New Panthers players received a quick introduction to how Paul Maurice runs camp in Florida
For many of the 59 players taking part in the Florida Panthers 2023 Training Camp at the Ice Den in Coral Springs, they knew how hard the first few days would be.
That’s because they were around last year.
Keeping an eye on the new guys, and knowing what to look for, if there were any moments of culture shock, it didn’t show on the ice.
“It was really fast,” said Panthers winger Evan Rodrigues. “It was difficult. Every guy competes and pushes each other to be better, and that's usually when you have a successful team.”
On Thursday, and for the first four days of training camp, Florida ran a pair of 90-minute practice sessions with the roster split into two groups.
Many of the drills included a lot of skating up and down the ice, but they also featured components that forced the players to communicate, whether it be forwards trying to interweave with one another during an odd man rush or defenseman covering for one another when the puck goes along the boards during a rush drill.
“I think that we're going to work,” Rodrigues said. “That's kind of the team's identity – (get in) on the forecheck, heavy on the back check – and we're going to try and skate teams into the ground. I thought we had a good first day, I think we did a lot of that today, and we'll continue to do that.”
Each session ended with a grueling drill that, for the players, appeared to drag on and on and on.
By the end, almost everyone wearing skates was hunched over, stick on their knees, gliding across the ice to the waiting water bottles along the bench.
The drill included about 15-20 seconds of one-on-one puck battles along the boards followed by three laps around the rink. Players were split into three groups, and each group would go individually, so there were a couple minutes to catch your breath in between.
At the start of the drill, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice would stand at center ice and line up ten pucks across the red line.
When all three groups of players had completed the drill, he’d shoot one of the pucks down the ice and into an empty goal.
Then each group would go again, one-by-one, followed by Maurice sliding a puck down the ice.
Slowly but surely, the line of pucks on the center red line grew smaller, and the players became more and more exhausted, until there were no pucks left.
Then they were done.
So what was Paul Maurice’s message to the players on day one of camp?
“It's gonna be hard at the beginning here, so just be ready for that,” said Panthers forward Kevin Stenlund. “Work your ass off and just have fun.”
Stenlund signed a one-year deal with Florida during the offseason and is considered a candidate for the fourth line center spot.
He describes himself as someone who can help the team both in the offensive and defensive zones, but he foresees his role coming with more of a penalty killing, defense-first mentality.
“D-zone draws and stuff like that,” Stenlund said.
Considering Thursday was the 27-year-old’s first time on the ice with Maurice, he sure seemed to have a good feel for what his new head coach was looking for out of his players.
“He just wants to see guys compete,” Stenlund said. “Just go hard out there. It doesn’t matter how it looks, just go hard.”
The Panthers will be back on the ice in Coral Springs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before hosting the Nashville Predators in Monday’s preseason doubleheader at Amerant Bank Arena.
