This will mark the third consecutive season in which the Panthers have made the Cup Final. They were, in fact, in just the position the Oilers are in now, last season. They had lost in the 2023 Final to the Vegas Golden Knights, going home unsated and filled with desire to win that final game of the season. Then, they did it.

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will meet in the Stanley Cup final for the second-straight season, beginning Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton. It marks the first time that the same two clubs have met in consecutive years since Pittsburgh and Detroit in 2008 and 2009,

Brad Marchand won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins when he was 23. He and the Bruins played for it again when he was 25 and 31. He wondered if he would ever return to the title round. At 37 — and with the Florida Panthers — he's gotten there.