this.”

Whatever happens with the Panthers over the next few weeks, we’ll likely be telling stories about it for a long, long time.