Latest news with #FortLauderdale
CBS News
11 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Fort Lauderdale businesses booming ahead of Panthers Championship Parade
Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to flood Fort Lauderdale Beach this Sunday to celebrate the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup win, according to city officials and the surge of visitors is bringing a major boost to businesses along A1A. While summer is typically the slower season for tourism and hospitality, local hotels and restaurants say they're booked solid and bracing for one of the busiest weekends of the year. Parade Brings Business Surge Along A1A "Our ordering already has changed three times in the past 24 hours. Our vendors are calling, asking, 'Are you sure?' Hey, jack up the order, double it, triple it," said Dante Reveyoso, general manager of Riviera Restaurant in the Hotel Maren, located at the end of the parade route. Reveyoso said the hotel is fully booked and the restaurant is already at reservation capacity as they prepare for a flood of paradegoers. At the start of the parade route, The Atlantic Hotel & Spa is also at full occupancy. Managers say guests began extending their stays right after the Panthers clinched the championship Tuesday night. "Just to have a championship again and a second championship, you can imagine the pride that we all take in being a part of the process," said Renee McKinney-Callender, director of human resources at The Atlantic Hotel & Spa. Bars, restaurants preparing for full house Bo's Beach, which offers a front-row view of the main stage, is opening early at 8 a.m. on Sunday. The venue will be fully staffed and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. "You can see them getting off the van, the bus, the cars, the trailers — everything just coming through — and you can just see the Cup right there. It's amazing," said Lindsay Ravenell, director of events at Bo's Beach. With fans already thinking ahead, Ravenell said excitement for a repeat championship is already in the air. "Let's do another one. Let's do a triple, it's coming. We can hold it down," she said.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hockey rides into offseason with full-on buzz, a threepeat bid and Olympic-size showdowns ahead
Florida Panthers fans celebrate a goal by center Sam Reinhart during the second period of Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Members of the Florida Panthers hockey team celebrate with fans outside the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk pours beer into the Stanley Cup at the Elbo Room at the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk, front. and defenseman Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk, front. and defenseman Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Florida Panthers fans celebrate a goal by center Sam Reinhart during the second period of Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Members of the Florida Panthers hockey team celebrate with fans outside the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk pours beer into the Stanley Cup at the Elbo Room at the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk, front. and defenseman Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) The 4 Nations Face-Off in February was meant to provide a taste of international competition a year before the Winter Olympics because it had been nearly a decade since the NHL's top players were able to represent their countries in the same tournament. Instead, the pace and quality of games captivated sellout crowds, with millions tuning in to watch. In the immediate aftermath of his team beating the U.S. i n the final in overtime, Canada general manager Doug Armstrong met up with American counterpart Bill Guerin in the hallway, shook hands and had a message that was bigger than one game. Advertisement 'He said it best: Hockey was the big winner,' Guerin recalled. 'Obviously Canada won that championship, but the sport of hockey, the game, was the big winner.' Hockey is seeing a surge in popularity and buzz, fed by the 4 Nations tournament, Alex Ovechkin's stirring run to the NHL career goals record and the Florida Panthers repeating as Stanley Cup champions to set up a threepeat bid next season. Up next are the draft and free agency, with Mitch Marner and playoff MVP Sam Bennett among the top players available, and anticipation is building for the NHL's return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. 'For all of us, I think we're just really proud of being a part of this bigger picture and growing the game and getting it more on the forefront,' Guerin said. 'The game's never been in a better spot.' 4 Nations success Advertisement The NHL and NHLPA wanted to stage a World Cup but plans were pushed back until this year with a pared-down version involving the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland. Commissioner Gary Bettman referred to it as an appetizer, and no one knew exactly what to expect. 'We all went in hoping it was going to be a great event,' Armstrong said, 'and it ended up being better than anyone could have expected.' Canada's star-studded power play of Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sam Reinhart connecting on a tic-tac-toe passing goal less than a minute into the opening game against Sweden served notice that the play would be at the highest level. The U.S. and Canada had three fights in the first nine seconds, and geopolitical cross-border tensions with crowds booing anthems and more put the 4 Nations in an unexpected spotlight. Fans were riveted. Advertisement The final became one of the hottest tickets in Boston sports history, and more than 9 million watched in the U.S. and nearly 11 million in Canada. Not bad for a tournament that never happened before and may never happen again. The GR8 chase Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals took center stage as he chased down Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 goals, a feat that had long seemed unapproachable. Despite missing more than a month earlier in the season because of a broken left leg, he was in striking distance by late March. Still scoring at an absurd pace at 39 years old, Ovechkin went on a tear and tied the mark at home on a Friday night that became a celebration of his career. Two days later, he got No. 895 in New York against the Islanders, with Gretzky, Bettman, his mother, wife, children and more there to congratulate him. Advertisement '(It is) the biggest accomplishment that the world of hockey has seen a very long time,' longtime teammate T.J. Oshie said. 