Take Off, Eh: Florida Panthers Flight Delayed to Edmonton

FORT LAUDERDALE — It has been a soggy couple of days in South Florida and the deluge of rain has delayed the flight plan of the Florida Panthers.

Florida will play Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the host Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at 8 p.m.

The Panthers planned to fly to Edmonton around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, but the weather has created massive cancellations out of both Miami and Fort Lauderdale international airports.

UPDATE: The team took off at 4:25 p.m. and are expected to land around 8 p.m. local time — or 10 ET.

A number of team staff members were seen milling around the training facility in Fort Lauderdale instead of being at the airport with at least one player seen buying Stanley Cup Final souvenirs for family in the team shop.

Captain Sasha Barkov Practices with Panthers on Wednesday

Weather in South Florida is a mess — especially around the airport.

Interstate 95 has been closed by the airport because of flooding per the Miami Herald.

There is a flash flood warning in place until 5:30 p.m. for areas which include the airport.

Last April, Fort Lauderdale sustained historic flooding with the airport being closed for days after turning into a lake.

According to FlightAware.com, Fort Lauderdale was experiencing departure delays of close to 5 hours with no arriving flights being allowed to take off from other cities until 4 p.m.

Coach Paul Maurice spoke about his team’s travel plans following their practice at the IcePlex on Wednesday morning.

While the Edmonton Oilers flew home on Tuesday, the Panthers decided to give their players a day off at home and make the almost 6 hour flight northwest on Wednesday.

With a couple of days between games, the Panthers decided it was best for their players’ well being to stay home as long as possible.

Maurice explained that it is better for his team to get a full day of rest following Monday’s 4-1 win in Game 2 before flying.

He said he did not get back to his home in Fort Lauderdale after that game until after 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

As Maurice explained, Florida is staying at one of the hotels basically inside Rogers Center in Edmonton — so milling around a hotel an extra day is not something he wanted to do.

“There’s no party after the games,” Maurice said. “You come in, you do your work, you go home. … We didn’t like the idea of getting them up [Tuesday] early enough to get in at a reasonable time in Edmonton. We did not see a value in it.”

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2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL

EDMONTON OILERS VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS 

GAME 3

Panthers Lead Best of 7 Series 2-0

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place; Edmonton, Alberta
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule, All Games 8 p.m. on ABC — Game 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0; Game 2: @Florida 4, Edmonton 1; Game 3: Florida at Edmonton, Thursday; Game 4:Florida at Edmonton, Saturday June 15; Game 5*: Edmonton at Florida, Tuesday June 18; Game 6*:Florida at Edmonton, Friday June 21; Game 7*: Edmonton at Florida, Monday June 24. (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here — Florida: d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2, New York Rangers 4-2; Edmonton: d. Los Angeles 4-1, Vancouver 4-3, Dallas 4-2.
• This Season (Florida Won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Oilers 3 (Nov. 20). At Edmonton: Panthers 5, Oilers 2 (Dec. 17).
• Last Season: Edmonton Won 2-0
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting