Black Bears hold celebration as reigning FPHL Champions
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – The Binghamton Black Bears' second straight FPHL Championship title came around 72 hours ago, but the celebrations circulating the team and the city have only just begun.
Today, outside of Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, a celebration event took place for people to come and show their respect for the team that has made it happen once again on the ice.
'It's still hard to put things in perspective, but I can't wait to re-watch the game, and it's amazing what we've accomplished,' said head coach Brant Sherwood. 'It's all credit to these guys.'
Hundreds of people gathered out front of the Arena to cheer on the team, which took to the stage and shared their gratitude for the city, and all had one clear thought of a 3rd in a row in mind.
'We wanted to do this at the start of the season and to reach our goal, and to get it done,' said captain Tyson Kirkby. 'It's unbelievable, like words, like words can't express how we feel.'
The Commissioner's Cup was set out on display, and after some words from Coach Sherwood and some players, people were able to take pictures with the Cup and get memorabilia signed by the champions of the Federal Prospects Hockey League.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stanley Cup Final live updates: Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers, Game 2
Will the Florida Panthers even up the series? Or will they fall behind 0-2 in the Stanley Cup Final before they get to home ice? After an overtime defeat in the series opener against the Edmonton Oilers, the Panthers know they have to respond on Friday night to keep serious hopes of repeating as champions alive. Advertisement It's a tall task. Will they get it done? Puck drop for Game 2 from Edmonton's Rogers Place is at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on TNT and truTV and is available via stream on Max. Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary. Panthers win! Series tied on Marchand's double OT goal The Panthers and Edmonton head to Sunrise for Monday's Game 3 tied in the Stanley Cup Final after Brad Marchand's goal at 8:05 of double overtime gave the Panthers a 5-4 win in one of the best Stanley Cup Final games — ever. In a repeat of Marchand's second period shorthanded goal that gave the Panthers a 4-3 lead, Anton Lundell picked up the puck high in the Panthers zone and Marchand took off behind the Edmonton defense. Lundell fed Marchand again. Marchand fought off the tie up attempt his stick and nudged it through Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner's pads. Advertisement The Panthers and Oilers will have two days off before Game 3, Monday, in Sunrise at Amerant Bank Arena. The game's last three goals were scored by Marchand, 37; Edmonton's Corey Perry, 40; and Marchand. Three regulation periods & one sudden death period down Game 2 remains 4-4. Edmonton outshot the Panthers, 14-9, but the Panthers had the two best scoring chances, Sam Reinhart's breakaway and Brad Marchand on the doorstep (see below). Panthers' defenseman Seth Jones (32:00) and Aaron Ekblad (29:45) lead the defending Cup holders in Game 2 ice time. Connor McDavid's 31:41 and defenseman Evan Bouchard's 31:23 lead Edmonton in ice time. Leon Draisaitl, who scored Game 1's overtime winner, has played 29:06. More overtime scoring chances The Panthers had their leading regular season goal scorer each of the last two years, Sam Reinhart, on an overtime breakaway. Reinhart tried to go low stick side on Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner and missed the net. Advertisement On an odd-man rush, Edmonton's Evander Kane tried a pull-and-drag to give himself an open look in the slot, but a spinning snow angel move by Gustav Forsling stripped Kane and started a counter rush. Off a rebound with Skinner on the edge of his crease, Panthers winger Evan Rodrigues from low on the left side, backhanded it on the net and it went behind Skinner and across the goalmouth. Marchand almost wins it As the Panthers started to resemble their Game 1 overtime form — a fatigued team without physical and mental acuity — off a turnover, Brad Marchand nearly won it 8:17 into overtime. Marchand took a feed while cutting to the net, Edmonton's Stuart Skinner did the splits for the first save, Marchand's second rap got under Skinner's pad and hit the inside of the left post. The Corey Perry Zombie gets the Panthers. Overtime. Win a defensive zone face-off. Win a defensive zone face-off, clear the puck, maybe take a shot at an open net, but outlast an exhausted Edmonton group that was on the ice for almost the last three minutes of the game. Advertisement The Panthers couldn't do it. Game 2 is going to overtime, 4-4. Up 4-3 in the last minutes, the Panthers kept losing defensive zone face-offs until the Panthers Aleksander Barkov actually got something of a tie against Leon Draisaitl. Niko Mikkola couldn't control the puck, Edmonton got it and Jake Walman's wrister was kicked out by Sergei Bobrovsky. The rebound went past Barkov and Seth Jones to 40-year-old Corey Perry, who swatted it home while Eeto Luostarinen fruitlessly tried to tie him up. Perry's goal, with only 17.8 seconds left, was the latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Finals history, breaking the record of Toronto's Tod Sloan, who scored with 31 seconds left in Game 5 of the 1951 Stanley Cup Final. That final ended 2:53 into overtime when Toronto's Bill Barilko scored on a diving slapshot, the image immortalized in one of hockey's all-time photos. Barilko died that offseason in a plane crash. Edmonton pulls goalie Stuart Skinner With the Panthers up 4-3, Edmonton pulled goalie Stuart Skinner during a McDavid-Draisaitl shift. After the Panthers forced an offside call with 1:31 to go, the Oilers used their timeout to give their six on the ice a rest. Advertisement From the left circle, McDavid zipped a pass over to Draisaitl in the right circle but Bobrovsky got over on his one-timer with a minute left. The Panthers later iced the puck with 30.5 seconds left. Panthers still lead at the first third period TV timeout, but... Two ways to look at the first 8:20 of the third period, which ended with the Panthers still leading 4-3. Good for the Panthers: no penalties after starting the period finishing a penalty kill, only three shots for Edmonton. Good for Edmonton: after an early push by the Panthers, the Panthers seemed to forget about taking even token shots on goal or trying to create offense. The Oilers had four scoring chances and the Panthers zero before Leon Draisaitl skated through half the Panthers roster on a solo rush. Advertisement This is what the third period looked like in Game 1 before the Oilers tied it. End of two periods: Panthers 4, Edmonton 3. For the second consecutive game — and the third straight Finals game over the last two years — the Panthers took a one-goal lead into the third period. Want to know which team's speed and hitting dictates the play? Look at the giveaways, which are 12-6 in favor of the Panthers after two periods. The Panthers aren't owning the circle as they did in Game 1's first two periods, with only a 52-48 percentage advantage. Going into the third period, as far as how much Edmonton's Power Pair have played, Connor McDavid has been out for 15:04 of the first 40 minutes and Leon Draisaitl has played 14:02. Expect to see them double shifted if the Panthers still lead by the 10-minute mark. Advertisement As for the defensemen the Panthers like on the ice against McDavid and Draisaitl, Aaron Ekblad has played 15:27 and Gustav Forsling has been on the ice for 15:06. The Panthers' ice time leader is Seth Jones, 17:48. Among the forwards, center Aleksander Barkov has played 14:09. Panthers back in the take the lead Even the pterodactyl reach of Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola couldn't prevent him from drawn into a hooking penalty by Connor McDavid. Remember what Gretz said between periods about the Panthers staying out of the box? Sure enough, there was a goal and a 4-3 lead. But, the Panthers got that goal and that lead. Advertisement As Anton Lundell foiled another Edmonton zone entry on a fantastic penalty kill, Brad Marchand took off and Lundell saw him. Lundell nudged the puck ahead and Marchand scored on the breakaway at 12:09. Panthers 4, Edmonton 3. Only a couple of moments of brilliance from Skinner kept the Oilers close over the next four minutes. Kulikov almost struck again when his slapshot hit an Edmonton defenseman and turned into a skipping stone, forcing a spectacular adjustment by Skinner. Second period replay halfway through, Panthers tie it Though Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had to make two fantastic saves on Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard, the second on a two-on-one with Connor McDavid, the Panthers began to take over the game on the forecheck, as they did in Game 1's second period. Advertisement That grinding produced the game's tying goal, at 8:23 of the second. From Sam Reinhart, who had a few chances in the slot? Nope. Carter Verhaeghe, who also got couple of good looks? Nah, Stuart Skinner rejected him, too. No, silly, the goal came from the stick of dfenseman Dmitri Kulikov, he of two previous career playoff goals. Barkov lifted Ekholm's stick to prevent him from playing the dump-in and, soon after, Kulikov sent a wrister through a screen (and with Tkachuk crowding Skinner's workspace) to tie the game. First period thoughts from the press box What a period. Five combined goals. Fifty combined shot attempts. Eleven penalties leading to seven power plays and some time at 4 on 4 mixed in there as well. Only 8:09 of the opening 20 minutes was played at full