OverDrive - Greer on winning the Stanley Cup, the Panthers' culture and the team back together

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Florida Panthers Forward A.J. Greer joined OverDrive to discuss his experience winning the Stanley Cup with the Panthers, his tenure with Florida, the atmosphere of the team, the turnaround against the Maple Leafs, the line with Jonah Gadjovich and Tomas Nosek, the celebrations for the win, the trio of free agents signing, the culture of the group and more.

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oh, he's got the hat on too. Is that a Calgary, Stam Peters hat? I love that. I love it. I love it. All right, I love it, AJ. Thanks so much for doing this, man. I'm sure it's been a whirlwind for you over the last couple of months.

Just take us through what it's been like for you. Penn's becoming a Stanley Cup champion. It's been amazing, the best summer of my life. Just been really taking it all in and all these celebrations with my friends, my family and I had a little parade with my hometown. It's just been so amazing. And I really wake up every morning and look at my pictures every day and really take it all in. Realize that I'm a Stanley Cup champion. That's forever. So I'm very grateful. AJ, take us back to when

you become a member of the Florida Panthers. What's going through your head? Do you automatically think like, man, I'm going to a pretty special group, a special team, and I have a chance to to win a Stanley Cup here, and it's very realistic? Definitely. Actually, I watched Game 7 of last year's finals, and it was a pretty thrilling game, and I looked at how the Panthers play, and those were, you know,

it was a team that had an option to go to, and it was a tough time for me. I had broken my foot in Calgary. Wasn't sure if I was ever going to be the same players. I was because of just the gravity of the injury, but I chose Florida because of the, like, the style of play they play. They were losing a couple pieces on the fourth line, and I thought I could step in and make a difference and seeing them in that game seven and how resilient they were and how detailed

they were in their game plan and how, you know, ferocious they were on the forecheck. Like, that's exactly what I wanted to do. And that's exactly what I had in mind coming in, is not really moving anything. major just kind of fitting in and kind of you put a piece of paper in a folder and it fits in perfectly i really wanted to put my spice um on on the table but also just fit in and and kind of be in addition to this group and it's been an amazing journey so far and i'm so grateful to have another year we're a guy who's you know been been in a lot of different locker rooms around the nchel and when you got to florida like was there something that that

that stuck out as to why it's so special special there, because it seems like the culture is just top-notch compared to the rest of the league. Definitely. The culture is all of it. There are really little things that you think about when you think about culture, and I can name so many, but I think one that stands out that's small for me is the patch on the jersey.

Vinnie Viola, who is our owner, he's an army guy, and I think that patch rather than a number kind of represents a group as one. It's a Florida patch. And also, a little thing like the way these guys work in the gym and work as one are never kind of settled on being a champion. I mean, coming into, I wasn't really sure what to expect coming in after the team won already this year. And they were just so hungry to win again. Everyone was on the same page as far as just putting everything out on the line every single game and preparing for the playoffs. It was really beautiful to see.

So definitely the culture on and off the ice. We have so many different personalities. But again, once you get out and you get to the battle and the thick of things, everyone's on the same page. So it's such a fun environment to come to every single day with the staff and the coaches, the players. It's been an unbelievable journey. And you're in Florida.

I mean, they always talk about earn it. and have fun and enjoy Florida. And that's really what we've been doing. You've got guys fishing, got their boats, you've got guys golfing. We really enjoy the lifestyle, but it comes with a price, and I think that everyone is signed up to really do what it takes to win. Our guest is A.J. Greer of the Stanley Cup champion of Florida Panthers. AJ, I was telling these guys about game two in the press box when I sat next to you

and you, of course, go back in the lineup in game number three. You never leave, and you make a huge. impact. What was the turning point for this team? Because here in Toronto, we remember the Leifes are up 2-0, the Leaves are up 3-1 in game number 3. Marshawn scores in overtime, and the rest is history. What changed with the

Panthers between game 2 and game 3? I don't think anything changed mentally. And the game plan was really the same thing, but I think we just had to figure out a way to be a little bit quicker with how we did things. And we had to be the

the instigator and we had to be we call a lead dog right so we had to be first to pucks and we had to be a little bit quicker with everything that we did um but just how calm these guys were being down to nothing i really didn't know what to expect um that night you know we play some cards and at the hotel and then on the plane the next day and you're not sure as a new guy what to expect being down in a situation like this we've never really faced that much pressure throughout the year compared to how big of a moment that was and I just remember getting on that plane and you got guys joking around you got it's the kind of the same energy and they always talk about staying even keel and knowing that the series is going to go to a game seven

so we were prepared for that I think being in front of our fans was a huge push for our energy And as soon as Marcy scored that goal, we were just on the same page. And we just kind of took that energy and ran with it. So Paul Marie spoke really glowingly about your line that enters game three. It's you, No Sick, and Gajovic. And prior to that game, I would imagine you guys are getting ready. And like, do you guys have any kind of dialogue as far as what you want to accomplish, getting thrown in and bring something to the table?

