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Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Sam Bennett says he's staying in Florida with hopes Panthers turn into a dynasty
SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett could have gone to free agency and picked his landing spot, plus probably could have signed for much more money than the Florida Panthers were able to offer. Instead, he chose winning. Bennett, the reigning Conn Smythe Award winner as playoff MVP of Florida's most recent run to the Stanley Cup, spoke out Saturday about his decision to sign an eight-year, $64 million deal with the Panthers. His reasoning was actually quite simple.
Washington Post
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
For back-to-back champ Panthers, the celebrations will continue before an important offseason begins
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup championship festivities have included an all-night celebration at a popular beach bar; crowd surfing, pole climbing and impromptu karaoke at a Miami nightclub; a Brad Marchand appearance at Dairy Queen ; a few team dinners and a boat ride. That's just so far. They insist they've got more in them.
Associated Press
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
For back-to-back champ Panthers, the celebrations will continue before an important offseason begins
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup championship festivities have included an all-night celebration at a popular beach bar; crowd surfing, pole climbing and impromptu karaoke at a Miami nightclub; a Brad Marchand appearance at Dairy Queen; a few team dinners and a boat ride. That's just so far. They insist they've got more in them. 'We're not toning it down,' defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. 'We just won two Stanley Cups in a row. We deserve to have a good time.' The Panthers also partied hard after winning the franchise's first title a year ago. But some players have described those days as a surreal whirlwind of first-time experiences. This time around, the celebrations are different, as the reality of what they accomplished set in. 'There's a different feeling to it,' coach Paul Maurice said during the team's exit interviews on Saturday. 'Last year was more of a dream. ... That's the right word. It was a dream come true. It was euphoric. This year, it was an achievement. It was hard. It was hard all year. It was hard at camp. There were just so many places that if we had broken at that point or failed we would've all understood — 'OK, we did our best. We just couldn't get it done.' We never let that happen.' The coaches' celebrations, Maurice noted, have been much more subdued compared to last year: They had their first post-championship dinner as a staff Friday night. They joined some players on a boat ride. 'I haven't had a hangover yet,' Maurice said, 'so way ahead of where I was last year.' Maurice heard about his players' celebrations from his wife, who has shown him a few viral social media posts here and there. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said they're giving themselves 'permission' to celebrate more freely this year because they have already been through the experience. 'And don't get me wrong, it's still amazing,' he added, 'but now everyone knows how to sit back a little and enjoy it, because last year was so hectic. Like it happened to you for the first time ever, and you had been dreaming about it for so long.' The Panthers in fact celebrated so hard that the Stanley Cup itself got a little banged up. The silver chalice that has endured bumps and bruises throughout its 131-year existence was cracked at the bottom of the bowl the night of Florida's clinching Game 6 win over Edmonton, though Barkov noted the team hasn't received any harsh reprimands from the keepers of the Cup or the Hockey Hall of Fame. 'I think they've seen worse,' he quipped. 'I think every year they have to fix some part of it. But yeah, don't be stupid. Don't take it to the ocean, stuff like that. We should know the rules by now.' The Panthers' championship parade will be on Fort Lauderdale Beach on Sunday — one of their last opportunities to celebrate together before the players disperse for the summer and general manager Bill Zito begins an important offseason. Free agency begins July 1, and while a good chunk of Florida's core — including Barkov and stars Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart — are already under long-term contracts, a few key contributors are set for free agency in Marchand, Ekblad and playoff MVP Sam Bennett. All three players have expressed their desire to stay in Florida. Bennett, who led all players with 15 postseason goals, said at the Miami nightclub E11even that he's not leaving. Marchand has publicly petitioned Zito to give him a contract. Ekblad, who was drafted by the Panthers in 2014, said Saturday that his representation has had conversations with the Panthers on a potential deal, but 'nothing material yet.' 'I've spent 11 years here,' Ekblad said. 'It's home, and I expect it to be home.' Tkachuk, who will play in his fourth season with the Panthers next year, said he believes Florida's window to compete for titles remains wide open, and he hopes to compete with as many pieces from this year's run as possible. 'You're going to have a different roster each and every year,' he said, 'but hopefully the core of guys, we can continue building. With that being said, we've got some unbelievable players that are up for contracts that I hope they get every single cent they can because that's what you want for your best friends. It's time to cash in for some of those boys. Hopefully it's here.' ___ AP NHL:
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Sam Bennett wins Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP
SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL's playoff MVP on Tuesday night after helping lead the Florida Panthers to a second straight Stanley Cup championship. Bennett, 28, led the NHL with a franchise record 15 playoff goals, including an NHL record 13 on the road. And that's where he truly separated himself from all others. The Panthers didn't have home-ice advantage in any of their four playoff rounds, yet tied an NHL record with 10 wins in 13 games with Bennett leading the charge. Had Bennett not played so well outside of South Florida, this could have ended as quite a different story for the Panthers, who finished the playoffs 6-4 at home. Advertisement Bennett entered Tuesday night's game with six goals and eight points during a six-game point streak and finished with five goals and an assist in six games during the Stanley Cup Final. In the playoffs, Bennett also recorded a franchise-record four-game goal streak and a franchise-record five-game road goal streak. His 107 hits in the postseason were the most amongst Panthers skaters and ranked second in the NHL (Edmonton's Zach Hyman had 111). In 77 career playoff games with Florida, Bennett has scored 29 goals and 59 points. His 338 hits rank first all-time among Panthers skaters, while his 29 goals rank second and 59 points rank fourth. Bennett edged out longtime nemesis Brad Marchand, who had a remarkable playoff run with 10 goals, 20 points and a plus-18 in 23 games, for the award. All of this came at a good time for Bennett, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1 if he doesn't come to terms with the Panthers first. There's little doubt he could command more on the open market than the Panthers are willing to give him. Asked Tuesday morning how he has been able to concentrate on the task at hand knowing he could potentially be signing elsewhere, Bennett said, 'It's actually been pretty easy. I mean, competing for a Stanley Cup has always been my goal and my passion and what I've wanted to do. So, that's just my focus. That's all I want and it's been quite easy to just not even think about what's to come. I mean, yeah, it's really just a singular focus and that's how I've tried to handle it.' Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito told The Athletic recently, 'He doesn't get enough credit. I think people from the outside see this warrior, but this is a solid, solid team guy, who does anything for a team. Who's considerate. Who's humble. Very bright. He's a gamer, but it's not just on the ice in the playoffs when it shows up. It's all the things he does in the locker room. It's a guy who's not doing well, and suddenly Benny's there going, 'Hey buddy, come on. We've got you.' 'Players trust him because they know his motives are virtuous and he wants to win.'
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Sam Reinhart scores four goals as Panthers beat Oilers for back-to-back Stanley Cups: Takeaways
SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers learned their lesson from last year. After needing four cracks to eliminate the Edmonton Oilers last season, the Panthers' reign continued Tuesday night when they thoroughly dominated Game 6 en route to a 5-1 victory to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. It was another clinic by the Panthers, who easily beat Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers in three of their four wins in the series. Advertisement The Panthers became the seventh franchise in NHL history to win each of their first two Stanley Cups on home ice. The Oilers became the first team to lose back-to-back in the Stanley Cup Final since the 1977 and 1978 Boston Bruins under Don Cherry. Sam Reinhart, who buried the winning goal last June, tied a Stanley Cup Final record with four goals (two empty-netters), including the first playoff hat trick in Panthers history. Aleksander Barkov, the first European to captain multiple Stanley Cup champions, had two assists and Carter Verhaeghe assisted on each of Reinhart's last three goals. SAM REINHART COMPLETES THE HAT TRICK WITH AN EMPTY-NETTER 🎩🎩🎩 — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 18, 2025 Matthew Tkachuk, who tied for the team lead with 23 points, ended up scoring the Cup-clinching goal in the first period. Had Vasily Podkolzin not ruined Sergei Bobrovsky's shutout in the final minutes, Reinhart would have become the first player in NHL history to score Cup-clinching goals against the same opponent. The Panthers are the second team in NHL history to have three players score five-plus goals in the same Stanley Cup Final (Reinhart, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett). The only other occasion was by Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay with the 1955 Detroit Red Wings. Bobrovsky made 28 saves for his 32nd playoff win in the past two years. The reality is even though the Oilers won two games in overtime on goals by Draisaitl, this series wasn't close. The Panthers led for 255 minutes, 49 seconds in