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New York Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
The unlikely connection between Brad Marchand, Corey Perry and 2 Stanley Cup titles
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — This looks like it could be a Stanley Cup Final for the ages. In a series that boasts some of hockey's brightest stars, the first two games between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers have featured spectacular plays, 16 goals, highlight-reel saves, mammoth hits, post-whistle truculence, multiple lead changes, late-game comebacks and consecutive overtimes. Advertisement It could be 2-0 either way. It's appropriately 1-1 with Game 3 Monday night in South Florida. But in a championship round that's showcasing stars such as 'McJesus' and Leon on Edmonton's side and 'Sasha,' 'Chuckie' and 'Swaggy' on Florida's side, leave it to old guys — 'The Worm' and 'The Rat' — to steal the headlines two games in. Corey Perry is 40 years old and a Stanley Cup Final veteran. The 2007 Stanley Cup champion is in his fifth final in the past six years, and Friday night, during a 5-4 double overtime loss, he forced the extra sessions by scoring the latest tying goal (17.8 seconds left) in Stanley Cup Final history. Brad Marchand is 37 years old and in his fourth Stanley Cup Final. The 2011 Stanley Cup champion followed his power-play goal in Game 1 with his second career Stanley Cup Final short-handed goal exactly 14 years to the day after his first, and then became the fourth-oldest player in NHL history to score an overtime goal in a final after Anton Lundell sprung him on another breakaway. VIDEO! Inside the @flapanthers radio booth in Edmonton for Brad Marchand's Game 2 double-OT winner: — Doug Plagens (@DougPlagens) June 7, 2025 The playoff overtime winner was Marchand's fifth of his career, tying him with Perry and others for third all time behind Joe Sakic's NHL-record eight and Maurice Richard's six. Marchand's first goal in Game 2 was his ninth career Stanley Cup Final goal. That passed Perry for first among active players … until Perry once again tied Marchand late with his ninth. So naturally, Marchand would leapfrog Perry again in double OT with his 10th. And, incidentally, Marchand became the third player in the past decade to score a game winner in the Stanley Cup Final at age 37 or older. One of the other two? Perry in Game 5 of last year's Stanley Cup Final against Florida. Advertisement 'We're old kids living our lifelong dreams,' Marchand said when asked before the season how he and Perry continue to defy Father Time. 'It's pretty amazing I can still be doing this at my age and have such an important role on a team like this,' Perry said Friday. Well, thousands of miles away in Greenville, S.C., another old kid, 47-year-old Shawn Thornton — the former longtime NHL enforcer and current Panthers chief revenue officer — was golfing in the BMW Charity Pro-Am event on the Korn Ferry Tour and getting a kick out of watching these two likely future Hall of Famers go mano a mano. Eighteen years ago, Thornton won the Stanley Cup as Perry's teammate in Anaheim when Perry was just 22. Fourteen years ago, Thornton won the Stanley Cup as Marchand's teammate in Boston when Marchand was just 23. Not only was Thornton temporary linemates with both, he's also the only player to have won Cups with both and never could have imagined that eons later, long after he retired from hockey and got into the business side of the Panthers, that both Perry and Marchand would still be making such impacts on their teams in another Stanley Cup Final so late in their careers. 'I don't feel that old,' Thornton said, laughing. 'I will say, I never would've counted them out, but you don't expect this. There's only a few guys that get to play until they're 40, but to see them still playing at such a high level and coming through in such big moments, I'm not surprised. They both kept me in the NHL.' Thornton started the 2006-07 season playing with the Portland Pirates. He had played roughly 600 AHL games and only 31 in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks when he got to Anaheim at age 29. But despite being older, because that was really the first year he spent the majority of a season in the NHL, he was treated like young guys such as Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Advertisement In fact, he got put on their line. 'I played with Getz and Perrs for eight or nine games, and then they sent me back down, then called me back two weeks later and played me with Getz and Perrs again,' Thornton recalled. 'They were so good. I had four or five points playing with those two guys, had a couple fights and they really helped me stay in Anaheim because if I didn't play well with them, they would have had to put me on waivers and I might've got picked up. 'Finally, after I'd say 10 or 11 games, they put me with Dustin Penner and Todd Marchant, and Perrs and Getz had a rotating crew through there with George Parros, Ryan Shannon and a few other guys.' Thornton, who played 705 NHL games, would never play another minor-league game after that season. 'He kind of protected us,' Perry said. 