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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 postseason is going to be here before you know it.

After showing an impressive amount of pace during their first week of "Return to Play" training camp, the Florida Panthers will have one more week to fine-tune their skills before heading to Toronto to make some final preparations before the puck drops in the Stanley Cup Qualifier Round.

"It's been good," forward Brett Connolly said after Saturday's practice. "We've had four really good practices, some good scrimmages. I think guys realize that it's pretty wide open this year. It's a new thing with everything going on. Hopefully we can have a good start to the exhibition."

On Monday, Joel Quenneville said he was "shocked" how sharp players looked to start camp.

"I was surprised that the guys had that much pace to their game and that much energy," the Panthers head coach said. "If I had to predict going into it what kind of practice we would've had, I was hoping it'd be OK. But it was probably as good as any practice as we've had all year.

"I was enthused with the way they practiced and competed. We certainly had a lot of guys that were pushing the pace to a different level. It was fun knowing that these guys came prepared and motivated to get off to a positive start here. … Very, very positive opening day."

The goal will now be to maintain that high level of intensity for the foreseeable future.

Not long after they touch down in Toronto - the chosen hub city for the Eastern Conference - the Panthers will have a few days to adapt to their new surroundings before facing the Tampa Bay Lightning in a shake-off-the-cobwebs style exhibition game on Wednesday, July 29 at noon.

The cross-state rivals have already faced off seven times this season, including five straight games (three to close the preseason followed by two in the regular season) to kick things off.

"We're used to playing exhibition games against them," forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "It's just one more. It doesn't matter the team we're playing, we're going to focus on the Islanders. It's just to get back and play a real game. It's going to be good before we start the real thing."

Sitting at 35-26-8 at the time of the pause, the Panthers will enter the NHL's unusual 24-team postseason tournament as the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. In a rematch from the 2016 playoffs, they will battle the seventh-seeded New York Islanders in the Qualifying Round.

With Game 1 scheduled for Aug. 1, the Qualifying Round will be a best-of-five series.

"Everybody's ready to go and wants to win," captain Aleksander Barkov said. "That's all we need. All we can do is care about each other and care about our own game. It's going to be a good matchup, for sure."

Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com all this week for camp updates from the Panthers IceDen.

PLAYOFF BRACKET CHALLENGE

It's time to put your predicting skills to the test.

Despite the unusual circumstances, the NHL's annual "Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge" will remain a staple of the postseason. Immediately following the conclusion of all matches in the Stanley Cup Qualifier Round, fans will have a small window to fill out a bracket of the 16 teams that are remaining.

In filling out a bracket, fans will be asked to not only select what teams will win each series, but also how long the series will potentially last. For a potential tiebreaker, they will also be asked to guess how many total goals they believe will be scored during the eventual Stanley Cup Final.

Here's how the basic scoring works:

• Earn 10 points by picking the correct winner of each series in the 1st Round.

• Earn 25 points by picking the correct winner of each series in the 2nd Round.

• Earn 50 points by picking the correct winner of each series in the 3rd Round.

• Earn 100 points by picking the correct winner of the Stanley Cup Final.

To make things interesting, we've also created out own Panthers-centric group for the event. So if you want to put your skills to the test against the rest of South Florida, click HERE to join.

EPISODE 3 OF "PANTHERS UNCAGED"

Who's ready for some more behind-the-scenes access?

On Wednesday, the third installment of "Panthers Uncaged" will be released on Florida's official Facebook, IGTV, PanthersVision and YouTube pages. If you'd prefer to watch on TV, local fans can tune into FOX Sports Florida or FOX Sports GO at 3:30 p.m. ET to see the episode as well.

A docuseries focusing on the team's return to the ice following a three-month lockdown due to the coronavirus, Episode 3 of "Panthers Uncaged" will provide fans with an inside look into how players feel about an outbreak hitting close to home, their work during Phase 2 and much more.

"For the fans and other people, to see hockey teams coming back, see how they're skating, how they're preparing to go on the ice and preparing for training camp, I think it's going to be a huge thing," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "Everybody's going to be excited to see it."

If you missed Episode 2 of the show, check out a GIF-filled recap HERE.

Have you been watching? Share your thoughts on social media using #PanthersUncaged!

PANTHERLAND CURBSIDE PICKUP & DELIVERY

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

After you've made your selections at FloridaPanthers.com/Pantherland, you can head on over to BB&T Center to pick up your purchases on either Friday or Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

An important item right now? Face coverings, of course!

Stay safe and show off your Panthers pride.

DONATIONS NEEDED

Our friends at Baptist Health need your help during these difficult times!

Following the link in the tweet below to learn about convalescent plasma.

CATS CLIP OF THE WEEK

Aaron Ekblad recently joined NHL Tonight to discuss hitting the reset button this season.

CATS IN THE COMMUNITY

TERRITORY TALK

On the latest episode of the Territory Talk podcast, co-hosts Doug Plagens and Jameson Olive share their observations following the first few days of Florida's postseason training camp. Also, hear sound bites from head coach Joel Quenneville, Aleksander Barkov, Noel Acciari and more!

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COLD COFFEE (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

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Aleksi Saarela is making a good impression on the Panthers in training camp. 

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MacKenzie Weegar thinks Florida's top-defensive pairing will be tough to beat. 

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