
The Stanley Cup is already damaged as Panthers go full throttle with boozy celebration
The Panthers might be having a little too much fun with the Stanley Cup.
The bowl of the trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented – a result of the team's rambunctious celebrations after winning the title with a 5-1 triumph over the Oilers in Game 6 Tuesday.
As is tradition for teams that win the Cup, the Panthers celebrated with the silver trophy Tuesday night and kept the party going from there, spending Wednesday morning at Fort Lauderdale beach bar Elbo Room.
3 The Panthers cracked the bowl of the Stanley Cup while celebrating their Game 6 win over the Oilers.
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Somewhere along the way, the team managed to damage the 32.5-inch, 34.5-pound trophy.
Not to worry, though, since the keepers of the Cup are taking the necessary steps to repair the trophy before the Panthers' parade on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame told ESPN.
This isn't the first time the Cup has gotten banged up.
3 The Panthers celebrate with the Stanley Cup at Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday.
AP
The base of the trophy was damaged as recently as 2022, when then-Avalanche forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel lost his balance while skating into Colorado's team photo with the Cup.
Mark Messier damaged the trophy when he took it on a trip to the club after winning with the Oilers in 1987, requiring repair at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
3 Panthers left-winger AJ Greeg raises the Stanley Cup after Florida defeated the Oilers 5-1 in Game 6.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
And the Rangers had an incident of their own in 1994, when the team brought the trophy to Belmont Park, only for that year's winner of the Kentucky Derby to damage the Cup while attempting to eat oats out of it.
There have been plenty of other trophies damaged in celebration outside of hockey, of course,
Alabama football shattered the Coaches' Trophy, worth $30,000, after winning the BCS national title in 2012, and Wisconsin football broke the Duke's Mayo Bowl trophy, which included a football-shaped piece of crystal, after quarterback Graham Mertz dropped it in the locker room in 2020.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
‘I don't see us slowing down': Even after two Stanley Cups, Panthers strive for more
As the official on-ice celebration began on Tuesday night shortly after the Florida Panthers dismantled the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made an observation. 'It feels like we just did this,' Bettman said. Why yes, yes they did. The Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions, clinching the title both times on home ice at Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena against the Oilers. Florida dominated from start to finish in the playoffs, averaging the most goals per game (4.09) while allowing the fewest (2.43). Their depth was on full display, with 19 skaters scoring at least one goal and 11 having at least 12 points. 'Just a well-oiled machine,' defenseman Nate Schmidt said. How things have changed. It wasn't too long ago when the Panthers could have been in dire straits. Florida had gone 24 consecutive years without winning a playoff series. Attendance was rough even during the relatively good times. But the past three years, with two championships and another Cup Final appearance preceding it, have shown what hockey in South Florida can look like when it's successful — and boy has it been successful. 'These last three years, it feels like one gig, one big year all together, like non stop,' Panthers president and CEO Matt Caldwell said. 'It really feels like one big dream.' The Panthers are the seventh team in the expansion era (since the 1967-68 season) to win consecutive Stanley Cups. They join the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-21), Pittsburgh Penguins (1991-92 and 2016-17), Detroit Red Wings (1997-98), Oilers (1984-85 and 1987-88), New York Islanders (four straight from 1980-83), Montreal Canadiens (1968-69 and four straight from 1976-79) and Philadelphia Flyers (1974-75). 'That's the standard of excellence,' Panthers owner Vincent Viola said. 'There's no other course but seeking and winning the champions. Everybody knows that. They're all committed to it.' Added defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who has been with the Panthers since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2014 draft: 'It's an elite program. It's the best organization in the league. We do everything the best, and we're still on an upward trajectory after winning two Stanley Cups in a row and making three Stanley Cup Finals in a row. It's incredible. I'm so proud of that, because I've been here for it..' And they're showing no signs of stopping. Most of their core is locked up long term, with the team doing what it can to ensure the few set for free agency in Ekblad, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand stay on the roster. Coach Paul Maurice and president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito aren't going anywhere anytime soon, either, after signing contract extensions of their own. It has the Panthers set up for long-term success the franchise had only dreamt about. 