Sights and sounds from Florida Panthers media day ahead of the Stanley Cup Final
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2025 Stanley Cup Final: Florida vs. Edmonton
The Florida Panthers return to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive year as they face the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch of last season’s final that the Panthers won in seven games.
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Matthew Tkachuk walked to his pod inside Rogers Arena and looked to his left.
“Was that planned?” the Florida Panthers’ star winger said.
Staring Tkachuk straight in the face was a photo of himself raising the Stanley Cup in the air, part of the Panthers’ celebration after winning it all for the first time last season.
“It’s why we’re here,” Tkachuk said.
Literally and figuratively.
The Panthers are physically here, in this moment, because they’re playing for the Stanley Cup once again and playing the Edmonton Oilers once again for the chance at the repeat title.
But it’s also why Tkachuk and every other NHL player plays the game — for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup at the end of the season.
Prior to the puck dropping at 8 p.m. Wednesday to kick off the best-of-7 series, the Panthers and Oilers took part in the league’s pre-series media day.
Here are some of the highlights from the Panthers’ session.
Poker on the plane
The Panthers made the cross-continent flight from Fort Lauderdale to Edmonton on Tuesday morning, landing at about 12:30 p.m. Edmonton time and getting to the arena shortly after dropping things off at the team hotel.
How did they spend the nearly six hour flight? While some sleep or watch movies, a small group played poker.
Veteran forward Brad Marchand, the newcomer to the group after being acquired at the trade deadline, said he “might’ve cleaned up” on the flight.
“The IRS might be coming after me,” Marchand quipped.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who is the de facto dealer and tries to keep the pace of the game steady throughout the flight, said there’s a camaraderie built among teammates while playing.
“I told the story the other day about a guy like Josh Mahura, who was new to the team a few years ago,” Ekblad said of one of the team’s former defensemen. “He didn’t necessarily want to play for the amount of money we were playing for, but he gained five friends for life by being at that table and shooting shit with us for five-, six-hour flights. That’s fun.”
Who’s the biggest rat?
A question posed to several players throughout the session was which of their teammates is the “biggest rat,” the player who most gets under opponents’ skin.
The most popular answers should come as no surprise in Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk.
Center Sam Bennett tried to be diplomatic when he answered.
“If I say Marchy than Chucky is going to be upset, but if I say Chucky than Marchy is going to be upset,” Bennett said. “So I’ll say they’re 1A and 1B.”
So where would Bennett put himself?
“I’m 1C,” he said with a smile.
What would winning another Stanley Cup mean?
The Panthers already have one Stanley Cup in hand.
But what would winning again mean?
“It would be special,” forward Evan Rodrigues said. “I think throughout this season, the goal has always been to get here. We’ve been taking it game by game and you’re focused on the next one. I don’t think the realization of being in the finals has fully kicked in. I think being here for media day is helping that and the excitement is starting to wave through the body. You’re starting to realize that it’s at your fingertips. Winning two would definitely be special.”
Not content just being in the Final
The Panthers are obviously no stranger to the Stanley Cup Final anymore. This is their third consecutive trip here.
And with that, the standard of what it means to get here compared to winning it all has changed for the team’s core.
“It’s certainly different,” Bennett said. “The first time, we were just excited to be there and maybe we let that moment get too big. Just too content with just being there. Now, there’s still a job to do. We’re not going to be content until that job is done. That’s pretty much our mindset and what we’re focused on.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 7:26 PM.
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