Florida's Got Heart
The Panthers and Heat both advanced to the Finals, no one expected these underdog teams to dominate their way to the Finals.
This is a little video I made recapping the Panther’s postseason run, a like and subscribing to my channel would mean a lot!
Why is everyone talking about the Florida ?
The Miami Heat and Florida Panthers both finished their respective regular seasons, achieving an 8th seed appearance into the playoffs. In the playoff format in the NHL and NBA(after the Play-In tournament for the NBA), the 8th seed must face the team with the best record in their conference. This is no easy mountain to climb, for the Panthers, they had to face the best regular season team the NHL has ever seen. The Heat had to face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bucks notching an impressive 58-24 record. The Heat taking a loss to the Hawks in the first round of the play-in tournament, the Bruins led the Panthers series 3-1 going back to Boston, everyone thought all hope was lost for the two Florida teams. Until sports taught us all yet another valuable life lesson.
Why are the Panthers so darn good right now?
Since Hockey is not as popular as the three major sports in the US(Football, Baseball, and NBA), allow me to introduce you to Matthew Tkachuck and the Florida Panthers. Tkachuck in his first season with the Panthers had an MVP caliber season. Scoring an impressive 109 points (assists+goals) in the 82 game regular season. He is a very special player on the stat sheet, but where he doubles his value as a player is his leadership. Having a ‘never give up’ attitude on his team even as the most unlikely underdog. Tkachuck and the Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky have been instrumental in the Panthers winning 11 of their last 12. Though, it is when you pull back the curtain of the Panthers that you see the genius pulling the strings of the Panthers, Paul Maurice. In an interview after Maurice was brought in to the Panthers organization this past off season, he was adamant about a specific play style that is specifically geared towards the playoffs. As the Panthers last season came off having the best record in the NHL, but being eliminated in the first round to their state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning just last year. Maurice saw the raw components necessary to craft a team disciplined enough to make a deep playoff run for the Stanley Cup. Their resume as of today reads like this: making the playoffs due to the penguins losing their last regular season game, eliminated the greatest regular season team in NHL history overcoming a 3-1 deficit, won every road game thus far since losing game 1 in Boston, beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 games, swept the most dangerous offensive team in the playoffs and are now headed to the Stanley Cup Championship to face the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
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With the great success of not only coming back from being down 3-1 to the greatest team in NHL regular season history, eventually landing a spot in the Stanley cup, it is safe to say the Panther’s stole from the Bruins, stealing the title "The Team of Destiny” the robbery was confirmed after their 3-1 comeback. Since this historic win for the Panthers, they have looked untouchable, and South Florida is paying attention. Hockey being the least popular professional sport in South Florida, this post season run has brought many to hockey for the very first time, including myself. This is great for a sport with a largely Northern/ Canadien audience and very little southern audience, this post season run has brought many new fans to the sport that has been loved for generations by the Northern regions. The explosiveness, speed, and skill associated with Hockey are major roles in the growing popularity of the Panthers in Florida. With the underdog role the Panthers have embraced, it is hard not to root for them to win it all.
Miami is Heat-ing Up at the Right Time
The Miami Heat had an extremely lackluster regular season on paper considering they were one three pointer away from a second NBA Finals appearance in 3 years. They were 20th or worse in the majority of tracked stats as a team, the few bright spots were the season was Butler, Adebayo, and Hero all averaging 20+ points a game. Though, their regular season scoring is in vain if they do not reach the post season. They sneak into the 8 seed, but have to face the monster of the Play-In tournament after getting blown out by the Hawks. This is when Jimmy Butler decides to flip the switch, solidifying ‘Playoff Jimmy’ as a household name for every sports fan.
Going on a tear since this loss, he has been averaging 30 points per game, THIRTY POINTS PER GAME. Yet, it wasn’t just Butler who came to play, the entire team changed after their loss to the Hawks. While major scorer Tyler Herro got injured in Game 1 of the series against the Bucks, the team carried the scoring-load he left to bare. Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, and Kyle Lowry have been consistent in their above average play, showing flashes of greatness behind the bright light of Jimmy Butler. Yet, even after the Heat swept the Bucks and won in 6 games against a good Knicks team lead by Jalen Brunson, they were still the underdog’s headed into the Eastern Conference Finals. Jimmy Butler and the Heat had a 3% chance to win the ECF before the series even began according to Espn. The Heat jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Celtic’s fought back and won 3 straight and looked again like the favorites to win game 7, Jimmy Butler and the Heat thrive in the underdog role. In an era of ‘ load management’ wanna-be’s, Coach Spolstra and the Miami Heat have put on a masterclass at reserving their players to play their best basketball now. Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat did not allow the Celtics a sliver of a chance in their game 7 win last Monday night, winning big to advance to the NBA Finals on Saturday June 3rd. Now, going against the juggernaut of Nikolai Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets, the Heat face their largest challenge yet. The Heat are viewed as the underdog again in this matchup, but history tells us that means nothing to the team from Miami.
The Lesson
Having high level players like Jimmy Butler and Matthew Tkachuck in their prime when it matters most is something you can find in few superstar players; what differentiates these two above the rest is their infectious belief in their team’s ability. ‘The Tkachuck or Jimmy Effect’ is a very real thing that all of the teams that have lost to the Panthers and Heat can be witness to. While these players are great, this ultimately trickles down from the teams leadership, Coach Erik Spolstra and Paul Maurice has cultivated an environment where the players that no one else seemingly wanted, now have confidence in their ability to win against anyone they find themselves facing. Both of these coaches had their eyes set on maximizing their players ability and team’s overall performance in the playoffs, even if that means sacrificing the regular season record and barley make it into the playoffs.
Having a leader preforming on a high level, who is confident in the team, and their own work, is a very dangerous person. Preforming at your highest level with a calm, cool, and collected mindset in the midst of opposition with great talent are highly valuable in pursuing excellence. Those who are ignorant to their disadvantages and work as hard as they can regardless of how much the opposition is favored, are the people who don’t just have a competitive mindset, they have a championship mindset. Though their next challenge will be the greatest yet, especially overcoming a nine day break after sweeping Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final and Miami winning against a very tall team versus their smaller approach to the game, the Panther’s and Heat look to bring home two championship trophies back to South Florida.
Soli De La Gloria