MIAMI — The NHL has its dream Stanley Cup Final in a Florida Panthers-Edmonton Oilers rematch: Reigning champion Cats out to break Canadian hearts again as the great Connor McDavid tries to exact his revenge and win the one prize that has eluded him.

Lots to unpack. Let’s dig right in as we savor Game 1 on Wednesday in the northwest:

— “Is it true some nincompoop Miami columnist referred to McDavid as “McOverrated” in last year’s Final?”

Yes, I did! (Who uses the word nincompoop anymore?) And guess what? The unkind nickname is even more of a snug fit now.

McOverrated does not mean McDavid isn’t great. He is. He has won three Hart (MVP) trophies, led the league in points five times. His combo of speed and stick-handling might be unmatched.

But enough with the McJesus, next-Gretzky hyberbole. He isn’t perfect. Nothing special defensively. Prone to turning the puck over. Oh, and this minor thing: NO CHAMPIONSHIPS. Zero Stanley Cups in his 10th NHL season. Tick-tock, Connor. Not sure about you Canadians, but here in the States we sort of a put a premium on winning it all. (It’s why Dan Marino never really entered the greatest-QB-ever talk even though he shattered NFL passing records. Never won a Super Bowl.)

Similarly, unless he triumphs during the next two or three weeks, the hole in McJesus’ resume’ and legacy will remain a crater. Without a Stanley Cup win ...

McOverrated.

— “What is it about a championship rematch?”

Think Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Or Evander Holyfeld-Mike Tyson. The first fight was so grand, a curtain call was demanded. Same in team sports.

Florida won its first Stanley Cup last year in epic fashion, in a taut Game 7 — the Cats finally earning a first franchise Cup, Edmonton denied its first since ever-distant 1990, and McDavid denied ... again. Rematch? Yes, please!

More than that, title rematches in major team sports are such rare treats.

This is the 12th in NHL history (the reigning champ is 7-4 on winning again), but only the fifth since the start of the expansion era in 1967-68. The previous was Detroit Red Wings-Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008-09.

Title rematches are a bit more common in the NBA, but the NFL hasn’t had a Super Bowl rematch since Buffalo Bills-Dallas Cowboys in 1992-93. And MLB hasn't had a World Series repeat since Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Yankees in 1977-78.

Rare, too: Teams winning back-to-back vs. the same opponent, the Panthers’ aim now. It has been done only three times since 1978, by the Golden State Warriors over Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017-18, Chicago Bulls over Utah Jazz in 1997-98, and Cowboys over Bills in ‘92-93.

— “Why does this feel so big for South Florida sports?”

Tectonic plates are shifting, in both the NHL and the South Florida market. These things happen so gradually sometimes you don’t even feel them.

The NHL’s final four cities included Dallas, Raleigh, North Carolina, and, with Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The South, rising. Hockey, rising in places where an ice cube wouldn’t last a minute on the asphalt out front.

The league’s Original Six teams (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Detroit, Chicago and New York) watch as the nontraditional cities take what was theirs. A team from Canada, which invented hockey, last won a Stanley Cup in 1993. (More pressure on Edmonton, and on McDavid to play national savior.)

In South Florida, the shift of tectonic plates sees the evolution and rise of a sport both played on ice and played in the tropics. Not saying this will ever be a “hockey town” (football won’t budge), but it has gotten closer, fast, than previously thought possible.

Three straight Stanley Cup Finals can do that. And the year before that run the Cats won the Presidents’ Trophy for best regular-season record. That’s four straight years of excellence.

The natural comparison is to the Miami Heat’s Big 3 era of LeBron James that produced four straight NBA Finals and a pair of championships from 2011 to 2014.

I would not forget the Miami Dolphins’ magical run in 1971-74, which included three straight Super Bowls, two championships (one a Perfect Season) and a four-year record of 55-10-1.

The Panthers are doing that kind of thing right now. We are in it, in the midst of history being made.

— “Why is this Panthers team special beyond the wins and success?”

Another team in town makes a trademark of “Heat Culture,” talks about it all the time. That was the team that had its recent season sabotaged when its star player quit on everybody and pouted his way into a trade. That team got swept out of the playoffs’ first round by losing four straight games by a combined 122 points.

The Panthers lead the league in chemistry, in harmony, in joy, in all of the things you want to scoff at until you see them working.

Third-year coach Paul Maurice: “I’ve had more fun and learned more about life and hockey in the last three years from these players. It’s been life-altering. I try to choose my words carefully. It’s been life-altering.”

General manager Bill Zito, on captain Aleksander Barkov and camaraderie: “Sasha has almost become like a planet, with the energy that comes from him. How caring he is as a human and a teammate — he forces you to want to be better. It cannot be overstated the grace of each of our guys. If you came into the meal room you wouldn’t know who just scored the winning goal and who didn’t play.”

Barkov and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are quiet as church mice. Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand chirp like crows on a wire. The mix of talent and personalities is something you want to bottle, and preserve.

— “So who’s going to win the Stanley Cup Final?”

The betting odds are ever-so-tight. DraftKings lists the Panthers a narrow favorite at -115 to Edmonton’s -105. You can also find sportsbooks that have the Oilers a slight favorite.

Edmonton has (most might say, if only by rote) the best player in this series in McDavid. But Florida has the superior depth across all four lines, as evidenced by an NHL-high 18 different players with at least one goal scored this postseason.

The Panthers (it says here) have the better goalie in Bobrovsky.

Intangibles might be even.

Edmonton unquestionably has what only they can: The revenge factor. The want to end their city’s 35-year Cup drought and win for all of Canada. And the (mostly unspoken) desire to get that giant ice-monkey off McDavid’s back.

Florida has in its pocket both the ability to claim the confidence of a reigning champion that has won 11 of its past 12 playoff series and also the right to play the underdog card. After all, the Final will be the fourth consecutive playoff series that the Cats have not had home-ice advantage. Yet here they are.

The winner? Panthers in seven. Again.

Sorry, Connor. Again.

©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.