THE CATS’ CUP

The journey from NHL punchline to Stanley Cup champion was a long and arduous one for the Panthers. But a year after falling in the final, Aaron Ekblad and the dogged Cats would not be denied hockey’s grandest prize

BY RYAN KENNEDY

THE SYMBOLISM seems pretty obvious, but even as the Florida Panthers gloriously flitted around the ice of Amerant Bank Arena in the wake of the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, they weren’t giving up the secret of one of their motivators. You see, on the back of the tactical performance-wear shirts that the players wore under their jerseys, there was a rather pronounced image of the goalie mask worn by the iconic horror-flick villain Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th movies. For a team that had fallen short of the championship last year, losing in the Cup final to Vegas in five punishing games that broke several bodies, the Panthers were clearly looking to make sure they were on the right side of the celebration this time. And while the public-facing…

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The Hockey News (Digital) - 1 Issue, Champions Issue 2024

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