A year ago when and Edmonton Oilers met in the Stanley Cup Final, they were in everything from climate, market and franchise history to deep-run experience and toughness.
Since in seven games for its first championship, much has changed to make these opponents much more alike.
The Panthers have added talent and skill, and the Oilers have gotten older and become harder to play against. Those changes set the stage for an . Game 1 is Wednesday night in Edmonton.
鈥淭hese are the two nastiest teams left,鈥� 2003 Cup winner Mike Rupp said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 seem to get rattled, they play with a lot of intensity 鈥� sometimes they cross the line. They just defend well. There鈥檚 a lot of things that they鈥檙e different than one another about, but at the core of it, they鈥檙e pretty similar to each other.鈥�
Comparing the two
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl haven't gone anywhere, but they've also been of forcing Game 7 against the Panthers and falling short of the goal they've been hunting over the past decade together. With , Jeff Skinner, John Klingberg and Jake Walman, the Oilers are for this.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e meaner,鈥� said retired defenceman Jason Demers, who like Rupp is now an NHL Network analyst. 鈥淭hey have a little bite to their game 鈥� a lot more bite than last year where they were a little bit more speedy.鈥�
Florida can be speedy, opportunistic and dangerous 鈥� and has been over the past few postseasons 鈥� winning 10 of 11 series since took over and winger after a .
for a third consecutive year, only after Tkachuk, defenceman Aaron Ekblad and others were banged up to the point that they had nothing left in the tank. They were the underdog back then.
With one successful Cup run complete and with Seth Jones and added to the core led by Tkachuk and captain Aleksander Barkov, they now look unstoppable.
鈥淭hey're a heck of a team,鈥� McDavid said after to win the Western Conference Final. 鈥淥bviously, it's their third finals. They're a special group. We're a special group. It's going to be fun."
Rough and tumble
It also could be physical. The Oilers lost hard-nosed winger Zach Hyman to a long-term injury late in the series against the Stars, but they are more prepared now to play the rough-and-tumble style Florida has won with.
The fact that it's a rematch in the final 鈥� the NHL's first since Pittsburgh beat Detroit in the second of their back-to-backs in 2009 鈥� only spices things up. There have only been four rematches in the Final since 1968.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檒l be any weeding out or wading into that series,鈥� Demers said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be gun shot, explosions right off the bat.鈥�
Going down two games to none last year led to McDavid's profanity-laced outburst in the locker room, a moment caught on cameras that wasn't quite enough to turn around the series. The memory of going down 3-0, clawing back to cross the continent again for a Game 7 and not winning is still fresh in his mind.
The Oilers have been through that trip to the final and feel the pain now, something the Panthers endured before winning. Now it's time to see if they learn the same lesson and
鈥淓dmonton now, I think they needed to experience last year to get to where they鈥檙e at now and they鈥檙e kind of unflappable,鈥� Rupp said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a weapon for them.鈥�
___
AP NHL playoffs: and
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
