Panthers Training Camp Notebook: Cats Gear Up for Pre-Season Opener; Samoskevich Update

The Florida Panthers held their final practice in front of their fans before their pre-season opening doubleheader. They’re pumped. More on that, plus an update on Mackie Samoskevich.

Photo by Colby Guy

The Florida Panthers wrapped up their three-day training camp on Saturday in front of a packed crowd at Baptist Health IcePlex as they prepare for their preseason opening doubleheader against the Nashville Predators on Sunday.

Did it give them the burst of energy they needed to get through it?

“Yup, it sure did,” Carter Verhaeghe emphatically replied.

“I can’t believe they were out there. They support us and we love having them out. It definitely gave us a little extra juice for the third day of camp.”

It was the first time the Panthers took the ice in front of their fans since skating off with the Stanley Cup in Game 7 of the Cup Final in June.

“Man, it’s just really good. The connection and the enjoyment,” coach Paul Maurice said. “I like to have them in the building, especially today because Day 3 is no fun. Then we have the doubleheader against Nashville and they will have a day to recover after the game, so this is the hump day. The first three days are the hardest days of the whole year in some ways, so you needed a little push.

“It’s great for the fans, great for the players, lousy for the goalies, right? Because everybody’s shooting to score on the first rush. It’s nice.”

Mackie Samoskevich Re-Joins Group for Practice

After skating on his own for the past two days, Mackie Samoskevich re-joined the team for practice in a yellow, non-contact sweater. He skated with Patric Hornqvist prior to joining the second group of Saturday’s practice, then stuck around for the first 25 minutes.

“That’s usually enough to deter a guy enough from joining camp,” Maurice joked “We think we’re very close to getting him a full go.”

The 21-year-old has been dealing with a minor upper-body injury and is not expected to suit up for either game in Sunday’s doubleheader against the Predators. He is expected to shed the non-contact jersey and be a full participant in the team’s next practice on Tuesday.

“It wasn’t major, but we couldn’t afford to have him get worse,” Maurice said. “Because the first three days are the heaviest and then it’ll taper a bit. I don’t think he will be available [on Sept. 25 vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning] in Orlando but our expectation will be that he will be back in practice full-on on Tuesday.”

All Veterans Are Expected to Play in Doubleheader

As is tradition for a Maurice-ran training camp, all veterans are expected to play in the doubleheader against Nashville.

Usually, that is barring injury, but all veteran players are expected to be a full-go after the first three days of camp.

“It keeps me from having to pick one more player over the other,” Maurice said. “You sit Aleksander Barkov out, and you only sit Barky out, your next guy on your list they’re gonna be like ‘Why does Barky get to sit but I don’t. So, everybody plays.

“It’s an untasty sandwich. Everybody gets a bite. Then I gotta get some kids in these games that I don’t think are going to be here at the end of camp, so there’s going to be some players who are trying to make this team who actually don’t get to play tomorrow. And I’ll make sure I get to them in the morning and explain that to them. I still won’t particularly. Like it but that’s the way we’ve done it for three years now and I like the structure of our training camp very, very much.”