The Florida Panthers have reached their third Stanley Cup Final after a come-from-behind, 5-3, victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday night to win the series 4-1.
The team has a chance to repeat as NHL champions. South Florida has seen its sports teams repeat as champions before, but this Panthers team could be the most dominant that the area has seen since the great Miami Dolphins of the 1970’s.
This Panthers team seems to be reminiscent of the great Dolphins teams from 1971-74 and the Miami Heat teams of the early part of the last decade when the team featured “The Big Three” of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
Both teams won back-to-back championships and made the championship round three years in a row.
Panthers general manager Bill Zito has orchestrated late season moves that would rival Joe Thomas with the Dolphins during their perfect season and Super Bowl run following the 1973 season.
Some in South Florida are already comparing Zito to NBA legend Pat Riley, who did wonders with the Heat before they hit a drought the last few years. They are also running circles around the current Dolphins and Marlins, which have been an exercise in futility.
The Dolphins have not won a playoff game in 25 years.
Zito hired Paul Maurice as the head coach in a move that could rival Joe Robbie’s hire of the great Don Shula in 1970. Shula turned the Dolphins into AFC Champions within one year of his hire.
Zito also brought in two important pieces before the trade deadline this season in Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. Those two have been as instrumental as any other players in leading the Panthers this postseason.
The moves could rival the trades Riley pulled off to get Alonzo Mourning from the Charlotte Hornets and Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers before the Heat won their first championship in 2006.
Zito put this team together the way Dave Dombrowski put together the 1997 then-Florida Marlins, who won the World Series in seven games. The Maurice hire is similar to hiring Jim Leyland. Dombrowski then assembled a team of stars which would rival Zito’s prowess in Sunrise with the Panthers.
The Dolphins and the Heat won back-to-back championships back in the day. The Marlins won the World Series twice in a span of seven seasons. This Panthers team could equal the back-to-back titles with a win in this upcoming Stanley Cup Finals.
As great as the Dolphins were in their run of Super Bowl victories and their perfect season, the Panthers could equal or possibly surpass that success.
As long as Zito and Maurice are at the helm, there is no sign of the Panthers stalling after this season, whether they win the title or not. They could be building a hockey dynasty in South Florida that would rival history.
