Why the Panthers made sure first-time Cup winners got to celebrate first

Miami Herald

7 hours ago

As the team captain, Aleksander Barkov hoisted the Stanley Cup first on Tuesday after the Florida Panthers repeated as champions with a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
But after that, Barkov and the team's leaders made a statement as to who got the Cup next.
First it was defenseman Nate Schmidt. Then defenseman Seth Jones. Then forward Tomas Nosek, backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek, forward A.J. Greer, forward Jesper Boqvist and forward Mackie Samoskevich.
The seven players on the active roster who were in the lineup at some point during the playoffs who had not won the Stanley Cup before Tuesday.
'A bunch of us talked about at the start,' Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk said. 'Those guys who haven't won yet, let them feel it. Let them go first. I mean, as much as I wanted to steal it out of Barky's hands myself, like we wouldn't be here without the new guys. So, so special for them, and they deserved it.'
While Tkachuk has praised the newcomers — the 'fresh blood' as he called them after Florida secured its spot back into the Stanley Cup Final — even they were happily surprised by the team's decision.
'I didn't know,' Schmidt said. 'He just looked at me and he gave me the 'Cap' death stare. You don't turn those eyes away. No I didn't know. It was awesome. I had no idea that it was going to be me. He looked me and he said, 'Hey, the guys that haven't done it before, we're going to take a back seat to you guys.' It means a lot.'
Added Jones: 'It shows right? I mean, you hear stories about how special this team is and the leadership, and you see it firsthand. You see the way these guys are so selfless, so humble, and it shows on the ice.'
The emotions understandably ran high for that group. They had waited their whole lives for this moment. Now, it's here.
'It's unbelievable,' Greer said. 'We were just here to help the group, and as a new guy, I wasn't trying to change much, just add a little flair and a little new energy to the group. So I'm so thankful to be a Florida Panther. Being able to lift that Stanley Cup just puts everything into perspective what all the blood, sweat and tears truly does.'
As the game wound down, Nosek shared a moment with coach Paul Maurice, breaking down in tears on his coach's shoulder. The reality had hit him. There were bumps in the road during his one season in Florida. But the end result was the ultimate goal: He is now a Stanley Cup champion.
'I'm so glad I signed here,' Nosek said.