The Florida Panthers win their first ever Stanley Cup in their 30 year history. It looked like the Panthers were heading down easy street as they dominated the first three games of the seven game series versus the Edmonton Oilers. Why did it take Kris Knoblauch’s team to finally show up at game 4? This was the same guy before the series even started who called this Florida team the Buffalo Bills, referring to the the 4 Superbowls they lost in a row back in the 1990’s. The Panthers had been beat down by the Vegas Golden Knights losing that series 4-1 in last year’s Stanley Cup finals. Before that you have to go back to 1996 when the Panthers made it for the first time and were swept by the Avalanche. Maybe Knoblauch was thinking back-to-back in his Bills reference and a total of three rather than Buffalo’s 4 in a row. That’s some bulletin board material the Oilers coach is spewing out when he acts like big brother giving the Panthers a 20 point lead in the garage at the ping pong table.

The Panthers needed one point in this ping pong game which equals out to one game in the final 4 games. Kris Knoblauch has the best player right now in the NHL in Connor McDavid as the Oilers would make this a series charging back like the run of the bulls in Spain to tie this series a 3-3 and force the game 7. McDavid would earn MVP honors in one of those rare moments when the guy on the losing squad gets the Conn Smythe trophy. The head coach of the Oilers would eat his words as the Panthers defended off Edmonton at home to prevail in game 7, winning 2-1. The Panthers got goals from Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe to give this franchise their first Stanley Cup celebration.

The Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup had a list of firsts for many. The Panthers had some nice goal tending by 35 year old net minder Sergei Bobrovsky who has a nick name of just Bob. Well, Bob had 23 saves in game seven as he allowed one goal to help the Panthers to defend off the Oilers run at some history which Florida did not want to part of. Bob who has played for the Flyers and Blue Jackets wins his first ever cup.

When it comes to winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, you have to talk about the longest tenured player which is the captain, Aleksander Barkov. He’s from Finland and he has played with the Panthers for 11 seasons. It’s the only franchise he has skated for in the NHL. Barkov makes some interesting history being the first ever Finland-born player that was the captain of his team to win the Stanley Cup. Barkov had 2 goals & three assists in the Stanley Cup finals. In 24 playoff games for the Panthers’ magic run, he had 8 goals as he dished out 14 assists which is good for 22 points.

NHL HOCKEY FAMILY GETS THEIR NAME ON THE CUP

Do you remember Keith Tkachuk? He played 18 seasons in the NHL and was kind of bad ass as he racked up 2,219 penalty minutes skating for the Jets, Coyotes, Blues, and the Thrashers but never won a cup. He has two sons, one is Brady who right now skates for the Senators. Then finally the Tkachuk that got his name on the Lord Stanley Cup, Matthew. Matthew arrived from Calgary in a trade in 2022. He was a big part of why the Panthers won the cup as he played in 80 regular season games, scored 26, and dished out 62 assists.

Then there is the coach of the Florida Panthers, Paul Maurice, who ranked number 6 all-time in wins in the NHL. This was his third Cup finals as he lost his first two. Back in 2002 he was coaching the Carolina Hurricanes when they lost to the Red Wings. Last year Maurice and his Panthers were throttled by the Vegas Golden Knights. Maurice got his first head coach job at the age of 28 back in 1995 for the Hartford Whalers.

He was the second youngest coach at the time. Now he is 57 as he coached 1,985 NHL games of which 1,848 of those were regular season games. He has 137 Stanley Cup playoff games under his belt. Most games ever in the NHL for a coach never winning a Stanley Cup. Now he has number one and makes history at the same time guiding the Panthers to their first ever.

It would have been nice to see a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup. It’s been awhile since a Canada team won it all. You have to go back to 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens won it. The Edmonton Oilers had their decade of being a dynasty during the 1980’s with the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Something about Florida playing hockey with palm trees in your backyard all year long. Did we not get sick of the Tampa Bay Lightning having their day in the sun all those years? It was not very long ago. I can still taste the orange juice. Only 9 teams have not won a Stanley Cup in the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks have been around the longest out of those nine teams who have not won a cup yet. Expansion teams have won sports championships very quickly. When will the new kid on the block win their first? The Seattle Kraken have been to the playoffs once in the three seasons they’ve existed. Surprises me that the San Jose Sharks did not win one yet with the talent they had assembled. The others are the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, and the Ottawa Senators. These teams have not been around for a very long time. Then the Arizona Coyotes who have moved to Utah. Sometimes it’s good when a team like the Panthers in general wins it all. They built the team right. They had faith in their head coach who had all the experience. It was just a matter of when he could get this team to finish line. The Oilers had the best player in the league. Their roster was not solid from line 1 through 4 like the Panthers. The head coach of the Oilers insulting the Panthers off the bat like that is just plain stupid. They learned from the loss last year to the Golden Knights. He did not have his own team prepared out of the gates. I did not have a pony in this Stanley Cup final, but as a sports fan this one feels good.