The DFO Rundown Ep. 389 – A Stanley Cup Final Preview: The Panthers & Oilers Get Set for a Rematch

Frank and Jason are back with a fresh episode of The DFO Rundown as they preview this year’s Stanley Cup Final, which is a rematch of last year’s battle between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.

They began by talking about each of these teams’ paths to the final. The Oilers have been picked against in a lot of their series and yet, have finished off each of the last two rounds in just five games. Does that say more about their competition? Or the level of play they’re at? Gregor says their ability to play near mistake-free hockey is the big reason why they’ve been able to roll through the last few rounds.

Frank talked about how the Florida Panthers have some fresh faces in their lineup as well and that we shouldn’t be discounting the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They also had a pretty tough path to get back to this point beating a trio of really good teams.

They also talked about players like Jake Walman and Brad Marchand, whose fingerprints should be all over this series. To wrap, they shared who their X-factors are in this series and gave their picks for both the series and the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Tyler then jumped on for Fill in the Blank where he talked to the guys about the teams that both the Oilers and Panthers have eliminated thus far and how different they could look to start next season. He also got their take on Pete DeBoer’s decision to pull Jake Oettinger and his comments after the game.

To wrap up, Frank gave some insight into the final two coaching vacancies that still exist in both Pittsburgh and Boston. Gregor also talked about some of the coaching news from last week in Seattle and New York.

1:10 – Oilers vs Panthers for The Cup

19:00 – X-Factors for each team

23:50 – Series picks & Conn Smythe picks

29:50 – Fill in the Blank

41:40 – Coaching updates (Isles, Kraken, Bruins & Penguins)

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