Panthers open first training camp in new facility with familiar drills, same goals
The hard work and dedication that makes Florida such a great, difficult team to play against starts on day 1 of training camp
The Florida Panthers are back.
Fresh off the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, the Panthers kicked off their 2024 Training Camp on Thursday morning in Fort Lauderdale.
The Baptist Health IcePlex opened in December, so this marks the inaugural Panthers Training Camp at their new facility.
While the setting may have been different, there was a lot of familiarity during Thursday’s sessions.
The team was split in half, with a pair of 90-minute practice sessions featuring the same drills and timing.
That’s because Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice has kept the first week of camp exactly the same during his first two seasons at the helm, and year three will be no different.
“Our first four practice days will be exactly the same practices we’ve run the last two years,” Maurice said Thursday.
Players were run through high energy drills that had them going full speed and pushing hard against one another.
There is clearly no element of easing into things at a Maurice-run camp in South Florida, but there is a method to his madness.
“They will be focused on the four major defensive systems that we run, and in order to do that, they’re going to be really hard,” he said. “That’s the whole point of it.”
The camps may be extremely difficult, challenging and exhausting, but Florida’s players are jumping back into camp headfirst with big ol’ smiles on their faces.
That’s because these Cats know the harder they work, the better the results.
“It was a pretty tough start, but that’s what we like,” said Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen.
The past two seasons, the Panthers have earned themselves a reputation as a team that is not fun to play against.
They will out-work you, out-hit you and on more nights than not, outscore you.
It’s playoff hockey, but year-round.
Last season, the Panthers proved that you can absolutely push as hard as they did for as long as they did and still have enough left in the tank to survive the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup.
Now they’ll try to do it again, and with some fresh blood in the lineup following the usual, inevitable offseason turnover.
“The hunger is still there, that’s why I joined the group,” said Panthers forward Tomas Nosek. “I know it’s a tight group, and an experienced group as well. They’ve proven it the last three years. They won the Presidents’ Trophy, they went to the Finals, and they won it all, so I don’t think there’s a better team the last three years in the NHL.”
The end of each of Thursday’s practice sessions brought a drill that has grown near and dear to many of our hearts.
Maurice lines 10 pucks up at center ice and the players all pair up along the boards.
For around 20-30 seconds, the pairs would battle one-on-one for a puck, immediately followed by three laps around the rink. The pairs were split into three groups, so there was a couple minutes for guys to catch their breath between turns.
After all three groups of pairs have gone, Maurice shoots one puck down the ice into an empty goal (most go in, some don’t).
Rinse, repeat. Until all ten pucks have been shot down.
It’s a hell of an introduction to Panthers hockey for all the new guys, that’s for sure.
“Pretty hard. Like, really hard,” said Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist. “A lot of skating, compete drills and high pace. That’s the way they play, and you have to do it. It was a good first day, for sure.”
Nobody can ever accuse Maurice and his staff of easing players into training camp.
After two years of hard work leading to excellent results, the challenges from the first days of camp are wanted. They’re appreciated.
It’s how these players are wired now.
Bring it on.
“It felt good,” said Luostarinen. “Get a little sweat going and the legs going also. It’s been really good so far, just hope to keep it going.”
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