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    David Dwork
    David Dwork
    Jun 2, 2024, 04:06

    Florida won the Eastern Conference Final in six games over the New York Rangers

    Florida won the Eastern Conference Final in six games over the New York Rangers

    For the second straight season, the Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup Final bound.

    Drink it in, Cats fans. It always goes down smooth.

    Over the past few years, Florida has become one of the NHL’s powerhouse teams, built to succeed during the playoffs by playing a physical, intimidating, relentless brand of hockey.

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    This season marked five straight that the Panthers made the playoffs, the longest such stretch in franchise history by three.

    Two seasons ago Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular season team, and then advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.

    Last season, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice arrived and began implementing his systems.

    The team responded by squeaking into the playoffs and making an epic run through the best the Eastern Conference had to offer en route to the Stanley Cup Final.

    Unfortunately, injuries began to pile up late in Florida’s run, and they fell three wins shy of claiming that shiny silver cup.

    Now they’re getting a second chance.

    Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final will take place on Saturday, June 8 at 8 p.m.

    Where the game will be played, and who Florida will be facing, are both TBD.

    Currently, the Edmonton Oilers lead the Dallas Stars 3-2 in their best-of-7 Western Conference Finals series.

    If Edmonton wins, Game 1 of the Final will begin in Florida. If Dallas wins, the Stars host Games 1 and 2.

    The full schedule can be seen below:

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    Unlike last season, Florida will enter the Stanley Cup Final as a fully healthy group.

    Regardless of which team makes it out of the west, the Panthers will be confident that if they continue to play their style (and avoid the injury bug) they will come out on time this time around.

    We shall see.

    Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is coming up in a week.

    Buckle up! 

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