The puck officially drops tomorrow in Sunrise at 8 p.m. for the Florida Panthers’ second straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
However, the circumstances this season were entirely different. Last year, the injury-riddled Cats shocked the world after barely scratching into the playoffs.
This time around, they entered the playoffs as the Atlantic Division champions, and favorites to win the Eastern Conference.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk credits this turnaround to the team being deeper, healthier and more locked in to winning it all.
“[It took] just a lot of motivation, dedication, commitment,” said Tkachuk. “The right pieces were added. Some great pieces added. And just one mindset of doing whatever [we] can to get back to it. And I thought that the guys that were here last year have done an unbelievable job coming back for the start of camp with this on their mind. We are not done yet.”
