Former striker “Florida » Pavel Bure during a conversation with , he discussed the Panthers’ victory in the Stanley Cup final.
Florida defeated Edmonton in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final with a score of 2: 1. The winners of the trophy were the goalkeepers Sergei Bobrovsky defender Dmitry Kulikov and forward Vladimir Tarasenko .
—You were a Florida legend yourself. What were your emotions when the team won its first Stanley Cup in history?
“I want to congratulate the Panthers on their success.” This is truly a historic victory. The team has been working towards this for many years, played in two Stanley Cup finals, and now the third has turned out to be successful. I played there myself and I know how popular hockey is in Florida. The evolution of the club is impressive! At first, no one went there to the hockey games. And now the stands are full, the cheapest tickets start at a thousand dollars. The shows are consistently sold out and the finale was incredibly intriguing. So now there’s a hockey boom in the city.
The guys found the strength to face the seventh game with the support of the fans. And they made history! My congratulations to the leadership, management, players and most importantly, the fans of Florida.
—Are you friends with the owner of the Panthers?
– I was friends, now other guys came there.
— Did you think Florida could miss this final?
— Maybe with the score 3-0 in the series, the initiative was lost. But they still played against the best hockey player in the world Connor McDavid , let’s not forget it. And he played at the highest level, scored 42 points and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player.
On the other hand, Florida is a very balanced team that has shown class over the last two years. The guys won deservedly and could have won any of the remaining four matches. Yes, it didn’t work out right away, there was even a defeat with a score of 1:8. But in the seventh game, the odds were 50/50.
— What can you say about Russian hockey players?
— Congratulations to them on their great victory. Good game! Well, Bobrovsky played very well all season, and no wonder he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy again. Without McDavid, he would have won the Conn Smythe Trophy. It’s 100 percent. But when you play against McDavid, especially in North America, it’s difficult to beat him.
— You remain the best Russian, scoring 16 goals in a single Stanley Cup. Is it difficult to score goals in the final, especially in the seventh game? You had this experience in 1994.
— Yes, and yesterday we were reminded of these statistics. I also noticed they were talking about Edmonton’s Zach Hyman, who also scored 16 goals. But he didn’t pass me.
Yes, 16 goals is the best result among Russians in the history of the NHL. Of course, it’s harder to score in the playoffs and you’re better guarded. We therefore obtain completely different results. They don’t score as many goals there as in the regular season. And I remember that every goal in 1994 was difficult.
McDavid is great in that he only scored eight goals, but also had 34 assists. That’s why he’s dangerous, and that’s how he helped the team. He took center stage and distributed passes to his partners. But believe me, every goal in the playoffs is worth its weight in gold,” Bure told .
Bure scored 16 goals in a single playoff game in 1994. This remains the best Russian result in history. Next come Alexander Ovechkin (15 years old), Evgeny Malkin (14 years old), Evgeny Kuznetsov (12 years old).
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
