FORT LAUDERDALE — The Tampa Bay Lightning could not stop the Florida Panthers on their way to their first Stanley Cup. The team surely was not going to let a little actual lightning stop them from celebrating.
The Panthers’ parade made its way down A1A in Fort Lauderdale Beach Sunday, with players carousing with celebrating fans, drinking out of shoes and enjoying the conclusion of a week of celebrations that energized and entertained South Floridians.
“I heard it’s 70 degrees and sunny in Edmonton,” Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk said. “But they ain’t got no Cup.”
The fans were ready. Owner Vincent Viola, who purchased the team in 2013, asked the fans a simple question: “How crazy do you want to get?”
The fans responded with a roar, and Viola hyped up a shirtless Ryan Lomberg celebrating with the Cup and a championship belt.
Sam Reinhart, whose Panthers future is in question as he enters unrestricted free agency, did not appear at the parade. He posted a video message via the Panthers’ X (formerly Twitter) account, saying he was celebrating his best friend’s wedding. But there were plenty of teammates to carry on the celebration without him.
Panthers television commentator Steve Goldstein MCed the event, bringing up Viola, team president Matthew Caldwell, general manager Bill Zito, former Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo and Broward County Administrator Monica Cepero, who declared Sunday to be Florida Panthers Day.
“Thirty years we’ve waited,” Luongo said, “who gives a s— about the rain?”
Coach Paul Maurice, who was previously the NHL coach with the most games coached who had never won a title, took the stage, wearing a shirt that had his cats’ faces superimposed over the Panthers’ logo. He said he told his daughter — who Maurice said was hit by a beer can during the parade — he would wear the shirt if they won the Stanley Cup.
Maurice’s speech was often profane, opening with, “30 f—— years!” But the crowd ate it up, and it set the tone for the players who followed him on stage.
“In my wildest dreams, I never would’ve thought I’d (see) this,” Maurice said. “Understand this: Everybody that we love in this world is f—— happy right now.”
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad was up first among the players. Despite trade rumors, the crowd showered him with love. Ekblad celebrated the moment with a traffic cone on his head and referenced a celebrity feud he had with golfer and noted Panthers fan Brooks Koepka.
“From the bottom of my heart: Thank you, thank you,” Ekblad said.
Tkachuk, whose iconic dip in the Atlantic Ocean marked the start of celebrations on Tuesday, thanked the fans and the management for bringing him to the team via a trade in 2022.
“You fans have made this the time of my f—— life,” Tkachuk said.
Captain Aleksander Barkov, who had played in more games for the Panthers than any player in franchise history, kept his speech PG. He concluded it by leading the crowd in a “Bob-by” chant for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
“When I was drafted here 10 years ago, 2013, I would’ve never believed that this day would come,” Barkov said. “Here I am with our teammates. With the team, all of us, management, everyone who are here in front of you all together in a rainy day during hurricane season where we’re able to be celebrating (after) winning the Cup!”
Bobrovsky has become a South Florida sports legend in the past two playoff runs. Benched early in the 2023 postseason for backup Alex Lyon, the Russian goalie’s seven-year, $70 million looks like a bargain when he was holding the Stanley Cup.
“(In) 2019, July 1, I just signed a deal with the Florida Panthers,” Bobrovsky said. “In my first interview, they asked me why I came to Florida. My answer was, ‘Because I want to win the Cup and I want to do it here.’
“And now here we are.”