the series — the longest time leading by any team in Stanley Cup Final history. Here are some takeaways from Tuesday night: If there ever was a team that needed to score first, it was the Oilers. They led for just under 34 minutes in the series and the Panthers entered with an all-time record of 10-0 when scoring first in a potential elimination game (6-0 at home). Advertisement Instead, despite a strong start and a near early goal by Evander Kane, Reinhart — the man who scored the Cup-clinching goal for Florida a year ago — scored on an incredible individual effort after an Oilers turnover at the blue line. Mattias Ekholm, coming off a horrible Game 5, threw a saucer pass into Evan Bouchard's shins as he was exiting the zone along the right wing boards. Bouchard then gained possession, but he was pressured by Reinhart and coughed up the puck. Reinhart then cut to the inside to school Ekholm and scored while being tripped to the ice by Bouchard for a 1-0 lead just 4:36 into the game. It was Reinhart's eighth goal of the playoffs. SAM REINHART STRIKES FIRST FOR FLORIDA IN GAME 6 🚨 #StanleyCup 🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ — NHL (@NHL) June 18, 2025 Tkachuk scored in the final minute of the period. The final tally? The Oilers were outscored 13-4 in the first period in the series and 9-0 in the past four first periods. The two Oilers superstars are known for excelling when the spotlight is the brightest. McDavid entered Game 6 having appeared in 14 elimination contests in his career and had eight goals and 23 points on his resume. Draisaitl wasn't far off with three goals and 19 points. Tuesday wasn't one of those banner nights. McDavid was held pointless and Draisaitl only managed a secondary assist on Podkolzin's goal. Both generated very little offensively and were minus-4, albeit with two goals against coming in an empty-net situations. McDavid's best opportunity to get on the scoreboard was three minutes into the second period when he set up Corey Perry on a two-on-one. Perry received the pass in tight and slid his shot wide. Advertisement Draisaitl, meanwhile, didn't have a shot attempt in the game. That's a tough way for the Rocket Richard Trophy winner, who also finished second in goals in the playoffs with 11, to go out. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch loaded up his top line with McDavid and Draisaitl almost immediately after Reinhart opened the scoring in the first period, leaving a banged-up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to center the second trio. Without Zach Hyman, who missed the series with a dislocated wrist, Knoblauch rotated through a cast of wingers to fill out that first grouping. Perry was mostly used, although Podkolzin, Jeff Skinner and Evander Kane all got looks there. Overall, it was an impressive postseason for McDavid and Draisaitl. They co-led the scoring race with 33 points apiece. Draisaitl had eight points in the final, whereas McDavid had seven. Nothing much in Game 6, though, and that's going to stick with them all summer. You want to identify a couple unsung heroes from this Cup run? Start with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen. The Panthers' third-liners, dubbed the 'Finnish Phenoms' by Brad Marchand, finished this playoffs with 37 points combined. They were responsible for all of the legwork on Tkachuk's dagger of a goal with 47 seconds left in the first period. Lundell was back at his own blue line in defensive posture when he stole the puck from Bouchard, which got Luostarinen started up ice. He gained the offensive zone and found Tkachuk slicing through the middle to make it 2-0 Panthers. MATTHEW TKACHUK GIVES THE CATS A 2-0 LEAD IN THE FINAL MINUTE OF THE FIRST! 👀 #StanleyCup 🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ — NHL (@NHL) June 18, 2025 Luostarinen had eight points during last year's playoffs and finished with 19 this time around, all of them recorded at even strength. Lundell registered 18 points after having 17 a year ago. More importantly, they were only on the ice for eight and seven goals against respectively at five-on-five during the entire playoffs. Advertisement Another year, another loss in the Stanley Cup Final for Perry. Make it five in the last six seasons. Perry's run of championship-round futility began in 2020 with the Dallas Stars. He then suffered losses in 2021 (Montreal Canadiens) and 2022 (Tampa Bay Lightning) before dropping back-to-back Final series with the Oilers. At least he has his 2007 title with the Anaheim Ducks. Perry was one of the Oilers' better players on this run and often appeared in the top six with McDavid and/or Draisaitl – as he did with both of them on Tuesday. He recorded 10 goals and 14 points in 22 games, building off an impressive campaign that saw him record 19 goals and 30 points in 81 contests. The 40-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent and wants to continue his NHL career. The Oilers should consider bringing him back at the right price given how well he played this season. He carried a $1.15 million cap hit and made another $250,000 in performance bonuses. Despite the loss, it was a milestone night for Perry. He appeared in his 237th postseason game to move ahead of former Oiler Mark Messier and into fourth place on the all-time NHL list. Ahead of him are only Chris Chelios (266 games), Nicklas Lidstrom (263 games) and Patrick Roy (247 games).
