SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers are getting ready to return to home ice.
The Cats will kick off their home schedule on Thursday night when they host Toronto.
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It’s a rematch of a playoff series.
The Cats eliminated Toronto en route to the Eastern Conference Championship.
The Panthers will hang their second ever Eastern Conference Championship banner on Thursday night.
Head coach Paul Maurice said, “When you finish with just the excitement of the last two months. There’s this connection that happens between fans and players. It’s nice, you become like friends and you haven’t seen them in a couple of months, so it’s going to be fun.”
Maurice said the connection between the fans and players built throughout last season.
The coach said the fans connected with how hard the team played.
Captain Aleksander Barkov said, “It’s always special to start the season at home. Obviously, we’ve got a few games already done so it’s always special to come home and play the first game. Looking back at last season and how it ended, it was a great atmosphere. I can’t wait to have the same thing tonight.”