Catching Up With The Cats

The Panthers ‘ offseason is in full swing now as they have plenty of time to rest and heal up before the season starts back up in October. However, that doesn’t mean that all of them are done playing hockey, with World Championships set to start, Florida will have some of their players donning their national jerseys once again. Matthew Tkachuk was named to the preliminary Team USA roster, and Barkov & Lundell have been confirmed for Team Finland. After a shocking loss for the Checkers in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, Sandis Vilmanis is currently playing for the Latvian National Team ahead of the World Championship as well. In Latvia’s game against Norway, Vilmanis scored two of Latvia’s three goals, including the game-winner in overtime. If Balinskis is medically cleared, he’ll likely also be heading to World Championships. The players won’t be the only ones representing the Panthers, though, as Teddy Richards, Dave DiNapoli, Brett Peterson, and Bill Zito were all selected to be part of Team USA. AGM Brett Peterson was named to the GM role for Team USA, with Zito serving in the advisory group. 

Matthew Tkachuk got the chance to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, where he served as a civilian passenger as part of the Air Force’s “Hometown Heroes” program. He said, “It was an amazing day leading into it. It’s crazy how much stuff goes into flying for just over an hour. The only time I felt a little iffy up there was when he (the pilot) let me fly it. I was just doing flip after flip. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.” The high-speed maneuvers reached 9.5 G’s, which earned Tkachuk a “9g” pin and put him in a special group. Lt. Col. Tyler “Wrath” Keener had high praise for Matthew and said, “The jet handles in a very crazy way. You hardly put any pressure on the stick and it moves…He got comfortable quick. He started doing rolls and pretty heavy g turns. Matthew was all about it.” He also said, “As an American, watching him wear the Red, White, and Blue and win for our country and then getting him up in a Red, White, and Blue jet, you couldn’t ask for a better story.” Tkachuk presented the Thunderbirds with a custom Panthers jersey and they gave him a signed photo. Matthew also brought his gold medal for everyone to take photos with. 

Since the end of season media day, both HC Paul Maurice and Gustav Forsling have made an appearance on the Territory Talk podcast. Each touched on enjoying the long offseason, with Maurice saying that he’s going to enjoy being in Florida for a bit. Forsling talked about how he’s looking forward to spending time in Sweden this summer, something he’s not been able to do much of over the last few years. Paul talked about the locker room culture and how important it was to instill in the young players, as well as the benefit of getting to evaluate them before training camp. Gus talked about his kids and how Bo (his oldest) has taken an interest in hockey already. He also talked about being in the mentor role for all the young defensemen he was playing with at the end of the season. 

Probably the most exciting thing for Cats fans was seeing Sasha Barkov play hockey for the first time since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. Barkov and Lundell are currently with the Finnish National Team, playing some games before heading to World Championships. Barkov is serving as captain for the team, and Lundell is getting trusted with the 2nd line center position. Lundell joked in his end-of-season presser that he needed to make sure Barkov still remembers how to play hockey, but if the shootout is anything to go by, Sasha hasn’t forgotten a thing. The video floating around social media showed Barkov’s shootout goal, which was as filthy as it’s ever been. Anton had a great game, posting three primary assists on 2 goals from Jesse Puljujarvi & one goal from Vili Saarijarvi. Despite the shootout loss, the two Cats looked good in the match for Finland.