By Stretch Jenkinson

NHL Public Relations

BOBROVSKY WAS A BULWARK IN PANTHERS’ CREASE EN ROUTE TO FIRST CUP WIN
Sergei Bobrovsky was a force during the 2024 postseason en route to becoming the first goaltender in NHL history to win his first Stanley Cup after playing 700-plus regular-season games.

* Bobrovsky (35 years, 278 days) became the 11th goaltender in NHL history to secure a Cup-clinching win at age 35 or older and just the fifth to do so in the past 55 years, following Tim Thomas with the 2011 Bruins, Chris Osgood with the 2008 Red Wings, Dominik Hasek with the 2002 Red Wings and Patrick Roy with the 2001 Avalanche.

* Bobrovsky (2012-13 & 2016-17 Vezina Trophy recipient) became the sixth goaltender with at least one Cup and multiple Vezina Trophy wins (since 1981-82 when the current Vezina criteria was implemented). He joined Ed Belfour, Martin Brodeur, Hasek, Roy and Thomas.

* Bobrovsky faced elite competition throughout the playoffs, with at least one 100-point scorers on the opposing roster in each round. Overall, Bobrovsky held Nikita Kucherov (0-7—7 in R1), David Pastrnak (1-2—3 in R2), Artemi Panarin (1-3—4 in CF), Connor McDavid (2-6—8 in SCF) and Leon Draisaitl (0-2—2 in SCF) to a combined 4-5—24 over the course of 24 games (totals while Bobrovsky was in net).

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO THE STANLEY CUP
Two years removed from their first Presidents’ Trophy (2021-22) and after Stanley Cup Final defeats in 1996 and 2023, the Panthers became the fourth franchise to join the League since the start of the 1990s to win the Cup, following the state-rival Lightning (3x), the Golden Knights – who eliminated them in the Final last year – and the Ducks (2007). Florida, Vegas and Tampa Bay (2) account for four of the past five Cup wins since 2020.

* The Cup has found a home in the “Sunshine State” three times since 2020, the most any state or province has won over a five-year span since Alberta-based clubs won four straight from 1987 to 1990 (EDM: 3; CGY: 1).

* The Panthers won only three playoff rounds in their first 27 seasons, all during their run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final when they became the second team in the League’s modern era (since 1943-44) to reach the championship series during their first trip to the postseason. Their climb to Cup glory in 2024 provides redemption not only for their 2023 defeat, but for early playoff exits after successful regular seasons (including 1999-00, 2015-16, 2020-21 & 2021-22) and more than a quarter-century without a postseason series win (26 years from 1996 to 2022, the longest span in NHL history).

* After ending their series win drought in 2022 but having their Presidents’ Trophy-winning season cut short in the next round, the franchise founded by H. Wayne Huizenga, the owner of Blockbuster Video, surged to consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances following a blockbuster trade – the second ever involving players coming off 100-point seasons (Matthew Tkachuk for Jonathan Huberdeau and Wayne Gretzky for Jimmy Carson).

THE STARS THAT GOT THEM THERE
In addition to the efforts of their captain and goaltender, the Panthers were propelled to a championship thanks to the efforts of other stars players:

* Matthew Tkachuk took home the first Stanley Cup of his NHL career less than two years after the Panthers acquired him from the Flames. After setting a franchise record for points in a playoff year during the team’s run to the Final in 2023 (11-13—24 in 20 GP), Tkachuk shared the team lead 6-16—22 in 24 games this year to become the first member of his family to win the Cup. Tkachuk began the postseason with a six-game point streak (4-6—10 in 6 GP), the longest from the start of a playoff year in franchise history and one off the club benchmark at any point in a postseason.

* Sam Reinhart became the second 50-goal scorer in franchise history (57) during the regular season and added 10 goals in the playoffs – including the Stanley Cup-clinching tally in Game 7 – to set a franchise benchmark for the most in one season, including playoffs. Overall, he had 36 special-team goals in 2023-24 (32 in regular-season, 4 in playoffs) to become the fifth player in NHL history with as many, following Mario Lemieux (2x; 52 in 1988-89 & 43 in 1995-96), Leon Draisaitl (39 in 2022-23), Mike Bossy (39 in 1980-81) and Dave Andreychuk (36 in 1992-93).

* Carter Verhaeghe scored 11 goals to match the single-postseason franchise record (adding one overtime goal and three game-winners to his “clutch” totals) en route to capturing the Stanley Cup for the second time in his career (also 2020 with the Lightning). Verhaeghe scored two goals in the Stanley Cup Final – the first was the 1-0 goal in Game 1 and the second was the 1-0 goal in Game 7. Overall, more than half of Verhaeghe’s career playoff goals have been go-ahead goals (14 of 26).

Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored the series-clinching goal in the Conference Finals and a go-ahead marker in Game 3 of the Final, helped a franchise win its first Stanley Cup for the second time in his career after achieving the feat with the 2019 Blues. He is one of six active players to achieve that feat, on a list that includes his former teammates Ivan Barbashev (2023 VGK & 2019 STL) and Alex Pietrangelo (2023 VGK & 2019 STL), along with Alec Martinez (2023 VGK & 2012 LAK), Jonathan Quick (2023 VGK & 2012 LAK) and Chandler Stephenson (2023 VGK & 2018 WSH).

VETERANS OKPOSO, EKMAN-LARSSON JOIN RARE COMPANY WITH FIRST STANLEY CUP WIN
Florida became the fifth team in the last seven years to win the Stanley Cup with two or fewer previous champions on its roster. The Panthers roster included five players who are older than the franchise itself (Kyle Okposo, Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitry Kulikov, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Vladimir Tarasenko; min. 1 GP in playoffs), with four of them among a group of five Panthers who had skated at least 700 career regular-season games before winning their first Cup (Okposo, Ekman-Larsson, Kulikov, Aleksander Barkov and Bobrovsky).

Okposo (1,051 GP) became the 20th player in NHL history to win his first Stanley Cup after appearing in 1,000 career games. He did so 18 years to the day of being selected seventh overall in the 2006 NHL Draft.

* Ekman-Larsson (982 GP) is one of eight defensemen in NHL history to win his first Cup after playing at least 980 regular-season games.

* Kulikov was selected by Florida with the No. 14 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft and returned to the Panthers this season after skating with the Sabres, Jets, Devils, Oilers, Wild, Ducks and Penguins. He became the first skater in NHL history and the second player overall to win a Stanley Cup after playing for eight different franchises (also Curtis McElhinney, 2020 TBL).

PANTHERS RELY ON SAME SIX DEFENSEMEN FOR ENTIRE CUP RUN
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov were two of six defensemen to skate for the Panthers this postseason as they became the first Cup winner to ice only six blueliners since the 2012 Kings (the only other instance in the past 43 years).

* Gustav Forsling (4-9—13) was a fifth-round pick to Vancouver in the 2014 NHL Draft (No. 126) who was then traded to Chicago (122 GP) and Carolina (DNP in NHL). In January 2021, Forsling was claimed off waivers by Florida and finished the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs as Florida’s defensive scoring leader, setting a franchise record for assists in one playoff year by a defenseman and matching one for points. He scored the goal that secured Florida’s spot in the Eastern Conference Final when he became the second player in franchise history with a go-ahead series-clinching goal in the final 2:00 minutes of regulation (1:33 left in Game 6 of 2024 R2).

* Brandon Montour (3-8—11), whose franchise points record Forsling tied, matched the club record for points by a defenseman in a playoff game in a series-tying victory in the Second Round against Boston. He is of Mohawk descent and spent part of his childhood in Ohsweken, a village within the Six Nations of the Grand River. He became the second Stanley Cup winner of Indigenous descent in as many years, following Zach Whitecloud (2023 VGK).

Aaron Ekblad (1-5—6), one of two No. 1 picks in club history and the longest-tenured defenseman ever to wear a Panthers uniform, hoisted the Cup for the first time. Ekblad (676 GP) is the fifth No. 1 pick in NHL history to play at least 600 regular-season games for the franchise that drafted him before winning a Cup with them – and the only defenseman to do so (also Alex Ovechkin: 1,003 w/ WSH; Steven Stamkos: 803 w/ TBL; Mike Modano: 710 w/ DAL/MNS; and Nathan MacKinnon: 638 w/ COL; the next player on the list is defenseman Denis Potvin: 498 w/ NYI).
* Niko Mikkola was one of 13 free agent signings who skated with Florida in 2023-24 (regular season or playoffs) and one of eight from that group who joined the club after its run to the 2023 Final. He is one of four Finnish-born players on the Panthers – the first Stanley Cup champions in NHL history with as many.