'We could pretty much have our way out there and he was behind us all the time. He instilled a lot of good qualities in our game.' Weeks after winning the Cup with Perry in Anaheim, Thornton signed as a free agent with the Bruins. Three years later, Marchand arrived on the scene after playing 20 games the year before. In October 2010, Thornton was linemates with Marchand during an exhibition game in Belfast, Ireland. Together with Gregory Campbell, who coincidentally today is one of the Panthers' assistant GMs, Marchand-Campbell-Thornton became the original 'Merlot Line' because of the color of their practice sweaters. That changed when the Bruins acquired Daniel Paille from the Buffalo Sabres. Paille started out by playing with Patrice Bergeron but would eventually take Marchand's spot on the 'Merlot Line.' 'They swapped Paille and Marshy, and Marshy never looked back,' Thornton said. 'Selfishly, that year was my only year I ever had 10 goals, 10 assists, and I think a bunch of those came playing with Marshy in our 20-something games together. He was so competitive, so hard on the puck, such an agitator, so physical, not afraid — like, zero fear in him. And then the skill level and the shot and the release was second to none.' Thornton suddenly laughed: 'I was surprised he was on my line for that long, to be completely honest.' Thornton says the common trait between Perry and Marchand that has likely led to such longevity is the fearlessness they each have possessed when it comes to playing in the hard areas of the game. 'Perrs was always super skilled, super gritty, get in the dirty areas, not afraid to take punishment to score a goal, and it paid off for him,' Thornton said. 'But I think the way he's changed his game and adjusted and accepted new roles over the years is impressive.' Advertisement With Zach Hyman injured, Perry, this late in his career, is playing on the Oilers' top line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid. But even when the Oilers opt to unite McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Perry has remained on the line. He's also played on the top power play off and on in the playoffs. COREY PERRY TIES UP GAME 2 WITH SECONDS TO SPARE 🥶 WE'RE HEADED TO OVERTIME 👀 — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 7, 2025 Similarly, Marchand has accepted his role on Florida playing on the second power-play unit and the third line with young two-way studs Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen. And he's still a short-handed star. Marchand's two goals Friday night marked the ninth time in his career that he's scored multiple goals in a playoff game. It was his second time in a final, the other coming in 2011 in Game 7 when he beat Roberto Luongo, who just so happens to be back with the Panthers as special adviser to general manager Bill Zito. After Friday's game, the always-humorous Luongo posted on X, 'Favorite player of all time.' Because he's on the business side of the Panthers, Thornton doesn't get hockey ops scoops even though his former linemate, Campbell, is one of Zito's right-hand men. In fact, on trade deadline day back in March, Thornton was golfing with a couple of clients who asked him if there was any chance the Panthers could trade for Marchand later in the day. 'I'm like, 'I can't see him leaving the Bruins,'' Thornton said. 'At 3 o'clock, I was like, 'I'm wrong.' I called Marshy and said, 'You're coming to my team and you can't give me a heads-up?' He said, 'It happened pretty quickly.' So I wasn't in the loop on it.' Thornton hasn't talked to Perry in a long time because he played so briefly with him. But he became close friends with Marchand and calls him the 'ultimate teammate.' 'I would say to him some nights, 'You're 6-(foot)-8 tonight, do whatever you want,'' Thornton said. 'I mean, he always plays that way, but he knew I had his back. He was so respectful of the job that some of us fighters had to do. But there were some nights we were playing somebody that was 6-8, 270 pounds and I wasn't feeling the best. Advertisement 'I'd go, 'Marshy, can you just be 5-8 tonight?' Those would be the nights he'd just play hockey and not be the pest he was so I wouldn't have to protect him. So he was great. We sat close to each other in the locker room. I can't say enough about him and how he's grown into the leader that he is and how he's become the family man he's become. He's an unbelievable human being.' Late in Thornton's playing career, he started doing his own deals and leveraged his image to the point that the last three or four years of his playing career he didn't touch his paycheck. He always knew he wanted to get into the business side of hockey, not the hockey ops or coaching side. 'I always had a general curiosity about the business side, and I was pretty involved on the business side of things with every organization, whether it was a foundation, community relations,' he said. 'I used to sit with sponsorships and ticket ops and ticket salespeople and just had to pick their brain on how things work. 