OverDrive - Lindsay on the Panthers looking to extend the series, the championship pedigree and Bennett's sizzling performances

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Panthers Analyst Bill Lindsay joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines from the Panthers' perspective of the Stanley Cup Final, Florida looking to extend the series, the mindset of the championship pedigree, Sam Bennett's incredible run, the next steps for the free agents on the team and more.

Are you age 16 to 30 and ready to make a real impact? The Youth Thrive program, funded by Canada Service Corps and delivered by the Career Foundation, is your chance to develop leadership skills, connect with mentors, and gain real world experience, all while giving back to your community. Best of all, it's a no-cost program, available across Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and BC. Thoughts are limited, so register now at careerfoundation.com. That's careerfoundation.com.

Join today and be part of something amazing. Right now, Bell Blue Dot Days are on. That means the offers are hot, hot, hot at Bell. And these aren't just any Blue Dot Days. They're the first, the premiere, the debut, the start of something grand. So hurry in and get in on the great offers. Introducing Bell Blue Dot Days.

Get over a thousand dollars off amazing phones with eligible trade-in. Switch to Canada's fastest 5G plus network today. Visit a Bell store or Bell.ca slash Blue Dot Days for details. Bell, getting a new phone just got better. Here's Panthers analyst, former Panther himself, Bill Lindsay. How you doing, Bill? Yeah, I'm doing good. I'm amused by the conversation. Coming in, we're going from basketball, all of a sudden we're getting into the ownership

and we've really sold our way to Bob Graf. So yeah, that's fun to listen to. Oh yeah, you never know what you're going to get. You never know, Bill. We go down some weird rabbit holes, Billy. That's what I'm doing too. Oh, yeah, you never know what you're gonna get. You never know We go down some weird rabbit holes Billy. That's for sure Well, it's great to have you on it's great to have you on and you know Obviously from Edmonton side of things where we've been talking a lot about McDavid dry subtle those two they gotta have a night You know, we expect them to have a night What is the counter on Florida side? like when you look at the Panthers

and you think okay this is the guy or these are the guys that I think will have a big night tonight where does your head go first yeah that's a great question because it feels like we've got three number one lines that can do something different every game and it's been that way throughout the playoffs one night it's Barkov the other night it's Kachuk's line and then they get Marchand and Lundell and Lujos Serena and Roland. It's really hard to pick but Barkov doesn't have a point in this series. No games and eventually the deeper this series goes if the Panthers do want to end up winning the series Barkov's going to have an impact

if he's playing 20 minutes a night on the offensive side. That's one player in specific if you're looking at Dry Saddle McDavid on the Oilers for the Panthers. Barakov's an important piece of this club. He got Reinhardt with the goal last game. You would like to see Barakov get a goal, get a point, and get a little bit of weight lifted off his shoulders. He's going to continue to do his thing defensively, but if I'm looking on the Panther side, I'm looking at Barkovs. Billy, Paul Maurice, I think his nose started growing on the podium the other day where he said he thought this game was going to be more similar to games one and two. Don't you think while saying that, he thought to himself, I want my team to make the next game exactly the same as the last one where they limited time and space and just absolutely drove Edmond to nuts.

Yeah, they want that. The first couple of games is that we got to it in the second period a couple of times but throughout the course of the playoffs, even last year, we were able to step for 40-45 minutes of a game against an opposition. The other team would have spurts, but by the end of the game, three periods when we're playing that way, teams just did not have the ability to stay with us. I'd been to have some pushback in game one and two.

Game three, there wasn't much pushback, and you're able to just go after them, wear them down, and then the kitchen got opened up to start cooking for the Panthers as you saw the retaliation you saw the big hit on McDavid the Panthers did their stuff between the whistles when they needed it most if I'm if I'm the Panthers you have to be wary the one monster that's kind of going around that dressing room is it was three nothing games last year and they came

back and tied us at three no matter how great or whatever it looks on film that's one game two one it doesn't matter how many goals you win by so there there is some trepidation on the Panthers side just knowing if they get going on the oilers side they can come out and hurt you very quickly. But yes, last game was very dominant and if you want to continue and you want to win a San Laco, it has to be like that. It can't be a sometime thing for the Panthers, it has to be an all-time thing. So Billy, a lot of talk throughout the league, especially in a market like us in Toronto

about a guy like Sam Bennett. What do you see from him regular season compared to playoffs and sounds like if he doesn't sign in Florida he's going to write himself a big check to go somewhere else. What do you make of the play of Bennett and what he brings to the table nightly especially here in the playoffs? He's able to narrow his focus. So the regular season it's fun but there's some night shift people plan and we'll take you out of that

all of a sudden back at night the later there as like begins out that part and that just doesn't really help us and then if you want twenty two twenty three games stretch without a gold this season that's really hard to imagine when you watch him play in the playoffs so there's some ups and downs and dips during the course of the regular season, but when he gets four nations, healthy scratch, and then he comes on and plays the way that he did for Team Canada in the gold medal game, once it becomes really focused and hyper intense and engaged, Sam Bennett is, this is where I'm