'I don't see us slowing down,' said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, the team's longest-tenured player. Added star winger Matthew Tkachuk: 'You just want to keep this thing going. ... Winning, it's addictive.' And goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky: 'The potential here is huge in this locker room.' It wasn't always that way. Robb Tallas, Florida's goaltending coach, knows perhaps better than anyone what the Panthers have been through prior to this run. He's the longest-tenured member of the franchise, having been with the Panthers since the 2009-2010 season. Florida had eight head coaches and four general managers with just three playoff appearances in Tallas' first 11 seasons. 'When you go through some hard seasons and some seasons where you don't make the playoffs, you learn from it,' Tallas said. 'You kind of have to go through that a little bit.' And then Zito was hired ahead of the 2020-21 season. And then Maurice was hired two years later. 'They changed the entire dynamic of the feeling of coming to the rink every day,' Tallas said. It started with the roster building. Tkachuk was the blockbuster deal that set things off. Then there was trading for players like Bennett and Sam Reinhart — who had talent but hadn't thrived at their previous stops before going on to have career years with Florida. Add in a player like Gustav Forsling, who the team picked up off waivers and saw evolve into one of the league's top defensemen, an under-the-radar signing like Carter Verhaeghe who has become an offensive juggernaut in five years with Florida, big swings at the trade deadline (Vladimir Tarasenko in 2024, Marchand and Seth Jones in 2025), savvy signings to round out the roster and bring in fresh blood each year, and keeping the core intact with long-term extensions, and Florida has continuously found ways to not only maintain its top-end talent but elevate itself year over year. 'For the most part, every guy who's come here has had the best season of their careers,' Zito said. 'From that perspective, it's gratifying to think that we can create an environment where the guys can do that, but it's the team. It's that room. It truly is.' It continued with the camaraderie forged. Players brush the personal accolades aside. As cliche as it sounds, they prioritize the team's success and bonding off-ice over anything else. Everyone is treated equally. Jesper Boqvist and Uvis Balinksis and Vitek Vanecek are treated the same as Barkov, Tkachuk, Ekblad and Bobrovsky. 'That's where it starts,' Reinhart said. 'The more happy you are off the ice, the better it'll translate on the ice for sure.' That's why team dinners on the road have full attendance, with reservations for 35 or 40 happening on a nightly basis. That's why Maurice made sure his fourth line of A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich — the trio the team points to for turning things around in its second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs — was on the ice for the final shift of the Cup Final to begin the celebration. That's why the team's leaders made sure that those who hadn't won the Cup before were the first to do their celebratory lap after Game 6. 'The character of the room,' Zito said. 'I think it all goes back to the fact that you can't tell who the new guys are, so you have this accepting culture in the room. We want everybody to enjoy it, we want everybody to be a part of it.' What exactly is that culture? Allow Greer, who joined the team this year, to explain: 'It's organizational commitment to being great and never staying comfortable,' Greer said. 'It's the love for one another and the love for the people around you. Everyone levels their game up here, every one of us. There's a sentiment of greatness, of just wanting to be as good as you were yesterday. They won the Cup, and they're just as hungry this year to win another one. Guys are going just as hard in the gym. There's no complacency here. ... It's something that was definitely built here and something that is respected because culture can be brought in but it can quickly go out the door, too. You see it all the time. It's the way that these leaders respect that culture and keep that culture.' The understanding of what it takes, of the expectation that is demanded, is brought up at the start. Living up to that standard is a requirement, not an ask. 'There is a way that we do things here, and it's not easy,' Bennett said. 'We don't play an easy style of hockey. It demands a lot of you. But I think the main thing is every single guy has bought into it. Once the new guys come in, they instantly bought into what we do here. The commitment to being great and to winning, every single guy just really bought into that.' The results have followed. 'It's tough, but you look to all the bad days, long trips, all the stuff, this just makes it all worth it,' Tkachuk said. 'Lifting that Cup, it's just insane. I don't know what to tell you guys. It's just the most special thing. Coming down here to Florida changed my life forever. Three finals, two championships, this is more than why you play the game. This is what makes it all worth it and it's so special.' They've gone back-to-back. A three-peat and more, which hasn't been done since the 80s, isn't out of the question. And the Panthers will work as if they're still going for their first title. 'When I got here, you would have never known they won last year,' Jones said. 'They're so hungry. And I guarantee you when training camp comes, we're talking about winning again.' Hockey in South Florida is indeed alive and well. 'You guys have proven that hockey works in the sunshine,' Bettman said. 'Let's do it again.'


Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Champion Florida Panthers players are on tour. See where they're heading next
After hitting up various hot spots across South Florida, the champion Florida Panthers are keeping the celebrations going — this time with a stop at Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. On Saturday, starting at 1 p.m., Brad Marchand, Seth Jones, Tomas Nosek, and Jesper Boqvist will be on hand for a paid meet‑and‑greet, where fans can grab autographs and snap photos with the stars at the Fort Lauderdale area Polynesian Restaurant. The sold-out event costs $40 to $149. MORE: What to know about Panthers parade traffic, parking, weather, TV coverage But if you're looking to see the Stanley Cup trophy, you're out of luck. While it has made appearances at the Elbo Room and was paraded around the arena after the win against the Edmonton Oilers, the cracked Stanley Cup is apparently taking a break until Sunday's parade. Players and the Cup have been seen all around South Florida, including at the Elbo Room, the morning after the championship win. The victory tour headed down to Miami as players were seen partying with the Cup at club E11even. And in a more family-friendly setting, Marchand served fans Dairy Queen ice cream on Friday in Sunrise. Festivities are expected to come to an all-time high on Sunday, as a parade along A1A from Riomar Street to just north of Fort Lauderdale Beach Park at Southeast Fifth Street is planned, followed by a rally.

Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Panthers exit interviews: Tkachuk talks possible surgery, Ekblad talks contract
The Florida Panthers held their exit interviews with the media on Saturday, one day before the team's parade to celebrate their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Here are some of the notables from the interview sessions. Surgery a possibility for Matthew Tkachuk Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk played through the entire postseason with torn adductor muscle, which had torn all the way off the bone, in addition to a sports hernia that he had sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in mid-February. 'He was a mess,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. Yet despite missing the final 25 games of the season and being uncertain for the start of the playoffs, Tkachuk played in every game of the postseason and finished averaging a point per game — 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 23 games — while fighting through the injury. Tkachuk said he might have to get surgery this summer but nothing is definitive just yet. 'I don't know yet,' Tkachuk said. 'I've gotta go through some steps here and then see if I need surgery or not. It's it's gonna take a few weeks to determine if I need it. Probably 50-50 right now. I don't know if it'll be a normal summer or not. I hope so. I'm just gonna jump right into surgery without talking to everybody and going through everything. I mean, I have a few weeks here where I can figure it out.' Regardless, it will not be a 'normal summer' for Tkachuk for personal reasons — he's getting married. Where things stand with Aaron Ekblad's contract Top-pair defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who has been with the Panthers his entire career since being selected No. 1 overall in 2014, is due to become a free agent on July 1 unless he signs an extension before that. Ekblad said 'conversations have been had,' but a deal hasn't materialized just yet. 'They'll be working on it,' Ekblad said. 'Things like to seem to come down to the last minute here.' Ekblad has mentioned time and again how much he wants to stay with the Panthers. He's a lifer, with 732 career regular-season games played and 83 playoff games. 'It's part of who I am at this point,' Ekblad said. 'I've spent 11 years here. That's more than I've spent in any home or city in my life. It's home, and I expect it to be home.'