The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2024-25 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher.
In this edition, Paul MacLean, former coach of the Ottawa Senators and assistant with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs, looks at the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.
The last time there was back-to-back in the Stanley Cup Final, I was there with the Detroit Red Wings against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and 2009.
It was a great experience, which was difficult to do, so credit to both the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. Both made some changes to their team to make themselves better the next year and it worked out for them and now they go again for Round 2.
I’m sure the Oilers are a little more experienced about how to be in the Final and how to deal with it. Because they were there last year, I think that makes it a little smoother for them this year.
This is the third one for Florida, so it’s old hat for them, it’s not a big deal.
The Oilers are going in with a little more experience this year and now they just need to get down and remember the things that defeated them last year and work on them.
I think the team that lost the year before is always a little more motivated, but the Florida Panthers want to win again, they want to win two in a row.
Edmonton will be really motivated and there is an extra motivation if you’re playing the team that beat you last year. That’s certainly a motivator for the Oilers and probably a big part of what they’ve done during the playoffs.
I know in 2007 in Detroit when we lost in the Western Conference Final to the Anaheim Ducks, it was a real big motivator for us to take that step the next year to get to the Stanley Cup Final and win the Stanley Cup.
Losing can be a great motivator and can give you a stronger will going into the next series. There are lots of things that are going to happen, but you are just better prepared to deal with it.
It’s something that you’ve been there, you’ve talked about it, dreamed about it and now you have another chance to do.
I think Edmonton has made some good changes this year.
I think the addition of defenseman Jake Walman really had a big impact on that team and how they’ve played.
Obviously getting Mattias Ekholm back now is big too. He’s fresh, he hasn’t played the first 15 playoff games, he’s fresh and ready to go.
I think that’s going to be a big advantage for Edmonton to have that quality of a player back rested and he’ll be able to play some big minutes for them.
I think Edmonton really improved their defensive part of the game with those guys, and with John Klingberg too, we shouldn’t leave him out. He’s come in and played really well in the Dallas series.
For a guy that’s had a couple of hip surgeries, that’s not easy to do. It’s not easy to come back from that kind of stuff with your timing and comfort level. He’s been a really good player for them and that defensive core, a big part of it will be how they handle Florida’s forecheck. They have to be able to get out of their own zone, they have to be able to make a good pass.
You can’t make four passes to get out of your own zone against Florida, you have to be able to make one or two passes. Those are two experienced guys that are pretty poised with the puck and can make those plays and that’s a big key, being able to get out of your zone and not spend long periods of time in your own end.
On the Florida side, they’re pretty close to being the same group they were last year. They changed a couple of guys but they’re going with the status quo and playing Panthers hockey, which they talk about all the time. This is how they play and they’re not changing.
They have a couple of extra players that can play on the fourth line, and they changed the whole fourth line after losing the first two games in the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and that made a big difference for them.
They were able to play more physically and were more active around the net and bothered the goalie a little bit more, which is what they like to do anyway.
They’re the defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason because they’re good at what they do, and adding Brad Marchand has really made their third line a lot better and now they’re an impact line and you have to pay attention to them because they can cause some trouble.
That’s a big thing for them and the question will be if the Oilers’ third line keep with them. That will be another test for Edmonton.
But, after I go through it all and I look at the rosters, Florida doesn’t have a Connor McDavid.
There is only one of those.
Florida doesn’t have a Leon Draisaitl either. You can compare Aleksander Barkov to Draisaitl, but they’re not the same either.
The way that McDavid has been playing in these playoffs, he seems to be one of those guys that really elevated his game and that’s nothing but good news for all those hockey fans in Canada because he’s really motivated to win the Cup.