'When I got to the Panthers, our CEO, Matt Caldwell, asked me questions about what I had seen in successful organizations and unsuccessful organizations I had played in. My answers were business directives and not, 'Oh, we need better sushi in the player lounge.' And I started on the business side here three weeks after I played my last game.' As chief revenue officer, Thornton oversees the Panthers' ticket sales and service, all marketing partnerships and the Panthers Foundation and community team. Thornton didn't go to college or business school. He's learned on the fly, so to speak. 'In jujitsu terms, I was a blue belt, so I was just dangerous enough, but definitely not a black belt on the business side,' he said. These days, Thornton watches all road games, but at home games, he's running around meeting with clients and business partners. Advertisement But he's sure enjoyed watching his old linemates battle it out in this series. And he especially can't get over Marchand, who is second on the Panthers in the playoffs with seven goals and tied for second with 17 points in 19 games. 'He seems that he's been getting better every series, which isn't surprising, either, because he keeps turning it up a level to match wherever he's been,' Thornton said. 'On the outside looking in, he's been an unbelievable pickup for our team. I tip my cap to (Zito) that he was able to pull that one off last minute at the deadline.' (Top photos: Harry How and Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Oilers or Panthers (again)? An updated rooting guide for 30 other NHL fan bases
I can't speak for every hockey fan, but one of the reasons I enjoy this time of year in part is that there's a pleasant sense of familiarity. The postseason story is winding its way to a conclusion, hitting most of the usual beats along the way. We've hit on all of the mandatory controversies. My favorite team is, of course, already out. And most importantly: We can crack open the file folder labelled 'recurring bits,' which makes life easier for everyone. Well, for me. I guess I'm mainly concerned about me here. Advertisement But here's the thing about that comfortable familiarity – you can have too much of a good thing. This year's playoffs are getting a little too familiar, and it's messing things up. There's already been one casualty. For the first time in a while, I didn't bother with the 'lessons from the final four' post this year because three of the four finalists were the same as last year. And now it's happened again, with the hockey gods serving up a rare Stanley Cup Final rematch. Look, we all love a good sequel, and there are plenty of juicy narratives to sink into over the next few weeks. But a rematch threatens to ruin one of my favorite gimmicks, the annual final rooting guide for the 30 other fan bases. We already did Florida vs. Edmonton this time last year. What's a grizzled sportswriter to do? The answer is obvious: Come up with some new ideas for once you hack Double down. So today, we're doing Oilers vs. Panthers, the sequel. But this time there's a twist – I'm going to try really hard to switch up the picks, or at least the reasoning, for as many of the 30 teams as possible. Hey, when has a strategy of running it back ever failed in the past? Let's do this. I said I'd try to switch it up on as many teams as possible. But there are certain lines we just don't cross, and some obvious truths I'm just not interested in messing with. We'll keep this section as short as possible, but it has to exist. Colorado Avalanche When you won your very first Cup in your very first season, Panthers fans threw rats at you. I see no reason to ever forgive that. Pick: Oilers Dallas Stars Here's what I wrote last year, word for word: You just lost a tough Western Conference final in six games, and the disappointment of falling just short in a winnable series is still fresh, so you can go ahead and spite-cheer for the Panthers. Oh, hey, neat, that's the exact same thing we could have said a year ago! Isn't that neat, Stars fans? Huh, they don't seem to think it's very neat. Advertisement Throw a hat on the ice because this year is the hat trick. Full credit to the Stars, at least they changed up the number of games this year (by, uh, losing faster). But otherwise, it's familiar territory for Dallas fans, and you're allowed to hate that. Pick: Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning There are rare circumstances where I might encourage a fan base to cheer on a rival. This is not remotely one of those cases. The Panthers have gone from being the Lightning's scrawny younger brother to a realistic threat, and are now getting dangerously close to equaling or even surpassing them. This nonsense better end here. Pick: Oilers It's about the journey, not the destination, assuming we ignore the fact that this entire post is about the destination. Anaheim Ducks I think I speak for all the other fan bases when I say it would be very funny to see Corey Perry lose in the Stanley Cup Final for the 14th year in a row. But as the only team that has any obligation to actually like the guy, you could be forgiven for feeling like enough was enough, and it's time for him to finally step on the punchline and get that second ring. Pick: Oilers Carolina Hurricanes The Panthers knocked you out of the conference final in five games, which was bad. Then their coach, who