Dear Florida Panthers,

Today is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. While it’s something every hockey player dreams about growing up playing pond (or street) hockey, it’s not a place you should be.

Alas…you are here.

You are now faced with two outcomes:

1. Win Game 7 and make history by bringing Florida its first Stanley Cup. The near-collapse is simply forgotten, shrugged off under the guise of “we knew we had it the whole time”

2. Lose Game 7 and you are etched into the history books as the guys who committed one of the all-time choke jobs, not only in the NHL, but in all of sports

So, how do you avoid the second outcome?

Experts, fans, and everyone in between has pondered this question the past three games.

There have been some great suggestions from the above groups. Unfortunately, all they can do is offer just that, suggestions.

The execution has to come from you.

We have seen how this Panthers team can play. It can be downright dominate.

However, Game 4 turned this big cat back into a kitten. Bereft of its snarl, its ferocity. Instead, its confidence has been killed, and the once-formidable cat has been left lost and listless on the ice.

A wave of blue, orange, and white surrounds your keep.

What can you do against the speed of Edmonton and the will it has forced on you to shift the tides of momentum in its favor?

For all the bad we have seen that led up to this Game 7, there is still hope. Albeit, a sliver right now, but it’s still hope.

As Aragorn famously said to King Theoden in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, just as the fortress of Helms Deep was about to fall:

“Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.”

It’s do or die, fellas.

You have one last game…one last game to empty the tank, to leave it all on the ice and become champions.

“If it’s all over. If it’s no mas, no more…then let’s go for it. Let’s go for it. Leave no stone unturned. Leave no rock not thrown. And no glass not broken.” - Dusty Rhodes

Raise the Cup tonight!

Tkachuk: “Most teams when you lose three in a playoff series, you don’t have a chance at another game. Somehow both of us have an opportunity still. Very exciting. Leave it all out there. Desperation on both sides. It’s been a very even series. It all comes down to this.” pic.twitter.com/Lo4pyzCkcF

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) June 23, 2024

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GO PANTHERS!

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