The Florida Panthers captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 on Monday evening.
The Oilers had willed their way back into the Stanley Cup Final after winning three consecutive games. However, the Panthers clinched the Stanley Cup thanks to a terrific performance from their defense and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
As is normally the case when a professional sports team wins a championship, there are several hours and days of celebrating that triumph. The Panthers certainly were no different as they paraded the Stanley Cup all around South Florida this week.
On Tuesday, several of the Panthers players took Lord Stanley’s Cup to the Elbo Room Beach Bar in Fort Lauderdale. Once they arrived on the scene, the players paraded the Stanley Cup around the bar.
“I come here a lot,” Matthew Tkachuk told the Sun-Sentinel. “I have not necessarily gone to bed yet, but it’s all good. I’m a little tired, but I got my second wind, so I’m ready to go.”
Tkachuk plans to celebrate the Panthers’ championship all summer long.
The Panthers definitely had a lot of fun while celebrating with the fans as a trio of Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Anthony Stolarz sang “We Are The Champions.” The players even shared some beer out of the Stanley Cup with a patron as they basically dumped it on the fan.
Eventually, the Panthers took Lord Stanley’s Cup down to the beach nearby. Upon their arrival in the sand, Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk decided that the Stanley Cup needed to get wet. Tkachuk jumped into the Atlantic Ocean with the Stanley Cup in hand.
Finally, former Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, who now serves as a special advisor to general manager Bill Zito, had his turn to celebrate with the Stanley Cup since he never had that opportunity as a player. Luongo went to a local Italian restaurant with his family and ate a bowl of pasta in the Stanley Cup itself.
The Panthers are clearly going to have quite the summer celebrating their remarkable achievement. While it’s only been a few days, they’ve set the bar quite high.
