How special was Stanley Cup victory for Paul Maurice, Panthers?

The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, on Monday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, thus avoiding the ignominy of blowing a 3-0 series lead.

And just like that, make no mistake about it, Greg Cote is VINDICATED. McOverrated indeed (even if Connor McDavid did win the Conn Smythe Trophy).

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz was in full-on celebration mode throughout the show on Tuesday, including welcoming ESPN’s Steve Levy to discuss the Panthers’ first Cup in franchise history.

Dan has to know: Were there any people outside of South Florida rooting for the Panthers? Steve says he thinks it’s special when a franchise wins its first Stanley Cup. Furthermore, he says the Panthers are a blue-collar, gritty hockey club. So yeah, he thinks the Panthers had a lot of fans pulling for them. Outside of Canada, of course.

To that end, Greg Cote says he finds the Panthers to be a particularly likable bunch and head coach Paul Maurice to be a breath of fresh air. Steve says Maurice was a central figure for him in this Panthers run. He says if you were someone without a rooting interest in this series, Paul Maurice is someone you root for. He’s a lifer, he’s got more losses than any coach in NHL history and had been fired a bunch of times. He’s had a rough road to the Cup, Levy points out. And if Game 7 had gone the other way, Levy says Maurice would have been tagged with the label of being a guy who couldn’t win the big one. So at the end of the day, Maurice was someone Levy was rooting for more than any player as he feels like Maurice really earned this.

Dan wants some historical context on how strange a series was it to have your champion outscored so badly in the final four games and what other game had so much pressure on a team as was the case for the Panthers in Game 7 in their bid to thwart infamy. Steve admitted it was an all-timer, noting that the ESPN broadcast opened by saying you could make the case that this was the most significant single game in NHL history. Not only was Florida seeking its first Cup in franchise history, but the Oilers were seeking their first in 34 years while simultaneously hoping to end Canada’s long Cup drought. Not to mention the fact that not only the aforementioned Maurice, but all of the Panthers players were looking to avoid having to wear the ignominy of blowing a 3-0 series lead for the rest of their days. Now they don’t have to, of course, while at the same time, Levy says the Oilers can walk away with their heads held high since they battled back to force the decisive Game 7.

Steve says in the 30 Stanley Cups he’s covered he’s never seen anything like this. After Game 3 he thought we were headed for a sweep, but he stuck with the Panthers in Games 5, 6 and 7 even as they struggled. Another rarity was the fact that until Game 7, there hadn’t been a one-goal game in the series. And that was the game they needed because Panthers hockey is winning games 2-1 like they did in Game 7.

Check out the full Best Of video above, and tune into The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. ET on DraftKings Network!

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