It’s been a fun week celebrating the Florida Panthers and their second straight Stanley Cup championship.
There has been plenty of attention, and rightly so, cast upon what a tight and cohesive unit the team has grown into.
One big example of that came in the moments immediately after Florida won the Stanley Cup last week.
When Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov was handed the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Barkov did something that isn’t the norm.
Usually, the captain takes the cup for a spin around the ice before, one by one, his teammates do the same.
This time, Barkov carried the Cup to where all his fellow Panthers were standing, and the raised it only after he was surrounded by all of them.
It was an incredibly cool moment to see play out in real time.
Afterwards, when Barkov began the Cup raising process by handing the historic trophy off to the next player, he started by giving Lord Stanley not to the highest goal scorer or star goaltender, but to the players on the team who were first time champions.
First was defenseman Nate Schmidt, followed by Seth Jones, Tomas Nosek, Vitek Vanecek, A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist, Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis, Jaycob Megna and Evan Cormier.
It was something that Barkov and several of the team’s leaders came up with as a way to honor those players for the sacrifices they made toward an unknown.
"It wasn't just me, we — Chucky, Reinho, Ekky, all these guys — were talking about it,” Barkov explained. “I think it was a great point that the guys who haven't won yet, they get to get it first. I think it was great and it tells a lot about our team, like what Paul (Maurice) did to Nosek's line at the end (of Game 6). When they came in down two to nothing (in the series) to Toronto, they really changed the way we played. The identity that they brought, and the way we started being physical again and playing the right way, they really changed that. They really deserve it, and it tells a lot about people like Paul and everyone in this team and organization with how we treat each other."
Barkov is referring to a video that has since gone viral showing Maurice on the Panthers bench during the final minutes of Game 6.
As Florida was about to win their second straight Stanley Cup, Maurice told his fourth line players that he wanted them to be on the ice when the final buzzer sounds. He wanted them to be the first to throw their gloves and helmets in the air.
It’s those moments that will last a lifetime to the players involved.
That’s why Barkov and Florida’s leadership did what they did, and it’s why the Panthers are who they are.
"It's an unreal feeling to lift that Cup,” Barkov said. “You know how much work you put in. There's 31 other teams in the league that are trying to do the same thing, and only one team wins it every year.”
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Photo caption: Jun 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (3) hoists the Stanley Cup after winning game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
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