Jeff Skinner discusses going to his first Stanley Cup Final.

Jeff Skinner discusses going to his first Stanley Cup Final.

jeff Skinner uh Jeff this must be so exciting for you i mean you’ve played many years in the league now i was just joking with you i remember when you came in the league with Carolina rookie of the year and you know and then to finally get to the playoffs and you’re here on a on a media day you look around here what What do you make of the whole thing it’s a lot going on uh but uh yeah it’s exciting i think uh every player they come in the league this is kind of the goal so um yeah it’s exciting to be here how about for you being in the playoffs i mean you’ve you’ve had some kind of ups and downs you started the players you were out you came back in you got a power play goal the other night in the in the big win over the Dallas Stars what is it like how is it different cuz you’ve been watching these playoffs and now you’re in these games yeah I think uh just try to stay ready obviously the guys have been doing a great job of of battling here for uh I don’t know it’s been a month and a half or so but um yeah we got obviously got a great staff here trying to keep guys ready i think the strength coaches the training staff everyone’s kind of involved um sort of working towards the same goal so um just doing my part and doing my job is is kind of what I’m focused on is it different is it different to be in the play when you feel that the speed the intensity is it different do you feel that yeah I mean I think yeah maybe the intensity is is is a little bit different i think it’s just every play matters and you hear sort of all these cliches but I think it’s cuz sort of the margin for for between winning and losing is so small that the smallest play can can end up mattering so um that’s probably the biggest thing is just the intensity the emotions everything’s a little bit amped up a little bit higher and um that’s what makes it uh fun or exciting as a player this team made it last year they got all the way to game seven you joined the team this year what has the ride been like for you being around a group that was so close last year do you do you sense like that they’ve been on this this mission to get back this year yeah I think for sure i think coming here the expectations are high and the standards very high i think it’s been set over the years but obviously last year going all the way to the finals it’s uh it takes a lot to get there it’s uh it’s nice for me to come in and learn from a lot of guys that that went through that experience and uh I think um guys have mentioned obviously I wasn’t here but guys had mentioned how guys are a little bit more calm and comfortable this year because uh a lot of guys have have been here before so I think for me um being able to kind of lean on guys and and learn from guys in in this situation is has been uh has been pretty good jeff you’re one of really one of the best skaters that I’ve seen during your time in the NHL you’re playing with Conor McDavid now what’s what is it like being around him on a day-to-day with his skating ability cuz you could probably appreciate that even probably more than most uh yeah I don’t know i don’t know if I’m quite up to that uh speed but uh yeah watching it I think every day is is is something that’s pretty fun to watch obviously you get to see it when you’re around the league but I think seeing it in practice every day is uh is a different level and different level of appreciation I think you get for it all right last one florida Panthers third consecutive Stanley Cup final kind of amazing looking to go back to back you know you’ve seen the the Panthers from your time a lot of time in the Eastern Conference what do you make of them this year what are the problems they’re going to present oh they’re really good team they got a lot of experience i think I mean anytime you’re in last two teams left in the in the in the in the league you’re obviously going to be one of the top teams so I think for us um again I think guys last year have a lot of familiarity with them um try and lean on some of that and I don’t know I think for us it’s going to be we try and focus on our game and and uh sort of bring in our our best version of our game and um yeah see what happens all right Jeeoff thanks for the time good luck thank you thanks

E.J. Hradek talks to Jeff Skinner about going to his first ever Stanley Cup Final.

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