Florida Panthers raise second Stanley Cup banner before win

Sunrise, Florida-There are a few minor strokes these days in the Stanley Cup, including one just near the place where the names of the Panthers of Florida 2024-25 are engraved in commemoration of their last title.

Such things happen during championship celebrations. No worries, they will soon be fixed.

And the panthers hope to have the chance to put a few additional blows in the trophy next year.

A new season for the consecutive champions of the Stanley Cup began on Tuesday, the panthers all looking at the summit of Amentant Bank Arena to watch another championship banner hoisted on the rafters. This is fundamentally the same as last year – white background, red lettering – the only change being 2025 instead of 2024.

“It’s a new year and it’s a new opportunity for us,” said the Panthers striker Brad Marchand. “And when it starts, it’s time to turn the page and start working towards a chance to do it again.”

The banner was swung at the end of the ice that the panthers defended twice in their 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. In the next home game, he will take his more permanent place on the team’s bench alongside the other banners of the team for division and conference titles.

“You are looking at what you have achieved, but at the same time, you are proud of success,” said Panthers striker Anton Lundell. “But that makes you hungry to start again.”

Fans aligned themselves for one more photo with the cup outside the doors of the arena on Tuesday afternoon, many of which arrive well before the unusual start time of 17 hours on weekdays – an hour that adapted to a television triplehead nationwide. Once they entered, the new dashboard on central ice has shown a compilation of moments from the third period of match 6 of the Stanley Cup last season, in case someone forgot how this season ended.

And after all the complete warm -ups, just as they did in June 2024 and June 2025 – the panthers finished these cup championships by beating the EDMONTON Oilers on the ice at home – the fans rugged when the trophy was put on the skating rink. Deputy captain Aaron Ekblad did the honors this year, carrying the trophy on the ice, then hoisting it before placing it on a stand next to where the banner was deployed and high.

“Incredible, coming out in front of our fans and being able to hoist it once again,” said Ekblad.

Once the banner has been lifted, the players raised their sticks in a salvation to the fans.

“We want three! We want three! We want three!” The fans sang.

Said Marchand: “It’s great to see that their expectations are there. We obviously have the same, but it will be more difficult than the last two. … It is a long road to come.”

The opening evening crowned a two -day celebration for the fields; Panthers’ players and coaches obtained their league rings during a private ceremony on Monday evening.

“Last night, it was a bit of a good reminder for them what the gain for all this hard work is,” said the coach of the panthers, Paul Maurice. “And it goes back in a way everyone’s morale and excites them tonight.”

It will not be an easy road for the panthers this season. Captain Aleksander Barkov will miss several months and potentially all season with two knee torn ligaments, an injury was 20 minutes after his first training in training camp. And striker Matthew Tkachuk came out until December probably by recovering from an off -season surgery. Barkov and Tkachuk, dressed in street clothes, watched him from Florida’s bench.

“It will be there forever,” said the defender of the Panthers, Seth Jones, about the banner. “It’s a special group. And it’s a celebration, but at the same time, it’s a turning point. It’s a new chapter.”

Panthers know how rare this opportunity is. They could be the first consecutive NHL champion since the New York Icelanders won four consecutive cuts from 1980 to 1983.

“The great thing about sport is that you do not know, and there is a reason why we play games, and these are the stories that can be generated,” said the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. “And this will be an interesting story. Two of the largest stars of the team are injured. How good they come back, how the team is resilient without them, it will be a great story to see. It is an organization, a team, which has been well reunited. [General manager] The Zito bill deserves a huge amount of credit. I guess this team will give everything to reproduce if they can. “”