“THE 10,000 DAYS” RULE: PAUL MAURICE CAPS 26TH SEASON AS HEAD COACH WITH FIRST CUP
After spending more than half of his life pursuing a Stanley Cup, Paul Maurice capped his 26th season as an NHL head coach by winning the prized trophy for the first time – 10,457 days after making his League debut. Maurice, 57, made his NHL head coaching debut more than 28 years ago, on Nov. 7, 1995 behind the bench of the Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes), when his current club was 147 games into its existence (and on its way to its first-ever postseason appearance and eventual trip to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final).

* Since then, Maurice has logged nearly 2,000 games as head coach – 1,848 in the regular season with the Panthers, Jets, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Hurricanes and Whalers, along with 137 in the playoffs (with CAR, WPG and FLA).  He ranks second all-time in career regular-season games as head coach and fourth in wins (869) but until Monday was one of two among the top 10 on each of those lists who hadn’t won the Cup in any capacity (also Lindy Ruff, who was an assistant coach with the Panthers in their first four seasons and part of their 1996 run to the Final).

* Maurice made his head coaching debut as a 28-year-old and won his first Cup at age 57. He became the fourth bench boss in NHL history with a Cup at age 57 or older, following Scotty Bowman (2002 DET, 1998 DET, 1997 DET and 1992 PIT), Dick Irvin (1953 MTL) and Bruce Cassidy (2023 VGK).

* Maurice’s 1,848 regular-season games are the most as head coach before his first Cup, while his 137 in the playoffs are the third-most before a first Cup behind Pat Burns (144 GC in 2003) and Mike Keenan (140 GC in 1994). There are four head coaches in history with 130-plus playoff games who never won the Cup, or have yet to.

PROUD PANTHERS: MORE ON THE 2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

* Bill Zito, who was named general manager of the Panthers on Sept. 2, 2020 and orchestrated the blockbuster trade which saw Florida acquire Matthew Tkachuk, won the first Stanley Cup of his NHL career. Zito was an assistant general manager for the Blue Jackets across several seasons, including 2015-16 when he served as general manager of the 2016 Lake Erie Monsters when they captured a Calder Cup as AHL champions.

* Anton Lundell (No. 12 in 2020) was the Panthers’ first NHL Draft pick with general manager Bill Zito at the helm and one of only three Panthers picks to lift the Cup with them (also Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad). The Panthers became the second franchise over the last 50 years with three or fewer of their own NHL Draft picks on a Cup-winning roster, joining the 2023 Golden Knights (Nicolas Hague). Of note, four of Vegas’ players were selected by the club in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

* Sam Bennett was selected by the Flames with the No. 4 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft after Aaron Ekblad was chosen by the Panthers at No. 1 and Sam Reinhart was taken by the Sabres at No. 2. They helped Florida defeat the No. 3 pick from that year to make the Panthers the first Cup-winning team in League history with three of the top four picks from the same NHL Draft on its roster. The only other club with three of the top five were the 2020 Lightning (Steven Stamkos, Zach Bogosian & Luke Schenn in 2008).

* Evan Rodrigues skated several games alongside Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Kyle Okposo and Dmitry Kulikov in Buffalo and won a Cup with his longtime teammates in Florida. Okposo served as captain of the Sabres for each of the last two seasons before being acquired by the Panthers. Rodrigues led the Panthers with 4-3—7 in the Final and joined Ville Leino (9 in 2010), Jonathan Marchessault (8 in 2023) and Andy McDonald (7 in 2007) as the fourth undrafted player in the last 30 years to record seven or more points in a single Stanley Cup Final.

* The Panthers have three retired numbers: Roberto Luongo’s No. 1, along with No. 37 in honor of H. Wayne Huizenga, their owner from 1993 to 2001, and No. 93 for William A. Torrey, their President/Governor/Alternate Governor from 1993 to 2018. Luongo, who played two stints with the Panthers (2000-06 and 2014-19), now serves as the Special Advisor to the General Manager and was on the ice to lift the Stanley Cup for the first time.

After taking a 2-0 series lead on home ice, the Panthers’ plane was delayed leaving Florida due to weather. After landing in Edmonton less than 24 hours before Game 3, the Panthers claimed victory to pull ahead 3-0, leading Matthew Tkachuk to present the game puck to Mike Huff, Vice President of Player Engagement, for the role he played in getting them safely to Alberta. The distance between the home arena for the Panthers and Oilers was the farthest between Stanley Cup Final opponents in NHL history (2,541 miles).

COURTESY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS & NHLmedia.com