[FLNittany]

What an incredible, improbable run the Panthers are on. Almost unprecedented in many ways.

Love seeing rats tossed on the ice again.

From 1996:

[V_TWIN]

“3-0 lead in the series”

The hurricanes toast.

[Blurb2350]

“Florida hockey team.”

[DaBroasta]

I don’t understand why the Panthers have such a tough time filling seats during the regular—they’ve had competitive teams most seasons. Maybe a cup win will turn that trend around.

[SamAdams76]

They clobbered the Bruins in the first round, a Bruins team that just came off the best regular season record in the history of the NHL. The people up in Boston are still in a state of shock.

Though a Bruins fan from way back, I always like a good underdog story.

[who knows what evil?]

Sports? Is that still a thing?

[fuzzylogic]

I’ve no horse in this race....but it’s great to see the enthusiasm. A 3-0 lead is, statistically speaking, very difficult to lose.

[Alberta's Child]

There's not much improbable about it, when you look at it from a historical perspective.

NHL teams have learned that the regular season means almost nothing. In fact, there's something called "The Curse of the President's Trophy" at work here. The winner of the President's Trophy -- awarded to the team that finishes with the best record at the end of the regular season -- usually has a disappointing performance in the playoffs.

The Boston Bruins set an NHL record for wins in the 2022-23 season, then lost to Florida in the first round of the playoffs.

Florida won the President's Trophy last season, then were swept by Tampa Bay in the second round.

The 2014-15 New York Rangers were the last team to even make the third round of the playoffs after winning the President's Trophy.

Since the changes adopted in the NHL after the 2004-05 lockout, only two teams -- the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks -- have won the President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

This will likely go down as a disastrous season for the NHL. Having four teams in the conference finals that play in cities that don't even have winter weather can't be good for national TV ratings. And two of these teams -- Dallas and Florida -- were in such financial distress just a few years ago that they were the subject of talk about possible relocation.

[dfwgator]

And then you also have the Heat doing the same thing in the NBA playoffs, they could have swept the Celtics last night.

Both the Panthers and Heat were 8 Seeds.

[discostu]

This one isn’t that improbable. They won the President’s Trophy last year. They struggled with injuries in the first half of the season, which held down their points, but once they got the full squad in place they started rolling. That’s the thing with these really long seasons, most teams are not their record. You’ve got to look at the last 2 months before the playoffs to see who a team is. And the Panthers are fast and tough with good tending.

[dfwgator]

So it looks like Florida vs Las Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final.

This is not Old Time Hockey!

[Dr. Sivana]

Florida
Vegas
Dallas
Carolina

Playing the world’s most important hockey in May and June.

The NHL is broken.

[dfwgator]

And the Panthers score with 5 seconds left in regulation to go up 4-3 and punch their ticket to the Finals.