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Dolphins Celebrate Panthers' Stanley Cup Title; Should They Copy Their Blueprint?

The Dolphins have become the South Florida team in the four major professional sports with the longest championship drought

Alain Poupart

The Florida Panthers celebrate winning the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history with their Game 7 victory against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Florida Panthers celebrate winning the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history with their Game 7 victory against the Edmonton Oilers. / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
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Pretty much everyone in Miami-Dade County and Broward was celebrating after the Florida Panthers won the franchise's first Stanley Cup title Monday night, and that included the Miami Dolphins.

A group of Dolphins players, Raheem Mostert and Mike White at the forefront, offered their support for the NHL team throughout the season and playoffs, so they joined all those who were going wild after the Panthers' Game 7 victory against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Dolphins as an organization also saluted their South Florida hockey counterparts, both right after the game and the day after.

NO PRESSURE FROM PANTHERS

The Panthers' title left the Dolphins as the South Florida team among the four major professional sports (sorry, soccer fans) with the longest championship drought. The Marlins won the World Series in 1997 and 2003, while the Heat have three NBA titles, the last coming in 2013.

Before the start of the Stanley Cup Final, a second consecutive for the Panthers, McDaniel was asked about the idea of the Panthers' playoff success putting more pressure on the Dolphins.

“I think there’s always pressure," McDaniel said. "We don’t need that to happen to feel pressure for that. I don’t see this job as a void of pressure ever. One thing I tried to articulate to the team at length that I think they’ve started to capture is the pressure exists because there’s a lot of people that want to do your job. Whatever job you have, a lot of people want to do it. So if you’re not performing the best in your opportunity, it’s tick, tick, tick for everybody, always. You get hired in this business to win games. I’m never not going to feel the pressure of that regardless of who does what. I think that’s important to understand.

"I think to me that the internal pressure that we put on ourselves far exceeds any cup or trophy or what any team is doing. But it is cool to see and you do get a nice reminder of what we’re all here to do and how you just cannot replicate the experience and the gratification of being able as a team to achieve things. So it is a nice thing to have at home to watch and we’re all rooting for them and fired up knowing how hard that is. And you appreciate that and you trying to take some of the tools that their team used to be the best version of the team on the national stage, to be in the final pairing. There’s great stuff from that. But pressure? If you don’t feel the pressure, you are oblivious to reality.”

A PANTHERS LESSON FOR THE DOLPHINS?

Really, though, the biggest connection we can take from the Panthers when it comes to the Dolphins involves the drastic change of style the team underwent and whether that might be something to think about for the future.

The Panthers were in the FInals for the second time in two seasons after making a seismic, franchise-changing trade, that after finishing with the best regular season record in the entire league.

In trading leading scorer Jonathan Huberdeau to the Calgary Flames for gritty (and also high-scoring) forward Matthew Tkachuk and bringing in veteran coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers totally changed their team, going from a high-flying, high-octane offensive team to a more defense-oriented that wins with discipline and grit, a team much better built for playoff success.

See where we're going with this?

The Dolphins are going to be running it back for a third season under McDaniel with a team built around its incredible speed, a formula that's been good enough to help the team put itself in position to win the AFC East title each of the past two seasons before things came crashing down at the end.

While injuries played a role in the disappointing finishes each year, it's fair to wonder how far the Dolphins can go as presently constructed.

The formula of outrunning and outscoring their opponents has produced very good results from September through November, but it has come up short down the stretch against the 49ers, Chargers and Bills two seasons ago and against the Ravens, Bills (again) and Chiefs last year.

In all those cases, the opponent has found a way to solve and slow down the Dolphins offense and Miami hasn't been able to counterpunch, much like the Panthers didn't have an answer when the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down their offense on their way to a four-game sweep in the second round of the 2022 NHL Playoffs.

The Panthers decided it wasn't smart to stay the course and try the same approach after those 2022 playoffs. If the Dolphins' 2024 season ends the same way the previous two did, it would be time to seriously consider adding a power element to the offense, even if it means sacrificing some of the electric playmaking the team has.

The ultimate goal is winning a championship and the Panthers found the right formula to get it done. The Dolphins' moves in 2024 indicate they're going to give it another shot with their track meet offense.

Maybe the third time will be the charm under Mike McDaniel. If it isn't, the Dolphins should consider going the Panthers way.

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Alain Poupart

ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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