Rain doesn’t stop Panthers from celebrating Stanley Cup victory – National

Matthew Tkachuk was soaked. That’s life when you’re outside in torrential rain for several hours. It didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.

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 sunny in Edmonton,” Tkachuk said. “But they don’t have a Cup.”

Not even a torrential rain — so heavy that flood warnings were issued — accompanied by a massive electrical storm could stop the Panthers’ Stanley Cup celebration, a celebration the franchise had been waiting for forever.

Fans braved the storm, awaiting the arrival of the champions on double-decker buses that took a seaside route before stopping for a rally, where the trophy was hoisted repeatedly.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice, no stranger to profanity, let slip some shocking passages in his remarks.

He also praised 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.

“In my wildest dreams I never thought I would see this,” Maurice said from the stage, thanking the fans and players for making the Cup victory possible.

“Seriously. Understand this. Everyone we love in this world is… happy right now.

Carter Verhaeghe is the player who originally brought the Cup to the stage. Queen We are the champions The screams rang out and no one cared that they were soaked or 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.

“It’s unbelievable,” said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who got off the bus with the Cup at one point and decided to walk down the road for a while as the fans lining the parade route — some since Saturday night — roared.

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“A lot of people came to support us. For us, sharing this moment with the fans is incredible.

Bobrovsky had more to say later on stage, 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 year in a row, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, the NHL did not allow the Cup to be taken to Russia or Belarus.

“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 the first few days of celebrations that included, among other things, the following at various times at the Stanley Cup entry: beer, champagne, apple juice, no less than three human beings — all children of players — and a steaming plate of pasta topped with freshly grated cheese, a dinner that Panthers legend Roberto Luongo proudly enjoyed.

“I can’t express this in words,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said as he surveyed the parade scene.

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 head 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 Stanley Cup on stage. Some players wore a campaign t-shirt, Maurice Zito 2024, in tribute to Maurice and president of hockey operations Bill Zito, who orchestrated the Stanley Cup journey.

Other fans wore a similar jersey – Barkov Tkachuk 2024, a nod to Florida’s stars.

And as if the crowd needed any more encouragement, a shirtless Panthers forward, Nick Cousins, ran toward the fans at one point, chugged a celebratory beer and punched the air.

“It’s great,” Zito said.

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had a moment of revenge on golfer Brooks Koepka, who showed up at a Panthers game last season and compared Ekblad to a traffic cone.

Ekblad grabbed one such cone on Sunday and let Koepka know — in rather colorful fashion — that he was going to have the last laugh.

“It’s like the culmination of a lifetime of effort, of everything you’ve worked for,” Ekblad said.

“When you receive this trophy above your head, it’s a wonderful feeling. This is the pinnacle of hockey. It’s everything you can imagine. »

© 2024 The Associated Press