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00:00Now we are just three days away from night number one of the
00:06Stanley Cup Final in sunrise on a Saturday between the
00:10Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers to continue to get you
00:14set for the Cup Final in 2024. Will Lord Stanley's Cup be
00:18going back above the border to the Great White North? Casey
00:22Hudson joins us live right here on this Wednesday morning on
00:25the early line on SportsGrid. Casey, you are in the Sunshine
00:29State. That is Florida. A Florida team back into the Cup
00:33Final for what is it? A fifth consecutive year. The lightning
00:36there for so many years and now the Florida Panthers for two
00:39straight seasons. How does it feel to be in the hockey state
00:42of all of these United States? Yeah, we're taking over and it
00:46feels good. I know there's some mixed emotions about rooting
00:49for your in-state rival, but it works here in hockey paradise.
00:53We just want the trophy to stay in the Sunshine State so that
00:56hopefully lightning can take it back next year. Of course,
00:59and we'll see if it goes up to Canada. We have the northern
01:02most team in the National Hockey League. That is Edmonton
01:05facing off against the southern most team in the National
01:07Hockey League. That is the Florida Panthers. Last year,
01:11Casey, the run to the Stanley Cup Final for the Panthers was
01:14improbable. The eighth seed in the Eastern Conference making
01:17it all the way there, but the odds were more optimistic.
01:21Florida will be back entering this season for the Edmonton
01:24Oilers. It has been getting Connor McDavid to a Cup Final
01:28that has always been expected up in Edmonton as we take a look
01:33at the path for both of these teams and their odds at every
01:37step of the journey throughout this National Hockey League
01:40season. Did you expect either of these teams to be in the
01:44Stanley Cup Final as this year got underway? The Florida
01:48Panthers? Yes, if and obviously them getting past the New York
01:52Rangers, who were an extremely hot and complete team. As for
01:55the Oilers, not so much. I mean, I think I had the Canucks as my
01:59Canadian team to make it. We saw the adversity they had to
02:02go through, even though they put up a massive battle for
02:04everything they had to overcome. Then I had the Dallas
02:07Stars coming out of the West to compete in the Stanley Cup
02:10Final, so never did I have the Oilers touching this grace, but
02:14I can see why they got there, but this is going to be a great
02:16match up. All in all, if the Florida Panthers made it through
02:18the Rangers as I predicted that they would, I have them
02:22taking this one. Yeah, two teams that's certainly deserving
02:25to be in the Stanley Cup Final. It's fun to see a team from,
02:28you know, way up in Canada taking on a team from Southern
02:30Florida. If we take a look at the money line in the series,
02:32we're expecting a great one. Florida a slight favorite with
02:35homeless advantage at a minus 128 price. If you're looking at
02:38Edmonton, that's like dog price at a plus 106. Also, the spread
02:42here, Florida to win by a game and a half plus 160 to get the
02:45Game and a half Edmonton. That is a minus 200 price and even
02:48if we're taking a look at the series prices, not game by game
02:52over five and a half heavily juiced at a minus 188 price
02:56here at FanDuel. So just being optimistic before we see this
02:59series start on Saturday. How are we feeling about this? Is
03:02it right that Florida's the favorite here? Is it should be
03:04a little bit distant here where Florida should be 140 or
03:06higher? How do we say it? Yeah, I completely agree with Florida
03:11being the favorite here and it's not to take away from what
03:13Edmonton has done whatsoever. And of course, I'm on board with
03:16McDavid deserving this, this stage, this spotlight and an
03:20opportunity to hoist the cup. But the bottom line is the
03:23Panthers just kind of edge in a number of categories and this
03:25is going to be the first most complete team that the Oilers
03:28are facing. The Oilers went against probably kind of the
03:31bottom half of goaltending in the postseason. If you think
03:34about it, whereas Gorowski may have not been on his sharpest
03:37game in the first two series, but he's still one of the top
03:39goaltenders and show that throughout the regular season
03:42and started to pull that in. When you compete against the
03:44best team in the NHL, being the New York Rangers, you have a
03:47chance to shut them out from continuing forward. That speaks
03:50volumes. So the Panthers just kind of have most of the
03:53complete team here. They're going to be much better
03:55defensively, which means it's going to be a problem for one
03:58of the most high scoring teams in the NHL to be as productive
04:01as they've been. Look at the defenses that the Oilers have
04:04produced against. I mean, Kristina was the the entire
04:08defense primarily for the Dallas Stars, whereas you've
04:10got four of those guys on the Florida Panthers roster. You've
04:14got a lot of two-way players as well. They can pick up in the
04:16defensive column as well as get in on the scoring column. So
04:19it's going to be a tough test for the Oilers who yes, they
04:22can score, but what's their D zone going to look like and are
04:25they going to apply enough pressure to Skinner to make him
04:27crack because he has not been the most consistent goaltender
04:29between the pipes. So as Donnie just alluded to over five and a
04:34half total games in the Stanley Cup final heavily juice Casey
04:38as we look at the total games market for this 2024 Cup final
04:42six games plus 198 seven games technically the shortest by
