For the second straight year, Florida head coach Paul Maurice is putting his players through an intense and physically demanding training camp
Sam Bennett was flying on the ice during the first day of Florida Panthers training camp on Thursday.
The 27-year-old is entering his third full season with the Panthers after he was acquired before the 2021 Trade Deadline, along with a sixth-round pick, for a second-round selection and prospect Emil Heineman.
Bennett spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Calgary Flames, who drafted him fourth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, the same draft that saw current Panthers Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart selected first and second overall, respectively.
Bennett’s time with Calgary was a mixed bag, with the gritty centerman struggling to live up to the expectation that comes with being such a high draft pick.
The fresh start in Florida was apparently just what the doctor ordered.
Bennett left Calgary with 67 goals and 141 points over 402 games played.
Compare that to his 144 games with the Panthers, where Bennett has racked up 50 goals and 104 points, and his even strength possession numbers have been the best of his career.
You can point to the tropical climate, the relaxed South Florida hockey market (compared to Calgary), hitting the career reset button or some combination, but a big part of Bennett’s resurgence has had to do with the guys in that locker room.
“It's a really tight group in here,” Bennett said Thursday following his first training camp practice. “It's fun to have everyone back together, get all the chirping and all the camaraderie back in the locker room. It's just like we never left, so it's good to be back.”
Back on the ice, happy, healthy and enjoying some of the best hockey of his career.
Bennett has played a key role in Florida’s success since his arrival. The Panthers have made the playoffs in each season Bennett has been with the team, reaching farther every year.
Last season, Florida shocked the hockey world by marching all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
For many on the outside, it was just a case of a Cinderella team catching fire at the perfect time.
A team that only squeaked into the playoffs thanks to a late-season winning streak became a fun eight-seed story that fizzled out at the end.
Those who have been paying close attention know there is much more to the story than that.
Bennett and his teammates spent much of last season learning and working to implement first year head coach Paul Maurice’s systems, and it took a while for things to start clicking.
Once Florida got going, though, it was clear they were on to something.
“That was the most fun hockey I've ever played in my life,” Bennet said. “I think everyone could agree to that, so that's a feeling that everyone wants back, and we're going to do everything we can to get back to that position.”
That includes a second year of enduring a grueling, demanding, and exhausting training camp at the hands of Maurice and his coaching staff.
Last September it came as a bit of a shock to many of the players.
This season they knew it was coming, and they know exactly why the hard work must be put in from day one.
“He tells us he wants it to be hard, and he wants us to be prepared to work hard,” Bennett said of Maurice. “In the long run, it's going to pay off for us. Everyone in here has bought into that and trusts the process to this point, so we're willing to dig in and do a hard camp again.”
The Panthers saw what they are capable of during their impressive run last season, and the amount of work it takes on a nightly basis to emerge victorious against the best the league has to offer.
It's valuable knowledge. Each player understanding and embracing that work ethic from day one is exactly what Maurice has been pushing toward.
By all indications on Thursday, it seems the Panthers are up for the task.
"I don't think anyone anyone looked out of place on day one," Bennett said. "It wasn't an easy skate out there, and everyone came in shape and ready to perform. It was a good first day."
