Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice is treating tonight’s preseason finale in Quebec City against the Los Angeles Kings as a dry run for the season opener which is Tuesday night in Sunrise.
Aside from Sam Bennett, A.J. Greer, and Gus Forsling, the Panthers will play their Opening Night lineup against the Kings.
Sergei Bobrovsky will not only start, but play the entirety of the day.
“The exhibition season, when you get to the end of it, everyone is ready for the start of the regular season,” Maurice said. “There will be an energy in the building tonight that will make the exhibition game much more fun to play. It will be a lot more meaningful for us. We’ll get to see a game played at a higher level. We still have two or three kids who have had great camps, but it is so hard to assess exhibition games sometimes. This will be good for them and for us.’’
The Panthers haven’t played in Quebec City since losing to the Quebec Nordiques 5-4 in overtime on March 20, 1995. After that season ended, the Nordiques relocated to Denver, where they played as the Colorado Avalanche, winning the 1996 Stanley Cup Final against the Panthers. Since then, Quebec City has been attempting to get an NHL team. The Panthers and Kings will square off in the relatively new Videotron Centre, a 15,259-seat arena that opened in 2015 and is NHL ready.
After the Nordiques left, Maurice started his career behind the Hartford Whalers bench in 1995. “It’s always great coming up to play a game in Canada,” he stated. We’re lucky that this is the final exhibition game, and the crowd will benefit from it because that is our lineup. This year’s game will be held here as near to an NHL game as possible, and the location is ideal for it. I adore the town, and it’s good to contribute to something that the public values so highly.”
The province has criticised the Kings for using taxpayer funds to bring their training camp to Quebec City. For the Panthers, it’s just an opportunity to travel to the renowned Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament and see a place that many of them haven’t been since they were young.
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