A Flyers Fans’ Guide to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final
As you are well aware, the Philadelphia Flyers did not make the playoffs this season. While they improved in the standings from last year, it will still be a while before they can contend. A new team leadership is in place that, hopefully, can get this team turned around.
But in the meantime, there is still the Stanley Cup Final to watch. This year’s championship finalists are the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights. One is representing the Eastern Conference and has several former Flyers on it. The other, the Golden Knights, is still a “young team”, in terms of years, represents the Western Conference and is bereft of Flyers. So, who should you root for?
Florida Panthers
It’s amazing how something small can change everything. The Pittsburgh Penguins only had to win one game in their final three and they would’ve clinched a spot in the playoffs. They were facing the Detroit Red Wings, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Columbus Blue Jackets; three teams that were out of the playoffs including two of the worst three teams in the NHL. Win one and they are in. The Pens lost all three games.
Because of this, the Florida Panthers earned a spot on the last day of the season. They then toppled the might Boston Bruins in seven games, trounced the Toronto Maple Leafs in five, and stunned the Carolina Hurricanes in a sweep.
They are a talented bunch of players led by Matthew Tkachuk, a player that I suggested last year the Flyers should trade for while he is an RFA We are seeing why that is. He would’ve been worth trading for. Likewise, there are a bunch of former Flyers players on the team: Nick Cousins, Radko Gudas, and goaltenders Sergei Bobrovksy and Alex Lyon. And while Lyon is back to playing the backup role right now, it is because of his efforts over the last three weeks of the season that put the Panthers into the playoffs to begin with.
Bobrobsky has found his mojo again. The Panthers look practically unbeatable. Every year you have that one team that gets hot at the end of the year and carries it through the playoffs. That team is very dangerous. This year, that team is Florida.
Vegas Golden Knights
Unlike the Panthers, who scraped and clawed their way into the playoffs, the Knights were the top seed in the West. And just like the Panthers, they have taken a chainsaw right through their competition. They dispatched the Winnipeg Jets in five games and left that team in a messy situation that hopefully the Flyers can exploit. Then, they took on the mighty Edmonton Oilers and topped them in six games, giving up five goals to Connor McDavid and six to Leon Draisaitl, but only eight goals to other players on Edmonton. Finally, the Knights dropped the Dallas Stars in six games, thanks in large part to Jamie Benn doing the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in a playoff game:
Enjoy your offseason Jamie!
If you look at the stats, Vegas didn’t exactly set the world on fire as in an individual player, like McDavid or Draisaitl tend to do. However, you have just good, solid teamwork. Vegas had six players who scored more than 50 points this year, with Jack Eichel leading the way with 66. In comparison, the Flyers had two (Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes) and Florida had five.
They’ve also done it with goaltenders who’ve been hurt. IF you need an argument that you don’t always need a stud goalie, Vegas shows you can get by with a good defense and a good offense as long as the netminder doesn’t totally suck.
The Breakdown
Goalies: The Panthers have Bobrovsky and he is hot right now. He is not letting anything by him and he has been Florida’s savior in the playoffs, shutting down Boston, Toronto, and Carolina. He has seemingly put all of his playoff demons behind him.
Vegas is rotating a duo of Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit. Hill’s stats are a little better than Brossoit’s, but it hasn’t really seemed to matter. Hill will probably get the nod to start as he’s been playing more.
Vegas has been getting by on goalie rotations all season. No reason to see that changing now, but Bob has been a brick wall as of late. EDGE: Florida
Forwards:
Tkachuk is a MVP finalist (it’ll go to McDavid) and leads the Panthers with 21 points. Behind him are Carter Verhaeghe (15 points) Aleksander Barkov (14 points), Sam Reinhart (11 points) and Sam Bennett (11 points). This team is young, fast, and furious and they keep coming at you in waves.
Eichel leads Vegas with 18 points. But behind him are a well established troop of game changers. Jonathan Marchessault (17 points), Ivan Barbashev (15 points), Mark Stone (15 points), William Karlsson (14 points), Chandler Stephenson (14 points), and Reilly Smith (11 points) have all been putting up big number sand coming up in big moments.
Florida is more dynamic with their scoring, but a lot of it rests on what Tkachuk is doing. Vegas has better depth up front. They also don’t give up and force you to make mistakes. SLIGHT EDGE: Vegas
Defense:
The Panthers have some solid defenders. Radko Gudas is big and brutish without being reckless. Brandon Montour is their scoring threat on defense while Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling and good defensive minded blueliners.
The Golden Knights defense are led by former Stanley Cup winner Alex Pietrangelo. Other steady defenders include Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb, Zach Whitecloud, Nicolas Hague, and Alec Martinez.
Both teams have all-star level defenders. Both teams are here in part because of their defense. However, Florida tends to give up more shots. The stats are skewed after Florida’s 4OT thriller against Carolina, but in most games, Bobrovsky is facing 30+ shots a night. All it will take is a bad night and his playoff problems may come back. EDGE: Vegas
Coaches:
Paul Maurice has been coaching for a long time. He took the Carolina Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup appearance in 2002 where they fell, as most teams did, to the Detroit Red Wings. He is one of the winningest coaches of all time with 817 career victories. This is his first season in Florida and he was brought in, after serving in Winnipeg, to help get this team over the hump.
Vegas is coached by Bruce Cassidy. This is his first year in Nevada after previously coaching the Bruins for the last six years. During one of those seasons, he captained the Bruins to a Stanley Cup run, but fell in seven games to the St. Louis Blues. He’s got the experience and pedigree to help the team stay steady.
You are talking about two of the best hockey minds in the NHL. Both have experience and both know how to get the best out of their guys. EDGE: Even
Intangibles:
Florida’s power play is stronger at 27.9% while Vegas is at 18.5%. Both teams have struggled on the penalty kill as Florida is at 71.2% and Vegas is at 63%. However, these need to be taken with a grain of salt. Carolina, the league’s top penalty killing team, also had an 84.1% rate on the penalty kill while Edmonton scored most of their goals on the power play with a rate of 46.2%.
Both teams have shown a remarkable ability to come through in overtime. Both teams are leaning on their stars to come through when it needs. Both teams have a combo of veterans and young players.
If there is any advantage here, Florida has been playing super strong against super long odds. They were down three games to one against Boston and rebounded to win the series. They’ve been through a lot of adversity and their confidence is through the roof. That is hard to turn off. SLIGHT EDGE: Florida
Prediction:
Vegas is a tough team to crack and they don’t shake easily. In a normal year, I’d say that they have the advantage. After all, they had the fourth best record this season behind Boston, Carolina, and New Jersey. They were the top seed in the West.
However, none of that impresses Florida. They’ve been the underdog in every season and have been topping everyone they encounter. Florida in Six