Miami Heat Headed Home, Panthers Here for a While

South Florida is excited about both of its winter pro teams as the Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Final and the Miami Heat remain a win away from the NBA Finals.

While the Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes with a Game 4 win on Wednesday night, the Heat has lost its past two and will be headed back to Miami for Game 6 against the Boston Celtics.

Miami leads the best-of-7 series 3-2.

Aside from the Heat loss, how you feeling Panthers fans?

Pretty good, we bet.

Been a fun couple of weeks here in Pantherland as the center of the hockey universe has now moved to the tropics with Florida playing for the Stanley Cup after sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals.

As you know by now, everything you need to know about the team can be found right here at FHN.

We’ve got you covered.

Doubts?

Read below.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

The NHL finally released the schedule for the Stanley Cup Final which, if you have not heard, include the Florida Panthers.

The schedule is two-pronged: If the Vegas Golden Knights win Game 5 against the visiting Dallas DeBoers on Saturday, the series starts on Wednesday. If not, well, check out the story here.

The Panthers were in a playoff chase for months and it seems to have hardened them for the pressures of the postseason.

This team was battle tested before the playoffs and the first three rounds have only sharpened them.

— Call them underdogs if you want to, but the Panthers are showing what they are made of this postseason.

— Matthew Tkachuk is making history with his postseason heroics, willing the Panthers into the Stanley Cup Final.

— Eric Staal believed in the Panthers when many did not. He could have asked for a trade and did not, saying he believed Florida could play for it all. Well, here they are.

— The Panthers aren’t afraid of no ghosts. They grabbed hold of the Prince of Wales Trophy and did not want to let go.

— Bill Zito is a finalist for the GM of the Year award.

— Sasha Barkov was back for Game 4. Good thing — for him and the Panthers.

— The odds were against the Hurricanes down 3-0 in the closest lopsided series in history.

— Sergei Bobrovsky has absolutely been standing on his head in this series and his numbers are staggering. The Panthers’ defense is helping out and he is appreciative of the effort.

— Shayne Gostisbehere was the first true South Florida product to ever play in the NHL and on Monday, he became the first to play his hometown team in a playoff game in Sunrise.

— Need some new Panthers gear for the playoffs? Check out Caneswear in Davie. Eastern Conference championship stuff will be in the store soon. Check out their link inside the story.

— There is a TON of video is up on the FHN YouTube Channel including Game 4 postgame reaction from Paul Maurice, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matthew Tkachuk, Anton Lundell, Sasha Barkov and Aaron Ekblad.

There is also Thursday’s off-day video from Maurice, Eric Staal, Nick Cousins and Sam Reinhart.

To see all the videos, you can click the embedded videos below or head directly to the FHN YouTube Channel RIGHT HERE to see everything all in one place.

If you hit subscribe (it’s free), you will know when new content comes up.

Thanks to you all for watching and subscribing. The reaction has been fantastic.

NHL NEWS/NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

The Vegas Golden Knights had a chance to take some time off before playing the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final but the Stars avoided the sweep with a home win in Game 4.

The Knights can end this thing on Saturday on the Strip.

— Checking out the Boston Bruins free agents, starting with Garnet Hathaway. The Bruins will have to make some moves if they want to keep D Dmitry Orlov.

— Jamie Benn got tossed from Game 3 after a cross-check to the neck of Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone and was later suspended for two games.

— Could Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko be an trade target for the Montreal Canadiens?

— The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for a new management team and John Chayka and Kyle Dubas keep coming up.

— With Barry Trotz running things, the Nashville Predators could be active on the trade market.

— If the Bruins are shopping goalie Linus Ullmark, the Los Angeles Kings make sense.

— Keep an eye on the San Jose Sharks on the goalie market.

— New Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy would like to see a culture change although those don’t come as easy as some may think.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

THE 2023 STANLEY CUP FINAL

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

OR DALLAS STARS

GAME 1

• When: TBA
• Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas OR AmericanAirlines Center, Dallas
• TV: TNT
  
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM, WPOW 95.6 FM2, WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• Series Schedule — TBA
• 2022-23 Regular Season Series Vs. Vegas (Even 1-1): @Vegas 4, Florida 2 (Jan. 12); @Florida 2, Vegas 1 (March 7)
• All-time Regular Season Series: vs. Vegas Golden Knights lead 6-3-1
• 2022-23 Regular Season Series vs. Dallas (Stars Won 2-0):Dallas 6, @Florida 4 (Nov. 17); @Dallas 5, Florida 1 (Jan. 8)
• All-time Regular Season Series: vs. Dallas Florida leads 24-21-2, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First meeting vs. both Vegas or Dallas