With playoffs in clear sight, Panthers know what’s at stake

After the deal with the NHL was ratified in early July, the NHL Players Association got on a call with players to explain the plan.

For the Florida Panthers, narrowly on the outside of the traditional playoff chase when the season was suspended, the call brought welcome news: a 24-team playoff would give them a shot, with the team set to play the New York Islanders in the Qualifying Round, now scheduled to begin on Aug. 1.

“When we were on the PA calls, after the fact we heard the vote was ratified, a couple guys asked if we start our playoff beards now,” center Brian Boyle, notably beardless, joked on Friday.

Since, the team has gradually ramped up its play, moving from quarantine to voluntary workouts, now into formal training camp. And with the days whittling away before the puck drops in Toronto, the magnitude of importance is starting to come into focus.

Any discussion about the Panthers, a trendy sleeper pick through the last few years, is always prefaced with a brief history. The team hasn’t qualified for the playoffs since 2016, and it hasn’t won a playoff series since 1996, when it made the Stanley Cup Final in the franchise’s third season.

Florida has perpetually seemed on the verge of breaking through — and the franchise (and media) made a point of setting the playoffs as this season’s expectation at the beginning of the year.

In turn, no one in the locker room seems to be taking this unique opportunity lightly.

“It’s what we play for, and I think that’s the motivation when they drop the puck at the start of the season. You want to attain a playoff position,” said coach Joel Quenneville, who has won three Stanley Cup titles. “Right off the bat, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be emotional. Fun playing important games, shifts, and then trying to be the guy that can help your team have some success, and everybody contributing in a positive way is what we’re looking to it, as well.”

Added Boyle: “I think we’re all excited. I think there’s guys in the room that have understood [the importance] in the group chats we’ve had over the course of the break, the quarantine, and throughout phase two, everybody’s been on that page.”