strength. Advertisement Each team dominated for stretches of the period, as was the case throughout Game 1. A few thoughts as we wait for Period 2... ▪ Connor McDavid is special. That goes without saying. But watching him in person and up close gives an even better appreciation for his ability to make world-class plays. ▪ There was high-flying action in the opening frame, but will either team settle in when (if?) the game is able to get into an extended stretch at five-on-five? ▪ How about some love for Nate Schmidt? The Panthers' third-pair defenseman has assists on four of Florida's first five goals of this series, including three primary assists. Advertisement ▪ The goalie numbers: Sergei Bobrovsky is 11 for 14, including 3 of 4 on high-danger shots and 5 of 6 against Edmonton's power play; Stuart Skinner is 9 for 11. End of the first period: The Oil 3, Cats 2 'Was that the best period of hockey you've ever seen live in your life?' former NHL forward Anson Carter asked on the TNT broadcast after the first period. 'Probably,' former Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. 'I'm speechless.' A first period with more action than some entire Stanley Cup Final's games — and some entire Final series during the Dead Puck Era — ended 3-2, Edmonton after the Panthers survived a two-man down shorthanded situtation. Only 8:09 of the first period was played five-on-five. Between periods, Wayne Gretzky said the Panthers 'have no chance' if they can't stay out of shorthanded or four-on-four situations. Bennett in his office, McDavid does his work, Oilers lead again Edmonton wanted goalie interference on Bennett during the Panthers' first goal in Game 1, and not only didn't get the call on the challenge, but got a delay of game and the Panthers scored on the power play. But, they got the goalie interference call 12:04 into Game 2, even though, this time, Ekholm clearly pushed Bennett into Skinner and neither referee had signalled a penalty before Skinner was down for a bit with a twisted leg. Advertisement On the power play, the Panthers seemed to get a break as one of the Oilers went to the bench to get a new stick. But, the brief four-on-four provided McDavid room for a breathtaking stickhandling show. McDavid zigzagged by Barkov, sent Ekblad into a stumbling flop then slipped a pass by Anton Lundell to Draisaitl in the low right circle. Edmonton, 3-2. Draisaitl saluted the brilliant play by letting McDavid go first in dapping up the Edmonton bench, something usually reserved for the goal scorer. What is this, the 1980s? Panthers tie the game Is it Wayne Gretzky being in the house for TNT? Because the goals are coming at the rate that the 1980s Oilers, who averaged 5.0 goals per game for five consecutive regular seasons, used to score and allow. Advertisement Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt jumped on a soft clearing attempt by Edmonton's Kaspari Kapanen just inside the left point and passed to Eetu Luostarinen in the right circle. With Kapanen still scolding himself high in the zone, Luostarinen saw wide open defenseman Sean Jones breaking through the left circle. Jones fired into a gaping net at 11:37: 2-2. Edmonton takes the lead Everybody in the NHL knows that four-on-four is not even strength against Edmonton because when, say Edmonton's Darnell Nurse and the Panthers Matthew Tkachuk go off cross checking and slashing each other, the Oilers throw out Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with more room to work. Advertisement McDavid's speed pushed the Panthers into retreat as he hit the Panthers blue line, giving defenseman Evan Bouchard room to shoot. Bouchard's wrister was blocked right back to him, but his second shot got past Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky (screened by Reinhart and Barkov). Edmonton's second goal in 1:40 gave them the lead, 2-1, 9:19 into the game. Kane redeems himself, ties the game, 1-1 From the Edmonton blueline, defenseman Evan Bouchard quickly headmanned the puck to Viktor Arvidsson, who turned it to a flying Evander Kane. Kane, named after 1990s world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, punched the Panthers the face with a whistling left circle wrister over Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's glove and off the right post. Advertisement Tie game, 1-1, 7:39 into the first. Panthers win the first shift, take a 1-0 lead The Panthers altered first line produced a scoring chance, Sam Reinhart from between the circles, less than 10 seconds into the game. Edmonton's Evander Kane reached back to deflect Reinhart's shot over the net, but took an offensive zone penalty 37 seconds into the game when he high sticked Carter Verhaeghe while finishing a check. Kane helped establish Edmonton's physical play in Game 1. On the Panthers power play, Sam Bennett mishit a one-timer off a pass from Nate Schmidt, but got enough for it to get by goalie