It's ready! In the night from Wednesday to Thursday (2:00 a.m. German time) the Edmonton Oilers the Florida Panthers to Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Interestingly, both teams faced each other in the finals last year. Back then, Florida won a hard-fought series in the decisive game 7 the crown and celebrated with a very close 2-1 victory the first title win in the club's history.
The Oilers are determined to avoid a repeat of last year. The team around Captain Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is eager for revenge and is eager to most important trophy in ice hockey to Alberta. All experts expect an emotional, long series. Last year, the two rival teams were already giving each other no quarter. Florida took a 3-0 series lead, while Edmonton launched an incredible comeback and evened the series in the final. In the end, the Panthers had the stamina to win the decisive game and took home their first Cup. The Oilers' title win would end a long drought, as the last Stanley Cup victory a Canadian team is now 32 years In 1993, the Montreal Canadiens from the motherland of ice hockey.
Leon Draisaitl meets Nico Sturm
Starting Thursday night, two German national players will meet: Leon draisaitl (Edmonton) meets Nico Storm (Florida). Draisaitl is once again one of the Oilers’ offensive cornerstones, with seven goals and 18 assists The Cologne native is currently second-best scorer in the playoffsDraisaitl also impressed in the regular season. With 52 goals in 71 regular season games, he set a personal milestone and became the first German to win the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top scorer.
Nico Sturm, born in Augsburg, has completed eight playoff games for his team. The attacker has already won 2022 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche and moved from San Jose to Florida this season to further strengthen their Cup ambitions. Draisaitl, on the other hand, is still waiting for his first triumph and now wants to fulfill his big dream of winning the Cup.
“It may be that we mentally a little fresher than last year before the final," he said in advance. "We know how they playThis is nothing new for us. The Experience from last year benefits us and we want to use it to our advantage. We now have one more mountain to climb and that will be the most difficult. But we are ready for this and will work on it“, Draisaitl looked ahead to the showdown.
By the way: In 2011, two German players played against each other in the NHL final series for the first time ever. Dennis Seidenberg and his Boston Bruins lost against the Vancouver Canucks by Christian Ehrhoff the upper hand (4:3).
The match dates at a glance
Game 1: Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers, Thursday, June 5, 2 a.m. German time
Game 2: Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers, Saturday, June 7, 2 a.m. German time
Game 3: Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers, Tuesday, June 10, 2 a.m. German time
Game 4: Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers, Friday, June 13, 2 a.m. German time
Game 5: Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers, Sunday, June 15, 2 a.m. German time*
Game 6: Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers, Wednesday, June 18, 2 a.m. German time*
Game 7: Edmonton Oilers vs. Florida Panthers, Saturday, June 21, 2 a.m. German time*
*if necessary
All games of the final series between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers will be broadcast live on the pay-TV channel Sky.