“We want to win the Stanley Cup just like any other team,” Aleksander Barkov made it clear that the Florida Panthers aren’t here for the kicks. Instead, the defending champs have a clear goal: to keep the Stanley Cup in Miami for another year. Now, with the Cats in the finals for the third straight time, coach Paul Maurice thinks his squad couldn’t have been in a better place to win the biggest prize in hockey.

After a grueling regular season, the Panthers had to mount a steep climb in the postseason. Defeating teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes wasn’t easy, but the reigning champs proved their worth at every stage. And now, with the Stanley Cup on the line, Paul Maurice, being the veteran coach he is, seems to believe that the grind is exactly what the team needed to be where it is now.

In a YouTube upload from May 31 by the official Florida Panthers account, Coach Maurice could be heard talking about the mental state of Matthew Tkachuk & Co. ahead of taking on the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals. When asked about what it was like to reach the finals after traveling over 70,000 miles and playing 100s of games throughout the season, Paul claimed that the packed schedule was exactly what was needed to bring out the best in the athletes.

“The original idea was, because you get the reset, right? You get some time off, some rest, and you come back. It’s the opposite,” Maurice told the reporters with a straight face. “You need to win. Because when you win, I will say we will have more energy for this series than any of the three prior, and that’s been true, and I’m sure it’s true of Edmonton as well,” Paul went on, highlighting how both the Panthers and the Oilers are at the top of their respective games ahead of the Finals.

Finishing the regular season in third place in the division, the Panthers didn’t give much to the fans to go ga-ga over. However, in the playoffs, things have been very different. From taking down the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the postseason to taking out the divisional top seeds, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the second, things have been scintillating. And Paul Maurice thinks the gradual progression has been highly beneficial for the team’s current mental state.

“The regular season was more of a grind for us this year…And then in each round, it seemed a bigger build to excitement, just because the light’s at the end of the tunnel,” Maurice could be heard telling the reporters in the YouTube video. “There’s no more than seven games left of this season, no matter what. So you will see a new energy source from both teams in this series,” Paul further elaborated on why this year’s Finals are going to be a grand one.

If the numbers are anything to go by, we’d wager Maurice isn’t wrong.

Paul Maurice’s boys aren’t looking too bad ahead of the Finals

Squad captain Aleksander Barkov is leading from the front with 17 points in the playoffs so far, with veteran stars Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk just one point behind. Transferring to Florida in March, Brad Marchand has also proved to be invaluable for the Panthers’ title defense run, with 14 points in 17 games. Moreover, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has also been almost perfect in front of the net.

With three shutouts till the Eastern Conference Finals, Bobrovsky posts an incredible 12-5 with a 2.11 goals-against average, .912 save percentage. Naturally, it’s easy to see why Paul Maurice thinks his athletes are ready for the upcoming challenge posed by the Edmonton Oilers. If that wasn’t enough, Brad Marchand, known for his extreme physical play style, looks quite comfortable in his new camp. Enjoying ice cream in between games, the ex-Bruins captain isn’t pulling any punches as he lends his skill to Maurice in the Panthers’ title defense run.

But Edmonton won’t be giving a hall pass to Florida either. With a 5-3 record in the Finals, the Oilers will come for it all. With the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals slated to unfold at the Oilers Nation, how do you think Paul Maurice and his team will cope with the mounting pressure? Tell us in a comment!