at. This is where I belong. This is when it matters most. He's a guy that just runs on just a real high, high gasoline, high, high octane level. It has to be full throttle. It has to be going down. It has to be getting in front of the net, making a nuisance. That's hard to do for a few games, but once you hit this postseason and you're kind of just dialed in and locked into that zone,

all of a sudden you see the skill that this guy has and the impact that he can have on teams. And yes, he's paid. If he does get that huge contract here or somewhere else, he deserves it. But he's paid more on what he does at this time of the year compared to the regular season and the intangibles that he brings to his team the energy if Sam Bennett's not going a lot of nights our team's not going you can just point at number nine and say yeah our team's flat so that's how much he means that's how important he is and he's an incredibly gifted hockey player that kind of gets lost in all this but it is really when this playoff hockey gets heated up he brings up the best in him. Sure does it sure does with Bill Lindsey the same

thing applies with Brad Marchand you know like he look what he's been doing since he arrived and Aaron Echblad I mean those are the three guys that are unrestricted as of July 1st where do you see those where do you see it going Bill I mean you still got a couple games left to win before they get another cup in them, but Akblad, Marchand, Bennett, do you think they all return? Two of them, one of them, none of them? How do you see this playing out in the next three weeks? We'll get one or two for sure.

I don't know if we get all three. But Bill Zito's got a real interesting way to make some magic happen And this is a good place to play not because of the sunshine anymore that that that's a draw but because of the team and the environment and mr. Viola and our ownership and I even know talking Brad Marsh and when he came over here from Boston He was really thoroughly impressed with our organization. He was like wow how good is this run? So that all plays part of it and if you're happy and Sam Bennett the system that Paul Maurice

runs it's perfect for him it's a T so if you're Sam Bennett you got to be looking at if you're going somewhere else that a system that you're going to be able to thrive in and a role and not expected to put up 80 90 points he is a 25 goal scorer a 60 point guy during the regular season. That's kind of what he is. So if you're looking at all those things and you're looking at your Brad Marshand, your Aaron Echblad, how much money do I want to make? It's a big opportunity and how much do I know that this fit down here in Florida is good and I can thrive in this system and how much is Florida willing to give me. So there will be back and forth and Bill Zito and I'm sure the players and the agents,

they will have thorough talks and dissected down to everything. But I believe there's a good chance that Bennett stays. Ekblad would have to really, really depend on the dollar value for Ekblad and term. And then Brad Marchand is a wild card card I have no idea what would happen there. How cleanly has Seth Jones fit in? I mean it was a big trade obviously it made sense with Echblad and you know the suspension all of that but he it looks like he's found a new lease on life and obviously you go to Florida you play with a great team and we all knew he was a great player but he's's found a new lease on life and obviously you go to Florida you play with a great team and

We all knew he was a great player, but he's he found it You know found a home, but he's he found another level as well Billy Yes, he has well when you would tear your motivator cuff and you got a little heart leech tear In Chicago after all those years It becomes a little bit It becomes a little bit tough to play that's nothing against Chicago, but he's in a bad environment. You're losing every day. How does that wear on you mentally?

You're an experienced defenseman in this league. It's been a long time. It's hard to play hockey in your own end at 27, 28 minutes a night and you're just getting beaten down and it takes a toll. You come over here to South Florida with the Panthers. It's an easy fit. You got Forsling, you got Ekblad, and when they're healthy, and then he plays with Mikola and you can bring his minutes down to around 23, 24 instead of always 28 every single night. He still has that capacity in him, but the game has become fun again and professional athletes everyone says yes, you're professional

He does give give all but there has to be joy behind it and part of that joy is winning so you come into the culture into a locker room and It's fun to be around and that kind of helps and his his on ice game is just returned to form and this goes through All kinds of layers this goes through analytics Is it gonna fit and they've dug dug deep enough on that it goes through all kinds of layers. This goes through analytics. Is it going to fit? And they've dug deep enough on that. It goes through all our Pro Scouts. It goes through all kinds of different layers. But before it lands, Bill Zito is the one that says, look at this and does it make sense? And it goes through about five or six chains of commands

before it gets back to Bill Zito and says, yes, this makes sense. It will work. And that's what they found out in Seth Jones. And indeed it had hit a home run. And it's the homework and the background and all the layers of support that we have in our organization that makes a lot of these moves that Bill Zito makes just kind of fall into place seamlessly. Game four tonight.

It is a swing game. It's going to be a fun one. Enjoy it, Bill. We really appreciate you finding time for us. Thank you. Yeah, no problem. Have a great day, guys. I appreciate it. There's Bill Lindsay, former Panther player and now Panther analyst. diverse as you are. iHeart Pride Canada, from dance anthems to pop icons, and hits from 2SLGBTQ Plus Canadian artists. Be yourself and stand proud.

It's your soundtrack for Pride and beyond. Just ask your smart speaker to play iHeart Pride Canada. Stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Happy Pride from iHeart Pride Canada.