never played pro hockey, lectured your 20-year NHL veteran about how handshake lines are supposed to work, which was honestly so much worse. Pick: Oilers Chicago Blackhawks Hawks fans, where are we at on rooting for Seth Jones? He wasn't always beloved in Chicago, and the way he basically forced his way out could leave a bad taste. On the other hand, the Panthers ate most of his contract and gave you a first-round pick and a potential goalie of the future, so maybe we just let bygones be bygones? (Remembers we're talking about hockey fans.) Of course not. Pick: Oilers Advertisement Columbus Blue Jackets It can't be fun for Columbus fans to watch Bill Zito establish himself as arguably the best GM in the league, given he spent seven years in the Blue Jackets front office. Then again, he left right in the middle of Jarmo Kekäläinen's decade-long stint, so it's not like there was an opening to promote him and the Blue Jackets just didn't take it. Rooting for a former employee who did a good job and then left for a better opportunity is good karma, so… Pick: Panthers Minnesota Wild Connor McDavid finally winning his first championship will make him a better leader when the Wild trade for him this summer. Pick: Oilers Nashville Predators I mean, if you're going to spend a ton of money to build your team around the Lightning's all-time franchise player, a longtime Hurricane, and a guy that Florida flushed away in an expansion draft, you might as well go all in on hating the Panthers. Pick: Oilers New York Islanders The Oilers, led by the league's best player, try to win the Stanley Cup in a rematch against last year's champions. Yeah, apparently we're just doing blatant reboots from the mid-80s now. Know your role. I guess. Pick: Panthers New York Rangers We knew the Panthers knocked the Rangers out of the playoffs last year, but we didn't realize they'd dispatched them to the shadow realm. Besides, history shows us that when the Oilers win a Cup, the Rangers get to steal their captain a year later, so… Pick: Oilers Philadelphia Flyers Slowly but surely, we're seeing a cold war develop in the NHL between the big markets that love hockey and actually pay attention to the guys who make millions of dollars to play it, and the smaller ones that win by attracting stars who'd rather wear flip-flops to practice and live in anonymity. You guys know which side you're on. Pick: Oilers Advertisement Toronto Maple Leafs Look, the whole 'maybe we can sign Connor McDavid next summer' thing is a pipe dream, for the Leafs and all the other big market teams thinking about it right now. He's going to re-sign with the Oilers, probably on July 1, because that's what hockey players almost always do. But if he won a Cup in Edmonton, he might feel like he'd done all he could there, and want to seek an even bigger challenge somewhere else. Hm… Pick: Oilers Vancouver Canucks I know that Vancouver fans are solidly in the 'We don't cheer for Canadian rivals' mindset, but are you really going to root for Brad Marchand? I mean, you will after he signs with you for way too much money on July 1, but I mean right now. Ah well, might as well get a little practice in. Pick: Panthers Vegas Golden Knights Should Knights fans get over the fact that they got screwed by a crucial missed call in overtime of a playoff game? Yes, of course, eventually. How long should it take? I have no idea, I just passed three decades and I'm still going strong, so I'll let you know once I figure it out. Until then, you guys and Lil Wayne know what to do. Pick: Panthers Winnipeg Jets Jets fans, are you buying Paul Maurice's whole maudlin 'I hope you're next' routine from last year? Based on this year's survey, apparently you are. And if so, you kind of have to have his back, right? Pick: Panthers Let's clean up an unprecedented situation from last year's post. Calgary Flames Last year, for the first time in the history of this column, we gave the Flames a total pass. After all, their choice was between their most bitter rivals, or the team led by the so-called franchised player who'd forced his way out of Calgary and was somehow getting his tires pumped by the hockey world as some sort of leader for it. Advertisement It's tempting to go with the same special dispensation this time around, but I'm not sure it's necessary. Matthew Tkachuk already has his ring, so that ship has sailed. And since he's playing hurt, he hasn't been the big story on this Florida run. Would Calgary fans enjoy seeing him (and Sam Bennett) win again? No, but it's better than the Oilers bringing the Cup back to Alberta, and actively rooting for your rivals to face-plant on the biggest stage is one of the great joys of sports fandom. I don't want to take that away from Flames fans for the second straight year. Pick: Panthers These are the swing states, where it was close enough last year that I think we can flip teams this time around. And the beauty of it is that if you don't agree, just go back to last year's post. I'm right either way. Buffalo Sabres Last year, the Sabres were a tough call, but ultimately, the Kyle Okposo factor tipped them toward the Panthers. He's not around this year, but Jeff Skinner is in Edmonton, finally getting