Stuart Skinner 2:07 into the game. An infuriated Oilers bench wanted a penalty on Bennett, who, while turning to get into position for Schmidt's pass, skated Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm's dropped stick away from him. Advertisement Panthers 1, Edmonton 0, as Bennett's 13th goal of this year's playoffs gave him an NHL single-playoff record 12 on the road and ended an Oilers run of scoring first in nine consecutive games. Moving people pieces For Game 2, Panthers coach Paul Maurice moved Carter Verhaeghe to left wing with center Aleksander Barkov and right wing Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues down to the second line with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. This puts three of the top four regular season scorers on the first line and adds even more bang and jam to Bennett's line, where Tkachuk's been laboring akin to a wounded bull throughout the playoffs. Maurice did this in the second period of Eastern Conference Final Game 5, when the Panthers trailed Carolina 2-0. The Panthers stormed back to clinch the series with a 5-3 win, Verhaeghe getting the game winner off a dazzling Barkov stickhandle-and-dish play. Getting back on the cycle A chart by NHL Network from stats by Sportlogiq said the Panthers ground out an 11-4 advantage in scoring chances off the offensive zone cycle in Game 1, 6-3 in slot shots and 5-2 in forechecking chances. That begat the Panthers first goal, Carter Verhaeghe's shot bouncing in off Sam Bennett as the center sprawled in the crease, as well as solid control of the second period and first minutes of overtime. Series schedule ▪ Game 1 — Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (overtime): The Panthers had a two-goal lead early in the second period but couldn't hold on as Edmonton tied the game early in the third and won it on a Leon Draisaitl power-play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime. Advertisement ▪ Game 2: Tonight ▪ Game 3: Monday, June 9, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 4: Thursday, June 12, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton's Rogers Place ▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 17, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena ▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Friday, June 20, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Edmonton's Rogers Place Pregame reading Need to catch up ahead of Game 2? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald's coverage over the past few days. ▪ With margin for error thin in Cup Final, Panthers need to regroup after Game 1 overtime loss Advertisement ▪ With two goals in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final, Sam Bennett makes Panthers history ▪ Maurice's message to Nosek after game-deciding penalty in Florida's Game 1 Cup Final loss ▪ Will Panthers make lineup changes for Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final? ▪ Joining the Florida Panthers 'revitalized' Seth Jones. The next goal: Win a Stanley Cup
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wayne Gretzky Predicts Winner of Stanley Cup Final Without Hesitation
Wayne Gretzky Predicts Winner of Stanley Cup Final Without Hesitation originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It has been over three decades since a Canadian team lifted the Stanley Cup, but the Edmonton Oilers have the chance of breaking the curse in the next few days. Advertisement The last time a team north of the American border hoisted the Cup was June 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens capped off a five-game series win over the Los Angeles Kings. Since then, every champion has come from the United States. The Oilers are back in the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year and currently lead the Florida Panthers 1-0 in the finals rematch from last season. Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky was in attendance for the opener and later appeared on Thursday's episode of "The Pat McAfee Show" to discuss the matchup and the potential for history to be made. When asked if this is the team that will once and for all return the Cup to Canada, Gretzky made his stance clear, picking the Oilers to go all the way and win the championship. Advertisement "This is the team to do it," Gretzky said. "One, I don't think Florida has played a team that is as physical as Edmonton. The speed of Edmonton matches Carolina, but Edmonton's more physical." Gretzky acknowledged the toll Florida's deep playoff runs have taken over the past three years, highlighting that as a possible advantage on Edmonton's side. Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) get into a scrum in the 2024 Stanley Cup Belski-Imagn Images "When you get to three championship series in a row, you're physically beat up," Gretzky said. "Right now, I hope Florida can rebound, but they've put their guts on the line the last three years, and it's hard to get to the Stanley Cup Finals, and they play hard." Advertisement That said, Gretzky still attributed the chances of winning the Cup to Edmonton's mindset, not just how tired the Panthers might be at this point in the playoffs. "I expect (the Panthers) to bounce back. But listen, Edmonton feels it. That's all anyone talks about," Gretzky said. Game 2 of the Final is scheduled for Friday night at Rogers Place, with the Oilers holding a 1-0 series lead. Related: Wayne Gretzky Reveals Secret to NHL Team Success Amid Stanley Cup Final Related: Connor McDavid's Wife Has Three-Letter Reaction to Oilers' Win Against Panthers This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Southern hockey surge: NHL teams thrive in non-traditional markets, from Texas to Florida
Popeye Jones was an NBA rookie with the Mavericks the same season that Dallas debuted its new NHL team, and he decided to go to a Stars game after meeting future Hall of Fame player Mike Modano. 'I couldn't figure out hockey. They were jumping over and off the ice … I'm like, 'what's going on with this sport?'' Jones said. 'The puck flew up, I remember it hit somebody in the nose, blood was all over the ice and they kept playing.' Back during that 1993-94 season, before he became a hockey dad, the 6-foot-8 Tennessee native who had grown up playing basketball, football and baseball was like many people in the South: He knew nothing about hockey even as the NHL was making a push into non-traditional markets. Those days are long gone. NHL teams in the South are playing for and winning the Stanley Cup in packed arenas and there is steady growth when it comes to youth participation. Football may still be king in many Sun Belt locales, but hockey has been welcomed from Las Vegas to Texas to Nashville to North Carolina — and certainly in Florida. Jones has two sons who are now NHL players. Seth Jones, a defenseman for the Florida Panthers, is playing in the Stanley Cup Final after the 12-season veteran, the fourth overall pick by Nashville in the 2013 draft, was traded from Chicago to the defending champions in March. Caleb Jones played for the Los Angeles Kings, his fourth team the past seven years. The expansion Panthers came into the league with Anaheim in 1993-94, at the same time the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators were expansion teams the previous season, and the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina and became the Hurricanes in 1997. Shane Willis remembers playing with the Hurricanes following the NHL's arrival in North Carolina — a process featuring a two-year transition to Greensboro before moving to Raleigh — and sometimes noticing a sparse home crowd during warmups. 'I'm like, 'Is anybody coming?'' said Willis, now Carolina's manager of youth and amateur hockey after five seasons as an NHL player. That isn't the case now, with Carolina having won a Stanley Cup in 2006 and currently on a seven-year run of winning at least one postseason series, including this year's run to the East final . Southern success This is the sixth season in a row a team from Florida has reached the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers are there for the third year in a row, this time in a rematch against Edmonton. Tampa Bay also made it to the final three straight seasons, winning the Cup the first two. The Lightning's run began by beating Dallas in 2020 in what is still the the 'southernmost' Stanley Cup Final — except that entire postseason was played in Canada after the regular season was shortened because of the pandemic. Dallas made its third West final in a row this year, coming up short of another Cup chance. But they were the first Sun Belt team to hoist the Stanley Cup in 1999, followed by Tampa Bay in 2004. Every game in the conference finals in 2023 was played in the Sun Belt , a first. The Panthers beat Carolina in the East like they did this year, and Dallas lost to Vegas in the West. Popeye, Mo and Sakic Popeye Jones met Modano after getting invited to do an appearance during a Dallas Cowboys game. 'Not being a hockey fan, I really didn't know who he was and he didn't who I was. But we just struck up a conversation and started talking,' Jones said. 'Just general talk about sports and whatever, and he was such a nice guy and I enjoyed sitting there and talking to him.' That helped Jones become a Stars fan. They both played home games at the since-demolished Reunion Arena before Jones was traded to Toronto and later Boston, homes of two of the NHL's Original Six teams. His only season playing in Denver was 1999-2000, when the Avalanche lost to the Stars in consecutive West finals before winning the Cup in 2001. It was there that he got to know Avs star Joe Sakic, another future Hall of Fame hockey player and now the team's president of hockey operations. Jones' oldest son, Justin, came home from school one day in the Denver area and said he wanted to play hockey, which had a significant influence on Seth, who was 5 or 6 at the time. With his sons interested in playing an unfamiliar sport , Jones sought advice from Sakic, who said the boys needed to take skating lessons. Seth Jones started playing hockey in Colorado, but was born in Texas and was on some Stars-affiliated youth teams after his dad later returned to the Mavericks. 