Cats & Coffee: Back on the Ice; Territory Teammates

Good morning and welcome to "Cats & Coffee," a weekly segment, presented by Koffee Kult, in which we serve up an exciting look at what's on deck for your Florida Panthers. Like our friends at Koffee Kult, this forecast serves up only the best -- so sit back, sip and enjoy our latest brew of news, notes and information.

The Florida Panthers have begun returning to the Panthers IceDen.

With the NHL launching "Phase 2" of its return-to-play plan, several players flocked to the facility this past week to participate in voluntary workouts. For most, it was the first time they'd laced up their skates since the league officially paused its season on March 12 due to the coronavirus.

"I'm so excited," Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said. "Even you get that feeling, even just to go to the rink on Wednesday to skate, you have that feeling of like ... It kind of reminds me of the first day of school feeling where you're giddy and ready to see your friends and feel to play with everyone. But, yeah, I think for me it's that I'm over the moon excited to go out and play."

After being away for so long, Yandle said the even just the sounds of the rink got him fired up.

"You're hearing the pucks hitting the glass and stuff like that," he said excitedly. "Just hearing those sounds, that kind of gets my blood boiling a little bit and kind of gets me fired up."

Preparing to compete in the league's 24-team tournament later this summer, the Panthers will enter the postseason as the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. In a rematch from the 2016 playoffs, they will face down the seventh-seeded New York Islanders in the Qualifying Round.

Unlike later rounds, the Qualifying Round will be an abbreviated best-of-five series.

"It will be an equal playing field," Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Dale Tallon said during a media conference call last week. "No one will have an advantage or an edge. When we start, everybody will be starting on the same date. It's just a matter of getting our timing down and getting our systems down.

"I think by now our players should understand what [Panthers coach Joel Quenneville] is trying to do. That's the key. We have to be ready. Everyone's going to be healthier. Everyone's going to be rested. It's going to be quite a race to the finish. In a short series, anything can happen. You've got to be prepared mentally and physically."

After roughly three weeks of voluntary workouts, "Phase 3" of the return-to-play plan is expected to kick off with team's opening up their training camps on July 10, provided that medical and safety conditions allow. Once that phase is reached, then a playoff schedule can be formulated.

To read more about the upcoming 24-team postseason, click HERE.

TERRITORY TEAMMATES

While the Panthers begin to return to the ice, the spotlight is rightfully still being shared.

With the recent launch of the Florida Panthers Foundation's new "Territory Teammates" drive, the organization is encouraging fans to nominate local heroes from around South Florida that go above and beyond to serve, help and inspire others throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the conclusion of the nomination period, five finalists will have their stories chosen. After that, fans will then vote to decide the overall winner. All nominations must be submitted by June 22.

For more information or to share a story, click HERE.

30 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS CONTINUE

If you haven't renewed your Territory Membership for the 2020-21 season, now is the time!

From June 18-26, the final seven prizes from the Panthers' annual "30 Days of Giveaways" will be awarded. These wonderful prizes include everything from a game-used stick autographed by Sergei Bobrovsky to a two-night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Fans that have already renewed their memberships and have not won a prize remain in the pool for these prizes, while those that have yet to renew will need to do so ASAP in order to be entered.

In addition to still being able to win some great prizes, all fans that renew their memberships by June 26 will also receive two percent of their total ticket investment in Cats Ca$h, which can be used to purchase concessions, merchandise and much more throughout the 2020-21 campaign.

For more information, click HERE.

PANTHERLAND CURBSIDE PICKUP & DELIVERY

Did you know Pantherland is now doing curbside pickup and delivery?

Head on over to FloridaPanthers.com/Pantherland to check out all of the new collections and to order something for either your own collection or as a gift for some of the Panthers fans in your life. Curbside pickup is available on Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at BB&T Center.

If you plan on hitting the links this summer, the team's golf collection is a big hit right now!

CATS CLIP OF THE WEEK

The Captain returned to the Panthers IceDen last week. Welcome back, Aleksander Barkov!

CATS IN THE COMMUNITY

Tweet from @StanleyCPanther: Vroom vroom! 💨 more #stanleyvisits pic.twitter.com/xxKRbvjm4v

TERRITORY TALK

Heritage Werks senior archivist Adam Davis joined last week's episode of Territory Talk to discuss what goes into creating and curating the Panthers Virtual Vault. Also, hosts Doug Plagens and Jameson Olive began to preview Florida's playoff series against the Islanders.

Territory Talk: Florida Panthers Podcast

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COLD COFFEE (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

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VAULTED: Aaron Ekblad made history during his Calder Trophy-winning season in 2014-15. 

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From Jonathan Huberdeau's team-leading point total to a pair of epic comebacks, we've compiled some key numbers from Florida's 2019-20 regular season. 

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Noel Acciari has been nominated for the 2019-20 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. 

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The Panthers would like to congratulate all 2020 graduates throughout South Florida!

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Dale Tallon expects a "race to the finish" following the NHL's return-to-play announcement. 

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Did know you can watch past episodes of "Inside the Panthers" on demand?