It wasn’t the first time the Stanley Cup has taken a dip in the water. Among the many stories surrounding the most iconic trophy in sports is the time the Cup sat at the bottom of Mario Lemieux’s pool following the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991 championship victory.
This time was a little different, though, as Matthew Tkachuk capped off a long night of revelry following the Florida Panthers’ seven-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers by marching the Cup onto the sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach. Tkachuk then surprised a group of excited fans by running into the surf with the trophy hoisted overhead and flopping backwards into the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
For Tkachuk, who has delivered the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals since coming over from Calgary in a 2022 trade, taking the plunge with onlookers cheering him on made the moment even more special.
“The fans are so important and make it so rewarding for us. To see how happy they are when the Cup is around and to see the hours they put into going to practices, games and at the airport, I can’t even describe how amazing their support is,” Tkachuk told a Miami television station.
“I’m so happy that everybody has a chance to see it because it’s the most magical trophy ever. We’ve had a great time with it as players, but the best part is seeing the reaction that everybody else has.”
The excitement doesn’t end there. Even as Panthers’ players and staff begin making plans on how they will spend their day with the Cup, the blueprint on how the local hockey community will cash in on the excitement to grow the game around the Sunshine State has already been drawn up.
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Backed by owner Vincent Viola’s vision of growing the game in Florida, the Panthers have created a strong partnership with Statewide Amateur Hockey of Florida, the USA Hockey affiliate, as well as with their NHL rivals to the north, the Tampa Bay Lightning, to create more opportunities for kids of various ages and backgrounds to get into the game.
“The relationship between us and the Panthers has never been better, and that’s primarily because this ownership group has embraced what they want their role to be,” said Jeff Wood, the president of SAHOF.
A large part of the growth model has been the creation of more rinks in the area, including the Baptist Health IcePlex at FTL War Memorial. The two-sheet facility is now the Panthers practice rink as well as headquarters for team operations.
Bill Zito, the Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager, explained the new facility does more than provide players with a state-of-the-art building to hone their skills. It also allows the players more time to train and be together as a team and less time navigating through the local traffic congestion to get to their old practice rink in Coral Gables seeing as the new facility is closer to where most of the team lives.
Practices are open to the public so young hockey players can get an up-close look at what it takes to become an NHL star and hopefully feel inspired to launch their own hockey dreams.
“It’s a game changer,” Zito said when the facility opened in March. “Imagine if you had a park like this when you were a kid. It’s unbelievable. There’s so much to do and you can tell from the community chitchat…just how much the people around really appreciate it and how much they’re going to use this.
“I can imagine being a kid and saying, ‘Oh, I want to come play hockey.’”
The Panthers involvement doesn’t stop with their own facilities. They are also active in supporting rinks in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. In addition, the Panthers have teamed up with the Lightning to support the creation of the Florida Alliance, the state’s only AAA program that is overseen by SAHOF.
“The Alliance model takes into consideration the geographic challenges of the state of Florida,” said Scott Paluch, currently a player development director for USA Hockey who has worked with state and district officials in Florida for 15 years. “When you have really good people sticking around to help lead that, that leads to the success of the Florida player.”
That success is found in terms of both the quantity and quality of players coming from The Sunshine State. As an example, four players from the 2024 gold medal-winning U.S. National Junior Team—Gavin Brindley (Estero), Seamus Casey (Fort Myers), Jacob Fowler (Melbourne) and Sam Hillebrandt (Riverview)—hailed from Florida.
“It’s a great barometer,” Paluch said. “It speaks volumes for the people that really care about the sport throughout the state of Florida.”
That upward trajectory is only in the first stages of liftoff. According to registration numbers provided by both the Panthers and SAHOF, the 17 rinks located around the state might not be enough to cater to the growing demand from those who want to get in the game.
According to the Panthers, there has been a 73% increase in youth hockey participation in the state since 2012-13, while the national growth numbers were at 11.5%. Interest in the Panthers learn to play programs jumped by more than 12% last season, thanks in large part to the Panthers appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Following the lead of USA Hockey, Wood said that SAHOF is looking to capitalize on the increased exposure the Panthers’ success has brought to the area by expanding programs to welcome a more diverse demographic into the game.
“We want to use the momentum of the Cup to grow hockey in those particular areas where we’ve done well, but we know we can do better,” he said. “That’s been the focus of the conversations post-Cup.”
The Panthers don’t have to go far to find a blueprint for capitalizing on their success. When the Lightning won back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021 (they also won the Cup in 2004), the Tampa area saw a spike in the number of players. Even though the organization doesn’t own its own rinks, they have partnered with facilities in surrounding counties to welcome new kids into the game.
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The Lightning have also built 10 outdoor ball hockey rinks in the five surrounding counties with additional funding provided by the NHL and NHLPA through the Industry Growth Fund.
“With the success of Tampa and their Cups, and now Florida with their Cup, the interest in hockey is everywhere,” Paluch said. “The leadership of both of those organizations is tremendous. They both have a great commitment to growing the game. They have a lot of good youth and growth programs that they both utilize. Taking advantage of times of major success is going to add to tremendous growth throughout the state of Florida and keep the good vibes going.”
Wood and all of those involved with grassroot programs in Florida believe this is just the beginning. The pieces are in place to take the game to the next level, and those good vibrations will keep going thanks to the joint efforts between the NHL teams and youth hockey organizations.
“I’ve been doing this for 20-something years now and it’s an absolute privilege to be in the middle of this growth, and to watch what’s going on with these two teams, because as they go, the state goes,” Wood said.