'When I was there, you could see more and more kids starting to play in Texas,' the 30-year-old Panthers defenseman said. 'And then really the past eight to 10 years, you see kids actually moving from the northern cities down to Texas because the hockey has really grown. Where before, all the good kids out of the southern cities would move up north to Chicago and Michigan and New York and these places.' More and more players The number of players registered with USA Hockey has grown significantly in Southern states over the past 20 seasons. USA Hockey said 4,793 players registered in North Carolina for the 2005-06 season, with roughly 2,400 of those being 18 or younger. That overall number of players jumped 19.5% (to 5,728) for the season following their 2006 Cup run. By the 2024-25 season, the state had 8,698 players (up 81.5% from 2005-06) with 5,608 being 18 or younger (up 135.5%), though Willis noted the actual number is likely higher since not all players register with USA Hockey. The total number of registrations have increased even more in Florida and Texas over the past two decades. In Florida, the total number of players has gone from 9,363 in 2005-06 to 22,888 (a 144.5% increase), with the number in the 18 or younger age groups nearly doubling to 10,277. Texas went from 7,017 to 17,346 total registrations (147.2%) in that same span, with those 18 and under going from 5,457 to 7,199 (31.9%). Pete DeBoer, the Stars coach the past three seasons, had his first NHL head coaching job with Florida from 2008-11. He recalls the Lightning and Panthers then playing before sparse crowds with questions about whether those teams would even stay in those markets. 'To see where they're at now is really impressive,' DeBoer said before the team fired him this past week. 'Dallas for me is a perfect example of coming into a place and, you know, getting a foothold at the grassroots level, and that the amount of rinks, ice surfaces and facilities and kids playing minor hockey here in Dallas is way bigger than I ever anticipated.' Much of that came as a result of the 1999 Stanley Cup for the Stars. 'They won, they captured the city's attention and all this stuff got done. Rinks got built,' DeBoer said. 'I think Florida didn't get that done early, but is doing it now and they're going to reap the benefits of that. I think when you get a team that wins and it's in a non-traditional market, I think the benefits roll out for decades.' Introducing the game For the Hurricanes, early outreach included going to area schools and essentially running PE classes as an introduction to the sport. The team, aided by grant money from the NHL, has more recently purchased equipment such as balls, sticks and Hurricanes-logo apparel to donate to more than 100 schools. The team this year partnered with Raleigh suburb Apex to open two public street hockey rinks. Carolina, Dallas and Florida all have tie-ins to to the 'Learn to Play' umbrella program created by the NHL and NHL Players' Association to introduce boys and girls, and even adults, to the sport. Those programs include variations of providing hockey equipment and instruction, and on-ice workouts at multiple rinks in their areas. 'What you have to do is not only introduce the game of hockey to people, you have to introduce your brand. You have to make both things very attractive to parents to want to get involved,' Willis said. 'I see so many parents now, they come to games and we talk about it: if you can create a hockey player, whether it's street hockey or ice hockey, you're creating three fans. Because that kid is going to come to a game with Dad, Dad and Mom, maybe a sibling. So then you're in the range of three to four fans you're creating.' Popeye Jones knows how that can go, recalling a time when Seth Jones was 11 or 12 and the family wanted him to find something else to do in the summertime. 'A kid called and said hey they had some ice, you want to come and, you know, play some pickup hockey. At first I didn't want him to, but I saw he was moping around the house,' the elder Jones said. 'I told him to get his stuff. I'll never forget it, he got this bag together so fast and got in that car and I was driving him to the rink and I looked at him and I saw this big grin and I said, 'Well, I guess I got a hockey player.'' ___ AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard, Pat Graham and Tim Reynolds contributed to this report. ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
