With a chance to win the Stanley Cup at stake, it's 'another day in paradise' for the Panthers

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald on Jun 17, 2025

Published in Hockey

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MIAMI — Step inside the Florida Panthers’ dressing room on Tuesday after their morning skate, and things felt ... normal.

“Another day in paradise,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said at his stall with his usual bubbly smile.

It might seem hard to fathom that this team, just a few short hours from that point, would be playing for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Florida entered Tuesday leading the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in the Cup Final.

But this is the norm for the Panthers. As Schmidt put it, “it has to be that way because we’re a very methodical group.”

Things have worked this way for the Panthers all season, so why change now?

“The guys, they do their thing, they do their warm ups and their routines. It just feels like that,” Schmidt said. “It’s the reason why when you look back in February, you’re not saying, ‘Oh, would you do this same thing in the playoffs? Our group does that. And that’s I think what makes our team pretty special and able to handle the big moments.”

Added center Sam Bennett: “We haven’t treated any days differently and this morning was the same. We were all pretty loose this morning, joking around, cracking jokes and staying loose. You know what’s at stake tonight but you kind of just push that away and focus on what you can control and that’s just taking your day, going through your routine, doing the same thing you’ve done and that’s just how we’re handling it.”

For defenseman Seth Jones, who Florida acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Chicago Blackhawks and is in the Cup Final for the first time in his career, said he thought the nerves and anticipation entering his first potential Stanley Cup clincher would be high.

It hasn’t been, and he credits the team camaraderie for that.

“I was thinking about that the other day, the position I’m in and where I came from earlier this year, kind of the 180 it’s been,” Jones said. “Being around this group and the experience that’s with this group has really kind of calmed my heart rate down, I think in the situation. I understand how big it is but these guys have been there, done that. being around them and how they’re handling each day in this situation, that’s been a big help for me, just really to calm down and look at it day by day and look at it like these guys have.”

Coach Paul Maurice said the team’s steadiness is “really important and born by experience.”

“We’ve had some enormous wins here in the last three years, and really difficult, heartbreaking losses at the same time,” Maurice said. “In the end, you figure out a way to round the edges off those that you don’t get too excited, and those are all cliche things, but a very high pressure environment for every team and for two teams. It’s a two month-long process, and it takes, I think, a while to learn how to manage that. I don’t think it can be managed particularly well at the start. You have to learn how to do it. You have to suffer that defeat, and you’ve got to come off that win that is so exciting for you, except there’s another game two days from now. So there’s no point in getting all that excited. Handling that, I think living through it helps.”

Oilers lineup changes

Edmonton once again is mixing things up with its lineup in the Stanley Cup Final.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was benched midway through Games 3 and 4 and taken out completely in Game 5, will once again start in net for Game 6 over Calvin Pickard.

Meanwhile, defenseman John Klingberg and forward Kasperi Kapanen are drawing back into the lineup for Troy Stecher and Jeff Skinner, respectively.

Florida, meanwhile, is rolling with the same lineup as it has for the past three games. The only potential question mark was fourth-line forward Jonah Gadjovich, who briefly left Game 5 after blocking a shot and didn’t practice on Monday or Tuesday, but Maurice said he’s good to go.

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