There was a wide range of emotions that the Florida Panthers all enjoyed in the immediate aftermath of securing their first conference finals trip in 27 years.
Extreme joy and elation at first. Then a quieter, more contemplative celebration. And then, exhaustion.
"They get to enjoy it," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Saturday, "until the puck drops again."
Dominated in the second round last year. Dominators in the second round this year. Florida's offseason of risk has officially paid off. The Panthers are headed to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1996, after beating Toronto 3-2 in overtime on Friday night to finish off another playoff stunner.
They ousted the Maple Leafs in five games, after ousting a record-setting Boston team in seven games in Round 1. Their reward: The Eastern Conference Final against Carolina, which eliminated New Jersey. The NHL hasn't said when the Panthers-Hurricanes series will start.
"Nobody in the world thought we were going to be in this position right now," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "But we don't care what anybody's opinion is on us. We know that it's probably going to be very similar going into this round against a team like Carolina that had a tremendous season and has had tons of success the last bunch of years."
This position, though, was part of the destination that the Panthers had in mind last summer.
Florida had the best record in the NHL last season and got swept out of the second round by Tampa Bay. The Panthers didn't totally blow up the roster, but big changes were made. Leading scorer Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar were traded to Calgary for Tkachuk, and Maurice was brought in even though interim coach Andrew Brunette wanted to keep the job.
The changes were for a purpose: general manager Bill Zito and the Panthers' braintrust knew that team, as constructed then, wasn't good enough to win a Stanley Cup. It needed an edge. It needed Tkachuk.
So far, so good. The Hart Trophy finalist hasn't done it alone -- the Panthers seem to have a new hero every night, and Sergei Bobrovsky has been lights-out in net -- but Tkachuk has swagger and seems to have heightened the swagger of those around him.
"I've got two kind of drivers of this," Maurice said. "One is Bill Zito, who did more than just change the coach with that mentality -- `we've got to play a different game than we played.' The other is the kind of willingness that the players said yes. It got a little tough there ... but the players were good about it."
The Panthers took a big swing at the trade deadline last season, loading up for the playoffs by acquiring Claude Giroux and Ben Chiarot. Giroux was stellar in the playoffs for Florida, Chiarot was an immediate contributor, but both moved on over the summer. They were certainly not the reasons why Florida didn't make a deep playoff run in 2022.
This season, the Panthers held firm at the deadline -- even with a team in danger of missing the playoffs at that point. And here they are, four wins from the Stanley Cup Final, eight wins from hockey's biggest prize.
"These guys, they truly care about each other," Maurice said.
Fans in Toronto chanted "We Want Florida" before this series started. Tkachuk noticed -- and noticed that he wasn't hearing those chants Friday night when the series was over.
"A lot of people weren't expecting a lot from us, including a bunch of Leaf fans before this series," Tkachuk said. "We weren't hearing much of those chants afterward and that felt nice."
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
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Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'
The U.S. southeast grappled with rising death tolls, a lack of vital supplies and widespread loss of homes and properties with the devastating toll of Hurricane Helene.
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Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students 'in limbo.'
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Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
A child was sent to hospital after being attacked by a coyote in northwest Calgary.
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British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them.
A commemorative rally marking the fourth anniversary of Joyce Echaquan’s death will take place in Ville-Marie on Saturday afternoon.
Alberta's premier spoke to calls for an outside, independent investigation into the death of Jon Wells during an incident involving Calgary police last week.
Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'
A reaction following a fire at a Georgia chemical plant Sunday morning is forcing evacuations and road closures in the area, according to Rockdale County officials.
Witnesses on Monday reported the first Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict, hours after Israel struck targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people over the weekend.
Tim Walz and JD Vance might have the chance to reshape the political landscape Tuesday in their first and only debate.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.
Riding in a black SUV with tinted windows, lawyer Mariel Colon rolls up to the gates of a remote mansion, strolling past a security guard side-by-side with Emma Coronel, the wife of notorious drug lord JoaquÃn 'El Chapo' Guzman.
The Liberal government is announcing more details on its existing strategy and funding to fight hate crimes.
Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students 'in limbo.'
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A man from Alberta has been at the Medipal International Hospital in Kampala, Uganda for over two months with a hefty medical bill. He says he can’t leave until it’s been paid for.
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Canadian innovators and technical leaders gathered in Ottawa Thursday to demonstrate the latest cutting-edge technology.
SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.
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John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the 'Beverly Hills Cop' films, has died. He was 76.
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When Annie Korver sits down with a new corporate or small business client, she encourages them to focus first on the 'truth' part of Truth and Reconciliation.
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Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago. She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.
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The East Coast Ukrainian Festival kicked off at Pier 21 in Halifax on Saturday, celebrating Ukrainian culture and traditions.
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Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen touched down in Winnipeg this week, ahead of his lunar mission set to launch in a year’s time.
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews believe a candle caused a major house fire in the city’s William Whyte neighbourhood Sunday afternoon.
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The fourth and final walk in memory of Megan Gallagher drew around one hundred people in Saskatoon on Sunday.
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A crash between a car and motorcycle closed a portion of Oxford St. in downtown London for several hours on Sunday.
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The BSI aims to elevate Black academic excellence, promoting scholarship, mentorship, and cultural knowledge.
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Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
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Ontario Provincial Police remind the public that ‘a case is never closed until it is solved,’ while highlighting the force's continued investigation of the 1996 disappearance of Melanie Ethier.
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A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
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