admin Matthew Tkachuk was drenched. Such is life when you’re out in an absolute downpour for a few hours. He did not seem to be bothered by this whatsoever.
And as the star Florida forward looked out at the crowd of people, tens of thousands of them, packed onto Fort Lauderdale Beach on Sunday afternoon for the Panthers’ parade and celebration for winning the Stanley Cup, Tkachuk decided to offer a quick weather update.
“I heard it’s 70 degrees and sunny in Edmonton,” Tkachuk said. “But they ain’t got no Cup.”
Not even a torrential downpour — so severe that flood warnings were issued — accompanied by a massive lightning storm, could halt the Panthers’ Stanley Cup celebration, one that the franchise had waited forever to have.
The fans braved the storm, awaiting the champions’ arrival on double-decker buses that took a beachfront route before stopping for a rally, where the trophy was hoisted time and time again.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice — no stranger to profanity — dropped more than a few bleeped moments in his remarks.
He also praised the fire rescue officials who worked the event and had to briefly treat one of his daughters, who Maurice said got hit in the head by a flying beer can. She was fine.
“God bless ’em,” he said.
“In my wildest dreams, I never would have thought I could see this,” Maurice said from the stage, thanking fans and players for making the Cup run possible.
“Seriously. Understand this. Everybody that we love in this world is… happy right now.”
Carter Verhaeghe was the player who got to initially bring the Cup onto the stage. Queen’s “We Are The Champions” blared, and nobody minded how soaked they were or that it was still raining.
The Panthers were champions after three decades of waiting. The title was won last Monday night, with Florida beating Edmonton 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s incredible,” said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who hopped off the bus with the Cup at one point and decided to walk it down the road for a bit as fans who lined the parade route — some since Saturday night — roared.
“So many people came out to support us. For us to share this moment with the fans, it’s unbelievable.”
Bobrovsky had more to say later on stage, draped in the flag of his homeland, Russia. Several players from other countries paid similar tributes to their home nations. The Cup won’t be accompanying Bobrovsky to Russia this summer; for the third straight year, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, the NHL isn’t permitting the Cup to be taken to Russia or Belarus.
“In my first interview, they asked me why I came to Florida,” Bobrovsky said. “My answer was, ‘Because I want to win the Cup and I’m going to do it here.’ And now here we are, five years later, celebrating the biggest victory for this franchise with you guys.”
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