FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers don’t play hockey every day. It only seems like that’s the case.
When the Panthers take the ice for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton on Wednesday night, it will be the team’s 309th game over the past three seasons and one that ties the NHL record for most games in a three-year span. And that, obviously, means they’ll break the record in Game 2 on Friday.
There is no downside to making the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive seasons, though there has been one unintended consequence — the Panthers are playing a ton of hockey. It’s simultaneously tiring and exhilarating.
“We will have more energy for this series than any of the three prior,” coach Paul Maurice said. “And I’m sure it’s true of Edmonton as well. But the regular season was more of a grind for us this year than either of the two previous. And then in each round, it seemed a bigger build to excitement just because the light is at the end of the tunnel. There are no more than seven games left to this season, no matter what. So, you will see a new energy source from both teams in this series.”
Dallas (1997-98 through 1999-2000) and Detroit (2006-07 through 2008-09) hold the record for most games in a three-year span with 309; the Panthers’ Game 5 win in Carolina to clinch the Eastern Conference title was their 308th in three seasons, putting them on the brink of passing those clubs.
And two Panthers players — Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling — have played almost every one of those games. Both have made 303 appearances for Florida in these three years; they have a chance to pass Pittsburgh’s Phil Kessel for the most by any NHL player ever in a three-year span.
Kessel played in all 307 of Pittsburgh’s games from 2015-16 through 2017-18.
“That is crazy,” Forsling said. “I didn’t know that stat. That is crazy, for sure. It’s a lot of preparation and a lot of recovery and you have to do the right things. Otherwise, you’re going to be struggling out there — because that’s a lot of hockey. And mentally, you’ve got to take days off and not think about hockey as much. I have a son now; that takes my mind off things.”
Edmonton is going to fly up the most-games list as this series goes on as well.
Game 1 against Florida will be the Oilers’ 300th in the last three years; if the series goes seven games, Edmonton’s 306 games would be the seventh most in a three-year span behind the Panthers, those Dallas and Detroit teams with 309, along with Pittsburgh (2015-16 through 2017-18), Colorado (1999-2000 through 2001-02) and Detroit (1995-96 through 1997-98) with 307 each.
“This last stretch of the last couple of years has been some of the most fun I’ve had playing hockey,” Oilers star Connor McDavid said after the Western Conference final. “I look forward to what’s going to be an exciting month.”
The Oilers and Panthers have superstars atop the lineups, but both teams know they got here with depth. Both have had 19 different goal scorers in the playoffs.
“That’s what’s been winning us hockey games,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “And you need that this time of year. We knew we were going to need everybody. … Our depth has been incredible.”
The Panthers set the tone for deep runs with grueling training camps, though that’s just one small part of the story. Strength and conditioning is an everyday thing during the season as well, along with constant advising from nutritionists, a sports science department and others tasked with drawing out the best path to peak performance. The Panthers will be up to about 67,000 air miles logged this season — far more than most NHL teams — after the first two games of the Cup final; they tend to stay in cities after games instead of flying home late at night in order to keep some semblance of a normal sleep schedule.
“It is before practice, after practice, every day, so that’s kind of the mindset and culture that we build here,” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “A lot of guys on this team don’t even drink anymore. It isn’t the old NHL where you have beers after games every game. We can’t afford that because we cannot afford to get behind the eight ball at all during the season. That’s where our team is at now.”
