The Panthers are favoured to win the Stanley Cup by a Florida-based sportscaster who used to cheer for Edmonton.Rod Pedersen, host of the Cats ‘n Bolts podcast and his eponymous sports talk show on Game TV spends his winter months in Boca Raton, a 21-mile drive northeast of Sunrise, Florida, home of the Panthers.Pedersen tells the Western Standard that aside from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaityl, the Panthers stack up better in all categories. Florida head coach Paul Maurice has the second-most regular season wins (1,848) in NHL history, in contrast to Edmonton rookie coach Kris Knoblauch.“I've seen it firsthand the last two years,” Pedersen says of the “highly intelligent” Maurice.“He's on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. And he's earned that. I don't know if it's gonna happen or not. But watching this guy every day, he's remarkable.”Pedersen says Maurice’s ability is both motivational and strategic.“It's more emotion than the tactical side of the game. He's very good at that, too. But I just it's the emotion thing that Paul Maurice has that people just don't seem to see.“He comes across as a choirboy. But I don't think behind the scenes he really is.”Pedersen stopped being an Oiler fan on August 9, 1988, the infamous day when Wayne Gretzky was traded to the L.A. Kings. He says this season's Oilers had a "remarkable ride," having turned an abysmal start around after changing coaches.“Rest assured, the Oilers’ players know what they have in Kris Knoblauch. And don't discount the addition of Paul Coffey (coaching) on the blue line and what that means, because from what I understand, that's got as big of a key in their success than anything," Pedersen said.The Oilers enter the finals having killed 28 straight penalties over ten games. Pedersen, who played goal growing up in Milestone, Sask., says Edmonton can thank their goalie who “flipped a switch” and found his game.“There's an adage in hockey that your best penalty killer is your goalie and they were outshot handily in game six. Stuart Skinner was the biggest reason that streak is alive,” Pedersen said.“He's not Grant Fuhr by any means yet, but he's chasing some of Bill Ranford's records. That's not bad.”Pedersen, a former play-by-play man for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Regina Pats, watched Skinner backstop the Swift Current Broncos to a Western Hockey League championship in 2018.“You're going to tell me the pressure in a WHL final or Memorial Cup isn't the most he's ever faced to that point in his life? He's passed that test. What's to say he won't pass this test?“He's 5-and-0 in series clinching games. That's getting into the heavyweights of NHL history with that stat.”Pedersen said the Panthers are full of depth, but approach the game in a savvy way not apparent to most observers.“They’re ahead of the curve. They have more travel than any other team in the NHL, but they found a way to rest and recover better than any other team in the NHL. They're at the forefront of all the technology,” Pedersen said.“It's just the things behind the scenes that the fans don't see that not every team does–I know for a fact not every team does. And that's why they are what they are. It's not luck. People want to think it's luck. It's never luck.”Odds-makers have given the Panthers a 57.5% chance of winning. Pedersen said the Oilers could still prevail if Connor McDavid dominates, Skinner plays his best game, and the whole team plays smart. If not, there's always next year."Have belief in (general managr) Ken Holland. I didn't agree with him signing Evander Kane. I didn't agree with him signing Corey Perry. I didn't agree with him firing Jay Woodcroft. I didn't agree with him demoting Jack Campbell. Every single move Ken Hollins has made, it's paid off in my mind," Pedersen said.“Whether they win this Stanley Cup or not, it tells you that they're on the right track, that they're getting better. And if they don't win the Stanley Cup this year, there's reason to believe they still could.”
