STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Stanley Cup Final gets underway tonight with a rematch. The Florida Panthers are trying to win back-to-back championships, and the Edmonton Oilers are looking to avenge their loss in last year's final. Sean Gentille is a senior writer with The Athletic covering the NHL. He's with us now to talk about this series. Sean, good morning.
SEAN GENTILLE: Morning, Steve. Thanks for having me.
INSKEEP: OK, setting aside the idea of hockey in June, you know...
GENTILLE: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: ...Whatever people got to do, let's start with the reigning champs. How did the Panthers make it back here?
GENTILLE: They're a one-of-one team in the league. I don't think there's a hockey team going right now that blends skill and physicality and, you know, aggression quite the way that the Panthers do. So that's the name of the game. They have some really talented players at the top of that lineup, but they also physically punish their opponents. And that's what they...
INSKEEP: Can we just talk about that, the aggression...
GENTILLE: Yeah. Absolutely.
INSKEEP: ...How important that is in hockey, the brutality of this sport compared to some others?
GENTILLE: It's a game of attrition. That's a cliche, but it's true, especially over the course of a seven-game series, you know, where - lots of battles in the corners, lots of hits, lots of elbows, not a lot of fights. That's not something you typically see in playoff hockey 'cause the guys tend to be too smart to take themselves off the ice for all that long. But yeah, you know, every other day for two weeks, it's kind of a - you know, it's a cumulative effect, I think, and the physicality...
INSKEEP: Just...
GENTILLE: ...Definitely adds up. And the Panthers are as good as anybody at that part of the game.
INSKEEP: ...High-speed skating and a lot of collisions. Now, what about the Oilers? What kind of season has - have they had as they try to get back again?
GENTILLE: It's been up and down. They have the best player on Earth, Connor McDavid, and that's certainly a big storyline for certain parts of this. But yeah, they started slow, as they tend to do. It's something we saw from them last season. They actually got their coach fired in November of last season. Similar situation this year. Nobody lost their job over it, thankfully for them. But yeah, it was up and down. Their goaltending's mediocre, which is always a huge deal in hockey, and they've - they paid for it really over the first three or four months, but they rounded into shape at the right time. And yeah, they're back at their best, you know, here for the finals.
INSKEEP: I'm interested in hearing about the matchup, as you describe it, because you've got one truly great team against, it sounds like, one truly great player, Connor McDavid. How does that work out?
GENTILLE: Oh, Steve, you said it. That's the dynamic. It's really two great players for Edmonton, but I think that only makes it more doubly true. You know, there are two superstars at the top of the lineup. It's Connor McDavid and it's Leon Draisaitl, and then it's everyone else, right? So you have this very thoughtfully built, deep A-to-Z team on one end of things, and then you have the superstars on the other. And that kind of dynamic - I think that's something that's repeated itself in sports. I think we've seen it. You know, I think that's kind of a classic archetype, really, where - you know, going back to Michael Jordan versus the Detroit Pistons - right?
INSKEEP: Yeah.
GENTILLE: ...Where you have the individual versus the collective. And I think that's something that's, you know, repeating itself here, and we're getting it two years in a row. So yeah, absolutely - it's a compelling part of the whole deal.
INSKEEP: All right. Sean Gentille with The Athletic, thanks so much for your time.
GENTILLE: Absolutely, Steve. You're welcome.
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