Feb 8, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates with left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) after scoring against the Ottawa Senators during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/67652b9e-e182-4634-ba77-1d869ae94b5c.jpeg] Feb 8, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates with left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) after scoring against the Ottawa Senators during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) The buzz surrounding Thursday night’s 4 Nations Face-Off Championship at TD Garden in Boston has been building for a week. Considering how things played out when Canada hosted the United States on Saturday in Montreal, between the atmosphere inside Bell Centre and the emotions conveyed by the players on the ice, the anticipation for the rematch couldn’t be more palpable. That includes the NHL players and coaches who aren’t at 4 Nations, many of whom have resumed working ahead of the season resuming this weekend. On Thursday, the Florida Panthers held their first formal practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. Florida Panthers players Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart practice ahead of Thursday's 4 Nations title game. (Source: Florida Panthers) Afterwards, Head Coach Paul Maurice, known for his thoughtful and often entertaining quotes, gave a very honest answer when asked about who he was rooting for in the 4 Nations final. “You’re cheering for your guys,” he said. “You’ve got three players left. Just stay healthy, right? That’s it. I just want it to end with everybody healthy.” That may be a tall order considering Matthew Tkachuk has already been battling an apparent injury that kept him out of part of the American’s win over Canada and all of their loss to Sweden. Tkachuk will be on the ice Thursday night, likely skating on a line with his brother Brady and Jack Eichel. As for Florida’s Canadian forwards, Sam Reinhart has been skating with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon while Sam Bennett is expected to line up next to Brad Marchand and Seth Jarvis. The star power on both rosters is pretty unreal on its own, but all the players giving everything they have, as though it was the Olympics or the Stanley Cup Playoffs, has made it something very special. “It’s a spectacle,” said Maurice. “As a fan, I’m looking forward to watching this game. Just the tension of it. You don’t get this kind of juice in the middle of a hockey season. So just get out healthy. That’s all.” Interestingly, Maurice admitted that he’s really been sucked into the 4 Nations tournament. This goes against the norm when it comes to these kind of non-NHL exhibitions. “(I’ve watched) all of it,” he said. “Never have before, never particularly interested, but it's very captivating, because we have players on each team, I’m really interested in watching them play. And then the spectacle of it, you see so many stars in our game – there was a section of time that they missed out on, Olympics and some things that couldn't happen because of COVID – so you've got a generation of players exposing themselves now for the first time to the public, and because it is pretty exciting, Canada-U.S. in the final, you’ll get a lot of viewers, so it's good for the game. It's been fun to watch.” Maurice couldn’t help but crack a smile when talking about the start of the first game between the U.S. and Canada. The game famously featured three fights in the first nine seconds, two of which included members of the Florida Panthers: Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. It come to the surprise of absolutely no one, including Maurice, that Tkachuk was the first one to drop the gloves, immediately after the opening faceoff. “He has a tremendous emotional IQ in terms of what the game needs,” Maurice said. “Wonderful.” Whatever happens during Thursday’s final match, the Panthers players on the ice will likely have a direct impact on the result. 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