Panthers celebrate Stanley Cup win with banner ceremony, eye historic three-peat as NHL kings

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — There are a couple of minor dings these days in the Stanley Cup, including one right near the spot where the names of the 2024-25 Florida Panthers are etched in commemoration of their latest title.

Such things happen during championship celebrations. No worries, they’ll be fixed soon.

And the Panthers are hoping for the chance to put a few more dings in the trophy next year.

A new season for the now back-to-back Stanley Cup champions started Tuesday, with the Panthers all gazing toward the top of Amerant Bank Arena to watch another championship banner hoisted to the rafters. It’s basically the same as last year’s — white background, red lettering — with the only change being the year, 2025 instead of 2024.

“This is a new year and it’s a new opportunity for us,” Panthers forward Brad Marchand said. “And when it starts, it’s time to turn the page and start working toward a chance to hopefully do it again.”

The banner swayed over the end of the ice the Panthers defended twice Tuesday in their 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. By the next home game Thursday, it’ll take its more-permanent place over the team bench alongside the team’s other banners for division and conference titles.

“You kind of look back at what you achieved but at the same time you’re proud of the achievement,” Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. “But it gives you more hunger to do it again.”

Fans lined up for one more picture with the Cup outside the doors of the arena Tuesday afternoon, many of them arriving long before the unusual 5 p.m. weekday start time — one that was used to accommodate being part of a nationally televised triple-header. Once they came inside, the new scoreboard over 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 after all the warm-ups were complete, just as they did in June 2024 and June 2025 — the Panthers finished off the Cup championship runs by beating the Edmonton Oilers on home ice in each of the last two title matchups — the fans roared when the trophy was brought onto the rink. Assistant captain Aaron Ekblad did the honors this year, carrying the trophy onto the ice, then hoisting it before placing it onto a stand next to the spot where the banner was being unfurled and raised.

“Incredible, coming out in front of our fans and being able to hoist it one more time,” Ekblad said.

Once the banner was raised, the players raised their sticks in a salute to the fans.

“We want three! We want three! We want three!” the fans chanted back.

Said Marchand: “It’s great to see their expectations are there. We obviously have the same ones, but this is going to be harder than the last two. … It’s a long road ahead.”

Opening night capped a two-day celebration for the champs; the Panthers’ players and coaches got their championship rings in a private ceremony Monday night.

“Last night was a little bit of a nice reminder for them what the payoff for all that hard work is,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “And it kind of lifts everybody’s spirits and gets them excited about tonight.”

It won’t be an easy road for the Panthers this season. Captain Aleksander Barkov is going to miss several months and 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 recovering from offseason surgery. Barkov and Tkachuk, dressed in street clothes, watched the hoisting from the Florida bench.

The Panthers know how rare this opportunity is. They could be the first back-to-back-to-back NHL champion since the New York Islanders won four consecutive Cups from 1980 through 1983.

“The great thing about sports is you don’t know, and there’s a reason we play the games, and it’s about the stories that can be generated,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “And this is going to be an interesting story. Two of the biggest stars on the team are injured. How well they come back, how resilient the team is without them, that’s going to be a great story to see unfold. This is an organization, a team, that’s been well put together. (General manager) Bill Zito deserves an enormous amount of credit. My guess is this team is going to give it all to make it happen again if they can.”

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl