(Sunrise) If sports psychologists are looking for topics for future work, the 2024 Stanley Cup Final will provide a fabulous laboratory.
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After seeing the Oilers rally from 0-3 to tie the game, after spending the last two days fielding questions from reporters who doubted their ability to bounce back, the Florida Panthers rallied at the right time .
Monday night, in a bipartisan Amerant Bank Arena, the Panthers rediscovered their identity from the first 20 games of these series. They were airtight as in April. They pounded the opposing defenders like in May. Sergei Bobrovsky started making saves again. And ace scorers Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart found the back of the net again, as they have all year except since the start of the final.
PHOTO JIM RASSOL, USA TODAY SPORTS
Carter Verhaeghe scored the first goal of the match.
After “forgetting how to play,” in the words of assistant coach Jamie Kompon, the Panthers found their bearings. And here they are, Stanley Cup champions for the first time in its 31-year history.
“It’s definitely not easy when you’re up 3-0 and you know you have several games to recover,” Reinhart said. It’s a dangerous position to be in when you have to finish off a team like that. But tonight was our best effort. We showed perseverance. »
The famous details
This victory allowed Paul Maurice to win the first Stanley Cup of his long career. With 1849 matches behind the bench, he comes to 2e rank in history, behind the great Scotty Bowman. But in the championships column, there was always a 0.
Like any head coach, Maurice obviously has his say. We could launch into the learned game plan theories, the famous X’s and O’s. But the coach sometimes has to manage other elements. Any other related tasks as stated in the job postings.
PHOTO REBECCA BLACKWELL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Head coach Paul Maurice lifted the trophy for the first time in his long career.
“I arrive at the arena early in the morning,” Maurice said. We have six TVs, and on one of them, the overlay says: If the Panthers lose, is it the greatest collapse in sports history? And the blindfold stays there. You wait for it to change. And it stays there for 15 minutes! So I waited for our video manager to arrive, to tell him: change positions!
Here I am, I’m 57 years old and I don’t like it. Imagine our players who are 25 years old and having to say to themselves: I still have 50 years to live as a victim of the greatest collapse in the history of sports.
Paul Maurice
It’s unclear whether Maurice avoided any torment for his players with his handling of the televisions, but the Panthers never seemed like a team that was afraid of losing. From the first appearance, the always rough Sam Bennett upset the young defender Philip Broberg. Supporting players Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund followed. After nine minutes, the Panthers already had 16 hits.
PHOTO JIM RASSOL, USA TODAY SPORTS
Sergei Bobrovsky does the splits to stop a shot from Connor McDavid.
Defensively, they managed to resist the irresistible Connor McDavid, who finished the series without a point in his last two games. The 97 would get their best chance to score with seven minutes left, but they were unable to get a free shot on a rebound. It was as if he had been unable to skate with his usual ease, as if he never had the time or space to do so.
With all this, the Panthers have made us forget all the doubts that may have arisen about them in recent days, since this famous 8-1 swing in game number 4, in Edmonton, a swing which gave the Oilers the energy needed to get back into the game.
The image of Bill Zito boiling with rage, in his dressing room, throwing a bottle of water, alone embodied the slow collapse of the Panthers.
On the ice Monday night, Zito was just as emotional, but in a good way. Each hug with his loved ones reddened his eyes more.
“It’s strange,” he told The Press. It’s hard to describe it in words. This is a very good lesson for the future. How to deal with such a situation? This applies to everyone, regardless of the field. »
People have been saying all week that we’re a disgrace. I have children, I told them: don’t go on the internet, you will read that your father is rotten! But internally, in our locker room, everything was pretty normal. This is our story.
Bill Zito
PHOTO REBECCA BLACKWELL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sam Reinhart scored the decisive goal.
It was normal, but there was still work to be done, details to be ironed out. Maurice gave the example of the numerical advantage, broken down in this series (1 in 19). “Little adjustments” were made, and Carter Verhaeghe scored four seconds after the first penalty of the game expired. A “de facto” power play goal.
“I have never been in such a situation,” recalled Maurice. You ask yourself: did I mess up? So in the three days since the last game, the little bit of hockey we did, I felt yesterday that things were going well.
“At the end of the day, we needed to be good in the most stressful environment possible. Remember: the banner said: Greatest Collapse in History! The guys did a really good job. »