SUNRISE, Fla. – There are a few minor incidents these days in the Stanley Cup, including one right next to where the names of the 2024-2025 Florida Panthers are engraved in commemoration of their last title.
Such things happen during championship celebrations. Don’t worry, they will be fixed soon.
And the Panthers hope to get the chance to put a few more shots in the trophy next year.
A new season for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions began Tuesday, with the Panthers all looking to the top of Amerant Bank Arena to see another championship banner raised to the rafters. It’s basically the same as last year – white background, red letters – with the only change being the year, 2025 instead of 2024.
“It’s a new year and it’s a new opportunity for us,” Panthers forward Brad Marchand said. “And when that starts, it will be time to turn the page and start working for a chance to start again.”
The banner flew at the end of the ice that the Panthers defended twice on Tuesday. Between now and the next home game on Thursday, he will take his more permanent place on the team’s bench alongside the team’s other banners for division and conference titles.
“You kind of look at what you’ve accomplished, but at the same time you’re proud of that accomplishment,” Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. “But it makes you want to do it again even more.”
Fans lined up for another photo with the Cup outside the arena gates Tuesday afternoon, many of them arriving well before the week’s unusual 5 p.m. start time – a time that was used to be part of a nationally televised triple bill. Once inside, the new scoreboard at center ice displayed a replay of some moments from the third period of Game 6 of last season’s Stanley Cup Final, just in case anyone forgot how that season ended.
And once all the warmups were complete, as they did in June 2024 and June 2025 — the Panthers completed their Cup championship run by beating the Edmonton Oilers at home in each of the last two title matchups — the fans roared as the trophy was brought onto the ice. Alternate captain Aaron Ekblad did the honors this year by carrying the trophy onto the ice, then hoisting it before placing it on a stand next to where the banner was unfurled and hoisted.
Once the banner was raised, the players raised their sticks to greet the supporters.
“We want three! We want three! We want three!” » the fans chanted back.
It capped a two-day celebration for the champions; Panthers players and coaches received their championship rings in a private ceremony Monday evening.
“Last night was a good reminder for them of the reward for all that hard work,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “And it lifts everyone’s spirits and gets them excited for tonight.”
It won’t be an easy road for the Panthers this season. Captain Aleksander Barkov will miss several months, potentially the entire season, with two torn ligaments in his knee, an injury suffered 20 minutes into his first practice of training camp. And forward Matthew Tkachuk is out until likely December while he recovers from offseason surgery. Barkov and Tkachuk, dressed in street clothes, watched the lift from the Florida bench.
The Panthers know how rare this opportunity is. They could become the first back-to-back NHL champions since the New York Islanders won four straight Cups from 1980 to 1983.
“It’ll be there forever,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of the banner. “It’s a special group. And it’s a celebration, but at the same time, it’s a page turned. It’s a new chapter.”
