Florida Is Still The Hockey Capital Of The World
What a season it was for the Florida Panthers. The new champions for the 2023-24 season get to hoist and take the Stanley Cup across the world and do whatever they want with it. On June 24th the Panthers avoided what could’ve been the biggest choke in Stanley Cup Finals history. Florida began their finals series up 3 games to 0, that was until the Edmonton Oilers regrouped and stole the next 3 games to even up the series 3-3. Forcing a decisive, and the best two words in sports, game 7.
It was a close one early in the 1st period of play. By the 2nd period things began to heat up and the go-ahead goal midway through the period by Sam Reinhart put the Panthers up 2-1, and that’s how the game would end going forward, with Florida playing great defense the rest of the game. Fans out in Sunrise, FL were in a frenzy after the goal and at the final horn as the captain of the squad Aleksander Barkov held Lord Stanley high in the sky as the Panthers secured their 1st championship win in franchise history.
Crazy enough, in Edmonton’s losing effort, their star player Connor McDavid walked away with a trophy of his own. McDavid became the 6th player from a losing team to win the Conn Smythe trophy. McDavid and the Oilers really put up a fight and, in the end, just game up a bit short but a great effort none the less, turning the series around when the odds were stacked against them.
With the NHL now over, Florida is back to being the home of the Stanley Cup. As Tampa would love to have hat Lord Stanley back here in the city, since 2020 Florida has been the home for the cup 3 out of the last 5 Stanley Cup Finals. Does this now make Florida the hockey capital of the world? I’m sure our friends from the north would love to hear that.