'This record is going to be here for a while.' Ovechkin, now at 897 goals, is set to play his 21st NHL season and add to his total. Panthers repeat Florida had the 11th-most points out of the 16 teams that reached the playoffs and started each round on the road. Didn't matter. The Panthers got through Tampa Bay in five games, Toronto in seven and Carolina in six to reach the final for a third consecutive year. They then beat McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers again, this time in six to go back to back. Advertisement 'Everybody wrote us off from the start of the playoffs,' veteran winger Brad Marchand said after becoming a two-time champion. 'They had everybody beating us in every round. We just had that fire. We knew we had something special.' Matthew Tkachuk, whose arrival in the summer of 2022 along with coach Paul Maurice coincided with Florida becoming an NHL powerhouse, went as far as to use the 'D' word. 'We've got to be dynasty now,' Tkachuk said. "Three years in a row finals, two championships. This is a special group.' Retired goaltender Cory Schneider called the Panthers 'one of the best teams I think I've seen in my lifetime.' Advertisement 'They're the epitome of depth, skill, structure,' said Schneider, who worked the final as an NHL Network analyst. 'A lot of teams have good players. but it takes the attention to detail and the sacrifice to do it all the time. Teams want to play easy hockey sometimes and get their chances, but Florida does that while also committing to playing a complete brand of team hockey.' BetMGM Sportsbook lists the Oilers as a slight favorite to win next season's championship over the Panthers. The NHL hasn't had a three-peat since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980-83. Draft and free agency The league is having its first in-person, de-centralized draft in Los Angeles on June 27-28. The New York Islanders after winning the draft lottery have the first pick, and new general manager Mathieu Darche could pick defenseman Matthew Schaefer, an inspirational story off the ice. Advertisement With the salary cap getting the first of several big jumps thanks to record attendance and revenue (increases to $95.5 million this summer), player movement could be fast and furious. Free agency opens July 1, and teams in markets from New York and Toronto to Los Angeles, Anaheim and Utah have cap space to use. Milan-Cortina Olympics The 12 countries taking part — Russia is banned — have already unveiled the first six players on their Olympic rosters. The International Ice Hockey Federation has released the schedule of games, with the men's tournament starting Feb. 11, 'When you're growing up when you're watching as a kid, it's Stanley Cup finals and it's Team Canada,' said Reinhart, who scored four goals in Florida's Cup-clinching game the day after getting named to Canada's roster. "Those are the two things that you dream about playing for. To have that opportunity is pretty exciting.' Advertisement The NHL went to five consecutive Games from 1998-2014, then skipped 2018 and pulled out in 2022, leaving teams those years without any active league players. Milan-Cortina will be the first Olympics for players like McDavid, MacKinnon, Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. 'Getting another opportunity to bring generations that have a Sidney Crosby and a Connor McDavid together to play internationally, it's just great for the fans and great for hockey,' Armstrong said. 'Players are so excited to be part of this. ... It's neck and neck with the Stanley Cup right now of wanting to win that event.' Tkachuk was named to the U.S. team along with brother Brady. With the two becoming household names for new fans after the fight-filled 4 Nations, it feels a little like hockey is in its Tkachuk era. Italy is the next stop on their journey. '4 Nations was good, and hopefully Olympics will be great, as well,' said Matthew after becoming a two-time Cup champion. 'I feel I've been the luckiest guy in hockey.' ___ AP NHL:
National Post
16 hours ago
- Sport
- National Post
Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup damage just the latest mishap in the trophy's storied history
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Florida Panthers Matthew Tkachuk, front. and Gustav Forsling pour beer from the Stanley Cup onto fans at the Elbo Room, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the morning after defeating Edmonton in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Cup was damaged the night before. Photo by Joe Cavaretta / AP Some hockey fans are understandably bent out of shape over the Florida Panthers damaging the Stanley Cup this week, but the coveted trophy has been through worse. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors It's been sunk to the bottom of a swimming pool. It's been used in the baptism of several infants and at least one baby has pooped in it. It's even been dropped — or maybe it was tossed — from a second-storey balcony overlooking a rock star's whiskey-shaped pool. 'It happens every year, the bowl gets damaged — basically it gets 'out of round' if you know what I mean,' Cup keeper Phil Pritchard told a Washington Capitals blogger in 2018. Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again 'It is nobody's fault; it just happens every year. It has become part of the lore of sports' greatest trophy.' The Stanley Cup has once again sustained some damage from the recipients. 