04:46four cents at plus 194. We see what the oddsmakers expect
04:52Casey. What chances do you give the 2024 Stanley Cup final to
04:56see a full seven games? Oh, I don't see this going to seven
05:00games at all. I see it going to six games max. Yeah, because I
05:04mean look when it comes down to shut down goaltending, you're
05:07looking at a Panthers team that comes in strong in the final 40
05:10minutes of a game versus a team that comes in heavy in the in
05:13the first 30 to 40 minutes and to see how they were able to
05:16sneak in those points and really battle it out with the
05:19best team in the NHL in the third period. They're going to
05:21be closers in this and they're not going to let things linger
05:24too much. We're not going to see as many overtimes as we did
05:27versus the New York Rangers. So I cannot see this going to
05:29seven games by any means again if they really get a chance to
05:33apply a lot of pressure to Stewart Skinner. I see this in
05:36maybe five but most likely six games. Best player in the
05:40playoffs. That is your cons my trophy award winner kind of
05:43McDavid here. The favorite of the fan blue sportsbook here
05:45Casey at a two to one price followed by Barkoff at plus
05:47380 Bob Brovsky at a four to one price could chuck dry settle
05:50Bouchard after him. So a lot of prices here at ten to one or
05:54less. Is it just so easy to say if you think Edmonton wins it,
05:57it's going to be McDavid and if you do think that Florida is
06:00going to win, it's going to be Barkov and who can surprise us
06:02here in this market? Yeah, I think it is pretty simple when
06:06it comes to the Edmonton side because if you look at two of
06:08the games versus Dallas, if it was not for McDavid's
06:11performance, we would be talking about Dallas Stars
06:13versus the Florida Panthers especially because of his
06:16ability to create those lanes for his teammates. The ability
06:20to set up scoring for his teammates but if you want to
06:23surprise on the Edmonton side, I like the idea of Bouchard. I
06:27think that he has been extremely key to that Edmonton
06:30Oilers team. If you look at the consistency and the assist
06:33that he has picked up to assist her game, almost consistent
06:37wise. I think he's a guy that can really kind of get in there
06:40and claim the cons like as well and I kind of always had a
06:43defenseman taking this one for some reason when it comes to
06:46the way these playoffs have played out. So McDavid and
06:49Bouchard over on the Edmonton side. When you're looking at
06:52the Panthers, there's kind of a lineup here of guys that can
06:54really take this. Of course, Matthew could chop. He has been
06:57such a dynamic and dominant leader for the Florida Panthers
07:01team. Whether it's assists, whether it's his physicality,
07:03whether it's his clutch goals or assists, but then you're
07:06looking at what Barkoff has done. He's probably been the
07:08best two-way player in the postseason. He's tallying up
07:12great points, clutch points when necessary, but he's also
07:15been one of the best shut down players in the NHL postseason
07:18thus far. But the guy that I can't just look away from is
07:21Horseling. He's been one of the best defensemen helping out in
07:25those clutch moments, but he's sitting at a plus 11 rating,
07:27which means he's one of the top guys on the ice every time the
07:30Florida Panthers produce in that scoring column. And we've
07:33seen his clutch goals that helped this team surpass the
07:36best team in the NHL being the New York Rangers. So you got
07:39about three guys that could take it on the Florida Panthers
07:41side. Top guy being Matthew could chop, top guy being
07:44Barkoff, excuse me, but the other guys being Kachuk and
07:47Horseling, I wouldn't be surprised again if it goes to a
07:49defenseman. So I got Horseling for the Panthers and I got
07:51Bookshard for the Edmonton Oilers if it's not the top
07:54stars. Oh, I like those under the radar picks and maybe Casey,
07:58you're not the biggest hockey fan out there or maybe you
08:02don't care a lot about the Oilers or the Panthers or maybe
08:05for some very strange reason you're not listening to Casey
08:07Hudson give you the best bets for the 2024 Stanley Cup final.
08:11If you need a reason to pay attention, Conor McDavid, the
08:15best player in the National Hockey League is that he leads
08:18all of the NHL this postseason with 31 points. Casey in the
08:22last 40 seconds of this segment, McDavid finally in the
08:26Stanley Cup final. Will he match all of the hype that is
08:30behind him here as the Oilers try to win the cup? Oh yeah, I
08:34think that he's going to bring the entertainment, the
08:36excitement. He's the highlight real player, but I think he's
08:39also going to level up that much more because you're going
08:41against a little bit more depth scoring when it comes to the
08:45Panthers for hey, he's a flashy guy to watch during this. He's
08:47got speed. He's got puck handling and he's a pest
08:50around the net. So I think we're going to see a little bit
08:52of competition between McDavid doing his highlight reel and a
08:55couple of the guys stepping up on the Florida Panthers. But
08:58look, if you're not a hockey fan, you're about to watch one
08:59of the most physical complete teams go against one of the
09:02most high scoring teams and Conor McDavid, Dreisaitl and
09:05company. So it's exciting either way to see how fast and
09:09how much can the Florida Panthers wear out the Oilers
09:11and how can the Oilers overcome that with their exciting
09:14scoring opportunities and scoring style. Casey Hudson,
09:18we appreciate the time as always. Game one on Saturday
09:22and sunrise. More on the early live action.