Or was it just, you know, one of these unspoken things, we're just going to go in and we're going to work as hard as we can and see what happens. No, we got off the plane, actually, three of us at the same time. Paul was waiting below the stairs as we came off the plane,

told us we were going in as a group, as a line, and just to stick to what we do best and what we've been doing the last 20 games that we played together. We kind of walked to our cars, looking at each other not speaking too much but we kind of knew what we had to do and we did it perfectly and I think it just our energy together came in so well at the right time and once you

do well one game it kind of transfers to the other and then you're just on a roll and you figure out what works what doesn't and for us it was just to keep it so simple that the opportunities are going to come just stick to what you know best defensively and on the forecheck and set up the next line. That was the biggest thing for us is we talked as a line is set up the next line for success, whether that's the other team icing it, you know, a face-off in the offensive zone. As long as you set up that next line and you win your ship, you did your job. Our guest is A.J. Greer of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. So there was a lot of partying that you guys did after you won the Stanley Cup. Like a crazy amount. I was live streaming the elbow room at times just to see what was going

on. No, you weren't. I was 9 a. That's kind of embarrassing, man. You can't admit that to this guy. You want to Stanley Cod. I do morning radio. We're looking for things to entertain us. But there was this... This guy's screaming elbow room. He's got a coffee next to him. Yeah, that's right. He gets a beer from the fridge. You know me too well,

the real reason why you played so well is because you didn't want to listen to him in the press box anymore talk to your ear off, wasn't it? You might be right. We had some good conversation. We did. We had a great conversation. That's why AJ came on the show. Nothing to do with your relationship with him, Frank. We know that. But As far as this $500,000 tab that it was Matthew Kuchuk and Brad Marshall talked about,

I think it was at Live Miami, if I'm not mistaken. And they said you guys got comped 500 grand. It was 11. Sorry, 11, yes, my mistake. So how does that work? Take us through that night and experience of a $500,000 bar tab. It's just like, go ahead. I tell you, number 10 on the Florida Panthers is not take care of the bill.

No, I have no clue. I just kept seeing gold bottles and rosé bottles come out. No, it was a great night. I think just all of it. Like, ever since we won, it was so fun to be in that locker room after. We were in the locker room dancing and partying to, you know, the best songs with all of our family and friends until five in the morning. Next thing you know, you go home, I had an hour nap.

I was back at the elbow room at eight. The breakfast box. An hour nap. I got dunked donuts on the way. I ate it up on the second floor of the elbow room and then, you know, had a beer with it. And then I was looking around and I was like, God, I don't know if with all these parties, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get, you know, a nice trim and my hair cut. Like I looked like a slob and I texted my barber and he actually came to the elbow room and gave a cut to a few of the boys.

Nice. That's unbelievable. So, no, it's, you know, we had such a. a good time. The team just did such a great job at giving us opportunities to really celebrate and have the cup with us and really, really enjoy it. Best time in my life. And it's just, it goes without saying, like, this group is such an unbelievable group of guys so close together. And in every step of the way, like, we were so confident with what we were doing. And we just enjoyed it so much. I remember winning game seven

after guys were dancing in the locker room for five minutes. And then after that five minutes, music shut down and it was like back to business. Like, let's go. So there's a very good balance of work and fun.

But we, like you said, like Marci, Chuckie, we got some guys that can go and got some good personalities and just, it's so fun. Well, and they're all coming back, right? Like Bill Zito, I'm sure, you know, I was shocked that he was able to get all three, Marshawn, Ekblad, and Bennett all to come back and basically the band's back together to try and make a three-peed

here. Like, what was the mood maybe in the team group chat when you found out that everyone's coming back for another go at it? Yeah, Bill's a magician, because I tell you what, we didn't know what was going to go on. And we really just, like, enjoyed our time together and hoping that it wasn't our last. And as soon as we saw Benny, like the group chat went nuts everyone was so happy fired up um and and benny wrote love you boys and then two seconds later marshy writes love you boys too and the group chat went insane like we couldn't believe we thought he was messing around because he always messes around right and we were like are you serious no way and everyone started questioning the message sending

question marks and then it came out um and of course ecchi like just such great guys to have and i'm so happy uh everyone's back it's almost like a triple a summer team like the band's back together everyone's excited and and there's no like barely any new faces i mean it's it's going to be such a fun thing to do wow life is good as a florida panther right frank paul maurice talked about this a lot i think it was after the first cup where you know he mentioned some guys that maybe they were healthy scratched at times or didn't have prominent roles on the team, but they were like the center of what happened in the dressing room. So if there was an inside joke, it was, you know, just because you play 10 minutes a night doesn't mean you can't have a big personality or be

who you are in that room. Is that something that you guys really take a lot of pride in? Because, you know, like you've played on a few teams now, like that's not something that you see everywhere. There's some teams where it's like, you're a fourth line guy. You have a fourth line role when it comes to the camaraderie in the room yeah and that goes back to the culture um no one's as big as the logo and truly um everyone's on the same level and everyone gets along with each other everyone hangs out with different groups of guys all the time it's just a rotation of um who you go to dinner with on the road and you know you talk about culture another thing that really was amazing to me um as soon as barky got the cup

we celebrated as a team, they announced to the guys on the ice that whoever didn't win it yet is going to go first and have their lap. And I thought that was just so special. You can't wait to get your lap. You can't wait to get your hands on it. And for them to think in that moment to get the guys that, you know, hasn't won it yet, it's just a small gesture that means the world to me, right? What a moment. And it just, again, it comes back to culture and the leaders. Who follows.

It's really just a special, special group. Well, congratulations in all your success. It's well deserved. We're huge A.J. Greer fans here on TSN 1050. The Panthers, maybe not so much. We like Greerzy. We like Greerzy. So, yeah, congratulations.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. We really appreciate your time today. Thank you, guys. Thanks for having me. All right, that is A.J. Greer of the Florida Panthers. Seasoned gamer, or just video game curious, this week in game, is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games,

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