Despite falling short of winning the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history, it is safe to say that the Florida Panthers revitalized hockey in South Florida.
Once the buzzer sounded in Game 5 last week in Las Vegas, and the Stanley Cup was awarded to the Golden Knights, the focus back in Florida shifted to appreciation for the Panthers’ improbable run, and enthusiasm for what’s to come. Next season is just three short months away, and the optimism is already building.
For the first time in 27 years, South Florida truly wrapped its arms around its hockey team, and in a year where the Panthers also hosted the NHL All-Star Game, the franchise re-established a foundation for the sport in the region, and took a seat at the table among the league’s best clubs.
“This organization has grown dramatically over the last couple of years,” said Florida defenseman Brandon Montour, who played in a hockey hotbed with the Buffalo Sabres earlier in his career and understands how impactful the Panthers’ run can be South Florida. “I think the hockey world knows now that we’re for real. Obviously, (it’s) tough right now, but we’ll be back.”
Due to a fractured sternum, star forward Matthew Tkachuk had to miss Game 5 in Las Vegas, and was not his normal, tenacious self in the series overall. Still, Tkachuk was Florida’s top scorer in the regular season and postseason, and captured the area across his debut season in Sunrise.
In fact, when Florida hosted the All-Star Game in February, he was named the MVP, and teamed up with Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, to steal the show at FLA Live Arena. Tkachuk became the second Panther to win All-Star MVP honors, in fact, after Hall of Fame forward Pavel Bure did so in 2000.
“There’s no stopping now. There’s no stopping here,” said Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who was also injured in the postseason and will miss the start of next season rehabilitating a foot injury. “Bump in the road. It’s going to sting. But we’ll find a way to come back next year and be stronger because of it.”
Florida’s postseason surge stole some of the headlines away from a second half to remember. Following the All-Star break, first-year coach Paul Maurice mixed some lines around, added some players to the lineup who had been injured, like forward Anthony Duclair, and rallied the team into contention.
With six wins in their last eight games to conclude the regular season, the Panthers snuck into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
“It’s hard right now, but for sure something that I will remember for the rest of my life,” Barkov said. “And every time I step on the ice, either to practice or game or something, I’ll remember this group, this hell of a journey.”
As the last seed in the Eastern Conference, the Panthers shook up the hockey world, defeating the regular-season’s best club, the Boston Bruins, in seven games, before eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games, and sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes.
Maurice’s sense of calm, and 30-plus years of coaching experience, had a lot to do with it, especially considering this club — with a relatively similar roster — didn’t win a game in Round 2 last year, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a sweep.
“It’s a huge step. Not only with what we learned those two months, but how close to each other we were,” Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said in illustrating the postseason run and the difference between 2022 and 2023. “We won together and we lost together. I’m proud that guys competed all the way.”
In the end, Vegas, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, proved too deep for a short-handed Panthers lineup. But Florida will return nearly all of their core players, and will have the pieces to make another run in the tightly contested Eastern Conference.
Maurice, anxious to see his group return for training camp, talked last week about the foundation that’s been built, and how it can shape what’s to come in the future.
“The first 17 or 18 years in the league, we were considerably one of the underdog teams. Us making the playoffs was us punching above our weight class,” he said. “I would never, ever, in my life had imagined a year like this. Like these guys, wow, they say the coach made it fun? I didn’t make it fun at all for these guys. They made it fun for me.”
The fans — new and old — went along for the ride, as well, as the Panthers authored a run they won’t soon forget. And though the Stanley Cup will reside in Nevada for the next year, the Eastern Conference title and a rink full of memories will reside in Sunrise.
