Rain doesn’t stop Panthers’ reign, as they celebrate Stanley Cup with parade and rally

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — 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.

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’s 21 degrees and sunny in Edmonton,” Tkachuk said. “But they don’t have a Stanley Cup.”

Even torrential rain – so heavy that flood warnings were issued – accompanied by a huge thunderstorm could not stop the Panthers Stanley Cup celebration, the one the franchise has always been waiting for. Fans braved the storm, awaiting the arrival of the champions in 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 a few words slip 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 possible. “Seriously. Get this. Everyone we love in this world is … happy right now.”

Carter Verhaeghe is the player who was the first to bring the Stanley Cup on stage, when the band Queen was singing “We Are The Champions” and no one cared about getting dunked, no one cared that he was still raining. The Panthers were champions, after three decades of waiting. The title was won 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 moment as the fans lining the parade route — some since Saturday night — roared. “A lot of people came out to support us. For us to share this moment with the fans, it’s unbelievable.”

Bobrovsky then made a point of speaking on stage, draped in the flag of his native country, 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 transported 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 the greatest victory of this franchise with you.”

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

“I can’t put it into 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 scenes on her phone. Tkachuk left the route at one point to visit his favorite bar, Elbo Room, which just so happens to be next to the bus lane. The players, one by one, all had time to hoist the Cup on stage. There was a campaign t-shirt that some players wore – Maurice Zito 2024, a nod to Maurice and president of hockey operations Bill Zito, who masterminded the run for the Cup. 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 up to the fans at one point, chugged a beer in celebration and pumped his fist in the air.

“It’s great,” Zito said.

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had the opportunity to get back at golfer Brooks Koepka, who showed up at a Panthers game last season and compared Ekblad to a traffic cone. Ekblad grabbed such a cone on Sunday and let Koepka know, quite colorfully, that he was going to have the last laugh.

“It feels like the culmination of your life’s efforts, of everything you’ve ever worked for,” Ekblad said. “When you have this trophy above your head, it’s a wonderful feeling. And that’s the pinnacle of hockey. It’s everything you can imagine.

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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup And https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL