from George Richards of on Frozen Pond,

Florida Panthers coach Gerard Gallant seemed to be taken aback a bit by all the media coverage at Monday's morning practice although he wasn't shying away from it.

With the Panthers and the Miami Heat both heading into the postseason, this is a fun time to be a sports fan in South Florida.

"It's a little different, yeah," Gallant said as he glanced at the numerous television cameras and microphones shoved in his general direction.

"I think our team has taken big steps and there's a lot more excitement around and that's a lot of fun. When you talk about two years ago, the start of this season, it's about getting more fans in our building, more media, more publicity for our team. This has been outstanding. The guys have worked hard and created what they have today.

"Hopefully we'll go into the playoffs, relax and have fun and just go about it as another game. Everything we've talked about for the past two years is starting to happen. It has been fun.

"We weren't lying, weren't kidding people about how good our young players are and how good a team we thought we were. This season we played well all season long. I didn't think we'd win the Atlantic when the season started but I thought we would be in a playoff spot."

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