Hurricanes, Panthers, Golden Knights, Stars make up 'fantastic' final 4

For days, since the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I've been waking up to my 4-year-old dragging his Boston Bruins-branded hockey net into my bedroom so he can play goalie, which makes sense since we live in Boston. Except, lately, he hasn't wanted to be the goalie for the Bruins.

Instead, he wants to play for the Florida Panthers.

That a Boston kid has been watching enough Panthers hockey to be captivated by the team says everything about the opportunity ahead for the four remaining teams in the NHL playoffs.

These are four teams that don't always get the headlines and the publicity, that don't come from traditional hockey markets, that have everything to gain from the spot in which they find themselves, here in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals. Combined, the Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights have won the Stanley Cup twice, with the Hurricanes winning it in 2006 and the Stars in 1999.

They will begin the next step of trying to make some new history -- and some new fans -- when they start off the conference finals, with the Panthers and Hurricanes playing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday at PNC Arena in Raleigh (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, TVAS, SN) and the Stars and Golden Knights playing Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Friday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, TVAS, SN).

"A deeper playoff run will draw attention to the unique players that we have that you can come and enjoy watching play," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "What happens in these runs, it's not just about getting excited because of the spectacle of playoff hockey. You want to get the connection to the home crowd too.

"There'll be a whole bunch of people who are going to buy (Panthers forward) Sam Bennett jerseys based on what they saw. And then I can say that about a bunch of different guys."

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There are players who could cement legacies, like defenseman Brent Burns in Carolina, who could never get over the Stanley Cup hump with the San Jose Sharks, even with an appearance in the 2016 Final. Like forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is having a coming-out party in these playoffs, making Panthers general manager Bill Zito look like a genius for the blockbuster trade that brought him to Florida from Calgary last offseason. Like forward Roope Hintz, who can get overshadowed by Stars teammate Jason Robertson, but who has led Dallas with 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 13 games. Like Vegas forward Jack Eichel, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, who had to wait until his eighth season in the NHL to make the playoffs, but who is now taking full advantage of his opportunity.

These are the players who will get to show off for fans new and old, for people who have watched for years and kids just learning to like the game. This is the opportunity they have, that their teams have, ahead of them.

"When you're playing well, it brings in people, brings in attention to the team, and into hockey," Stars forward Wyatt Johnson said. "It's a lot more fun to see a team win than lose. I think that's a big thing, is just being able to win and keep on winning."

And that's what these four teams have done.

The Stars are the most recent of the four to appear in a Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in 2020. The Golden Knights made it all the way to the Final in 2018, their inaugural season, losing in five games to the Washington Capitals.

For the Eastern Conference teams, it's been much longer. The Hurricanes' 2006 win was their most recent Final appearance - they also made it to the Final in 2002, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in five games. For the Panthers, it goes back to their third season in the NHL, when they made a surprise run in 1996, before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

"I think it's fantastic," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "I think it's exactly what (NHL Commissioner) Gary Bettman predicted when he put in the salary cap and made parity a priority in this League.

"There are some preconceived notions about the two or three teams that are going to be left standing at the end of the day in some of the major sports, and it's usually accurate every year. In hockey, it seems like there's always wild cards coming out of left field. I think that's what makes the game great."

RELATED: [Video: NHL Tonight: Hurricanes/Panthers Game 1 preview]

All four have developed dedicated fan bases, from the wild adopters of the Vegas Golden Knights to the Caniacs in Raleigh, all of those fan bases growing as the teams have found success, as they have tasted the fun that can be had from a team that's a perennial contender, as these four teams are becoming.

"Just any time you win, the further you go, the more interest you get in the market," Carolina general manager Don Waddell said. "I've always said the best way to grow the game is to get people interested. By just our attendance record this year, more people, whether they were raised here, from here or from someplace else, are becoming Hurricanes fans. We're in the process.

"When you've got excitement around the community, you've got to try to take advantage of it and we're spending a lot of time and a lot of money to try to take advantage of it and continue to grow the sport."

The NHL continues to grow, in the traditional markets and the non-traditional ones, as more people get to watch and experience and delight in the excitement of the playoffs, as they see their hometown team win round after round, the Stanley Cup still within their reach.

And that kid, that 4-year-old who only wants to be the Panthers these days? When I arrived home from the Eastern Conference Second Round series between the Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs I brought him a gift that I picked up at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

A Panthers goalie stick.

He's thrilled.