South Florida’s Dynasty: Panthers Own the East (Again, Again, and Again)

THE FLORIDA PANTHERS ARE BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!!!

I’ll tell you what, man, I could get used to this. This team’s got a little bit of that New England Patriots with Tom Brady in them. Doesn’t matter where you finish in the standings, just make the playoffs and you’ll see us in the Eastern Conference Finals, just like when the Heat had the Big Three. And the best part? No matter how much we win, it never gets old.

We are the standard. The best hockey you’ll watch on television comes from the team that plays in South Florida. A place known for beaches, beautiful women, and perfect weather is now the new hockey hub of the world. It’s beautiful. Last night’s game was the perfect example of what Florida Panthers hockey is all about. Coming off a tough Game 4 loss, we end the first period of Game 5 down 2-0.

Any hockey fan knows that 2-0 is the worst lead in hockey, but being down 2-0 in Carolina’s barn, with their fans going crazy thinking they’ve got a shot at making this a series, and then the demons woke up. The Panthers score two goals in 30 seconds to tie it up 2-2. A couple minutes later, Marchand puts one on a platter for Lundell to give the Cats a 3-2 lead. We don’t just win games, we snatch souls. And when that go ahead goal went in, you could see the souls leave the bodies of every Hurricanes fan in that arena.

Once we had the lead going into the third, I knew it was over. I’ll give Carolina credit for tying it up, but once Paul has a lead in the third, we don’t lose. And part of that is because we’ve got guys like Aleksander Barkov, who made one of the best plays you’ll see this postseason to set up Carter Verhaeghe for the go-ahead goal.

I’ve seen some great teams in my life, and in my opinion, the Florida Panthers are at the top of that list. Winning the Eastern Conference Finals isn’t an achievement anymore, it’s just a stepping stone to the ultimate goal: keeping Lord Stanley in South Florida.