to (sort of) live his playoff dream after six years in Buffalo. I get that you didn't love his contract, but cheering on an OGWAC can build some karma with the hockey gods that you guys clearly need. Pick: Oilers Detroit Red Wings Last year, I figured you could root for the Oilers so that Ken Holland could get one more Cup. But since they turfed him, you're free to root against them. Yes, that means cheering for a division rival, which is always dicey. But do you want to deal with a little bit of cognitive dissonance, or would you rather watch Jake Walman skate around with a Cup while everyone makes fun of Steve Yzerman? Pick: Panthers Los Angeles Kings Last year, maybe you could root for the Oilers, if only to give yourselves some hope that you weren't that far away from contending, even though they'd beaten you three years in a row. But four? At some point, spite has to overwhelm logic, and I think we're there. Besides, do you really want to spend the next few years hearing about your head coach's dumb challenge deciding a Cup winner? Pick: Panthers Advertisement New Jersey Devils I couldn't double down on using Edmonton's Adam Henrique for the Ducks, but that doesn't mean I can't hold him up as a reason for Devils fans. He once scored a series-winning overtime goal against the Rangers, you should want him to get his ring. Pick: Oilers Ottawa Senators This one's a bit tough. On the one hand, the Panthers made the Maple Leafs sad. On the other, I'm legitimately worried that 'Tkachuk brother forces his way out of small Canadian market to win multiple championships for Sun Belt franchise and never even pretends to have any regrets' isn't the greatest narrative for a Senators fan. Ultimately, I think the tie-breaker here is that the Sens are a playoff team now, so it's time to get some reps in on hating the dirty, filthy Panthers before you run into them next year. Pick: Oilers Pittsburgh Penguins Important breaking news: Last year, I suggested that Penguins fans should root for the Panthers because Patric Hornqvist was part of their front office, which wasn't a great reason but these can't all be bangers. But the bigger news was that Hornqvist's official executive photo still had him wearing his uniform, which was very funny for reasons I can't quite figure out. Anyways, I just checked and… he's now awkwardly wearing a suit and tie, in what appears to be a hastily thrown-together photo shoot, given that he's standing against a different background from everyone else. Is nothing sacred? Penguin fans, look how they massacred our boy. Pick: Oilers San Jose Sharks Last year, we said Sharks fans had to root against the Oilers because they'd just ended Joe Pavelski's last shot at a Stanley Cup. Fair's fair — this year we have to apply the same logic to the Panthers taking out Brent Burns. Just squint and pretend you don't see Evander Kane out there. Pick: Oilers Advertisement Seattle Kraken Honest question: How do Seattle fans feel about the ongoing discourse about zero-tax markets having some sort of huge advantage over everyone else? More specifically, how do you feel about the way you guys get awkwardly left out of the discussion, with everyone pointing to the Panthers and Lightning and Stars and Golden Knights and Predators attracting all the star talent and then mumbling something about Chandler Stephenson? While you're mulling that over, cheer for the Oilers just so it will annoy Canucks fans. Pick: Oilers St. Louis Blues If the Panthers win, you guys are the Ultimate Losers yet again, for what would be the fifth time in franchise history. I'm all for embracing a bit, but maybe let someone else have a turn. Pick: Oilers Utah Mammoth I know you guys aren't technically the Coyotes, but it's still worthwhile to remember where you came from. Did you know that in their last two years in Arizona, the Coyotes signed Troy Stecher in the offseason and then traded him at the deadline for future assets both years? That amuses me. And you still have a fourth-round pick in 2027 to look forward to from those deals. Anyway, I can't think of any really good reasons for Utah fans to swing one way or another, so let's cheer for Troy to get a ring. Pick: Oilers Washington Capitals Four-year Capitals blueliner Nate Schmidt is the only OGWAC option the Panthers have, partly because you guys beat him in the final back in 2018. Pick: Panthers Boston Bruins Finally, I'm pulling the Bruins out of their regular spot in alphabetical order because there are unique circumstances here that are worth special consideration. It was easy enough to root against the Panthers last year, after they'd ended the Bruins' season twice in a row. But now that Florida has become the big farm with lots of room to run around that Brad Marchand got shipped off to, you can root for your former captain. Especially now that he's in the waning years of his storybook career, having transformed into a more mature and maybe even quasi-likeable veteran personality. Hold your nose and do it for Brad. Pick: Panthers Montreal Canadiens But seriously, screw Brad Marchand. Pick: Oilers (Top photo of Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk: Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)