🤕 (📸: Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) — TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 18, 2025 Here are just a small handful of the known stories about what the silver and nickel trophy has endured through its 131 years. At some point after knocking off the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 on Tuesday night, the Panthers managed to crack the trophy's bowl and dent the base before even leaving the arena, as evidenced by photos being circulated on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame told the Associated Press it will be repaired in time for Sunday's victory parade in Sunrise, Fla. It wouldn't be the first time the Cup has been damaged almost immediately after it was awarded. As the Colorado Avalanche gathered on the ice for a team photo to celebrate their 2022 championship, Nicholas Aube-Kubel stumbled and dropped the Cup as he skated into the dogpile, leaving a noticeable dent on the base. This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Just a year before, the Tampa Bay Lightning damaged it at some point prior to or during a boat parade to celebrate a second-straight title. Because the Stanley Cup spends 24 hours with each player and staff member of the winning team, how the damage occurred is usually a mystery or the stuff of anecdotal legend. But while visiting St. John's with the Boston Bruins' Michael Ryder in the summer of 2011, cameras captured the trophy taking a tumble from a table. Three years earlier, a few days after the Detroit Red Wings claimed the Cup, it was dented after falling off a table at the restaurant owned by defenceman Chris Chelios. The Panthers were the last team to take the hockey's holy grail swimming when they took it to Fort Lauderdale Beach after last year's defeat of the Oilers in the final. At points during their revelry, players hoisting the Cup were diving into waves. Pritchard, in an email to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, expressed concern about possible erosion but said they 'managed to clean it as good as possible and dry it off.' Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk later admitted it wasn't ideal. 'I think somebody said that's not technically allowed, but I said it was too late,' Tkachuk said Thursday. 'It already happened.' Other famous dips include the time it ended up at the bottom of Mario Lemieux's pool following their 1991 win, tossed there from a 20-foot high waterfall by defenceman Phil Bourque. 'We had to dive in,' Bryan Trottier recounted on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast in 2022, 'Troy Loney and I dive and get the Cup out of the Pool. It was very tarnished the next day.' The most famous pool story occurred eight years later as the Dallas Stars celebrated the organization's first championship. While partying at the home of Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, the Stars celebrity superfan said Guy Carboneau tossed the Cup to teammate Craig Ludwig from a balcony above his pool — that was shaped like a bottle of Crown Royal whisky — only for it to hit the pool deck and fall in the chlorinated water. Carboneau disputed that version of events in a 2022 interview with D Magazine in Texas, saying it was an accident as he tried to hand it off to Ludwig. 'If I really wanted to throw the Cup, I would have thrown the Cup. But that was not my intention.' Ludwig, who admitted in the same article that they were all fairly drunk by this point, couldn't be sure what happened. The first known and reported instance of an infant being baptized in Lord Stanley's Cup came in 1996 when the Avalanche's Sylvain Lefebvre used it for his daughter's He was followed in 2008 by the Red Wings' Tomas Holmstrom, whose niece was welcomed into the Christian faith in the bowl from which countless beers and bottles of champagne have been slurped. The Pittsburgh Penguins' Josh Archibald had his three-week-old baptized in 2017, and the Avalanche's Jack Johnson used it for all three of his kids on his day with the trophy in 2022. In 2008, Kris Draper admitted to the Toronto Star that his newborn daughter 'pooped in the Cup.' 'That was something. We had a pretty good laugh,' said Draper, who cleaned it out and 'still drank out of it that night.'
CBS News
16 hours ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Preparations underway for Panthers Stanley Cup victory parade and celebration in Fort Lauderdale
Preparations are underway for a parade and celebration rally this weekend on Fort Lauderdale beach after the Florida Panthers clinched their back-to-back Stanley Cup win by defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the finals. The 2025 Championship Celebration, which will take place Sunday, will kick off at noon with a parade along State Road A1A. It will start at Riomar Street and end just north of Fort Lauderdale Beach Park at SE 5 Street, across from Hotel Maren, where a celebration rally will take place. On Tuesday, construction began on the stage for the event got underway. Last year's parade drew more than 200,000 people who cheered the team through the rain and lightning. Fans who plan to attend this year's celebration are urged to get there early since parking is limited and the garages along the beach and at the Galleria are expected to fill up quickly. Those who plan to arrive later in the morning may want to consider getting a rideshare. Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi is already selling tickets to get to the beach from three locations; the Riverside Hotel in Las Olas, the Hilton Marina on the 17th Street Causeway and the GALLERYone on E Sunrise Boulevard near the Galleria Mall.
The Guardian
20 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Florida Panthers crack and dent Stanley Cup during championship celebrations
The Stanley Cup is a little banged up, thanks to the Florida Panthers' celebration of back-to-back titles. The bowl of the famous trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented. Not for the first time and likely not the last. The Panthers won their second consecutive championship on Tuesday night, beating Edmonton in six games. The team, following decades of tradition, partied with the Cup into the wee hours and kept the revelry going in Fort Lauderdale well into Wednesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame said the keepers of the Cup are taking the appropriate steps and plan to have it repaired by the celebration parade on Sunday. Made of silver and a nickel alloy, the 37-pound Cup is relatively malleable. Damage is nothing new for the 131-year-old silver chalice. It has been submerged in pools and the Atlantic Ocean and mishandled by players, coaches and staff for more than a century. Just this decade alone, the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped the Cup during their boat parade in 2021 and the Colorado Avalanche dented it on the ice the night they won in 2022.
