Storm doesn’t stop Panthers from celebrating Stanley Cup victory

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk was soaking wet. Such is life when you’re out in a downpour for a few hours. He didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

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And as Florida’s star forward looked out at the crowd, tens of thousands of people, packed onto Fort Lauderdale Beach Sunday afternoon for the Panthers’ parade and celebration of their Stanley Cup victory, Tkachuk decided to do a quick weather update.

“I heard it was 70 degrees and nice in Edmonton,” Tkachuk said. “But they don’t have a Cup.”

Even a torrential downpour, so severe it prompted flood warnings, and an electrical storm couldn’t stop the Panthers from celebrating the Stanley Cup, a celebration the franchise had been waiting for forever. Fans braved the storm, waiting for the champions to arrive on double-decker buses that traveled along a waterfront route before stopping for a rally where the trophy was hoisted repeatedly.

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Panthers coach Paul Maurice, no stranger to profanity, let slip a few words in his remarks. He also praised the firefighters who worked the event and had to briefly treat one of his daughters, who Maurice said was hit in the head by a flying beer can. She was fine. “God bless them,” he said.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d see this,” Maurice said from the stage, thanking the fans and players for making the Cup run possible. “Seriously. Understand it. Everybody we love in this world is … happy right now.”

Carter Verhaeghe is the player who originally brought the Cup to the stage, Queen’s We are the champions screamed and no one cared how soaked they were, no one cared that it was still raining. The Panthers were champions after a three-decade wait. The title was clinched last Monday night, with Florida beating Edmonton 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

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“It’s incredible,” said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who got off the bus with the Stanley Cup at one point and decided to walk a bit down the road while fans lining the course parade – some since Saturday evening – roared. “So many people came to support us. For us to share this moment with the fans is incredible. »

Bobrovsky had more to say later onstage, draped in a flag of his native Russia. Several players from other countries paid similar tributes to their home countries. The Cup will not accompany Bobrovsky to Russia this summer; for the third straight year, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, the NHL is not allowing the Cup to be taken to Russia or Belarus.

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“In my first interview, they asked me why I came to Florida,” Bobrovsky said. “My answer was: ‘Because I want to win the Cup and I’m going to do it here.’ And now here we are, five years later, celebrating with you this franchise’s greatest victory.

The parade and rally capped off these first days of celebration which included, among other things, the following items, entering at various times into the Stanley Cup: beer, champagne, apple juice, no less than three human beings — all children of players — and a steaming pasta dish topped with freshly grated cheese, a dinner that retired Panthers legend Roberto Luongo proudly enjoyed.

“I can’t put it into words,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said as he watched the parade scene.

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Panthers owner Vincent Viola danced on stage while his wife Theresa captured the scene on her phone. Tkachuk left the course at one point to go to his favorite bar, Elbo Room, which was right next to the bus route. The players, one by one, all had the opportunity to lift the Cup on stage. Some players wore a campaign t-shirt – Maurice Zito 2024, a nod to Maurice and president of hockey operations Bill Zito, who orchestrated the Cup run. Other fans wore a similar t-shirt – Barkov Tkachuk 2024, a nod to the Florida stars.

And as if the crowd needed any more encouragement, a shirtless Panthers forward, Nick Cousins, ran up to the fans at one point, drank a beer in celebration and punched the air.

“It’s great,” Zito said.

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had a moment of revenge against golfer Brooks Koepka, who showed up at a Panthers game last season and compared Ekblad to a traffic cone. Ekblad grabbed one of those cones Sunday and let Koepka know — in rather colorful fashion — that he would have the last laugh.

“It feels like it’s the culmination of everything you’ve ever done in your life, everything you’ve worked for,” Ekblad said. “When you get that trophy over your head, it’s a great feeling. And it’s the pinnacle of hockey. It’s everything you can imagine.”

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