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It may go down as the longest — and loudest — victory lap in National Hockey League history.
I’m talking about the Florida Panthers, who are seemingly still going strong nine days after hoisting the Stanley Cup.
Have these guys come up for air yet? Gotten any sleep? Mixed in a water? Doesn’t seem like it.
We’ve seen endless photos and videos of Matthew Tkachuk and company partying into the wee hours at various bars and clubs. There’ve been dips in the ocean with the trophy, dozens (hundreds? thousands?) of beers shotgunned, and even defenceman Aaron Ekblad — who, you may recall, was suspended 20 games this season for using PEDs — going door-to-door in his neighbourhood showing off his prized possession.
Florida Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe carries the Stanley Cup during the NHL hockey team’s Stanley Cup championship celebration, Sunday, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Michael Laughlin / The Associated Press files)
Even the ultimate rat, Brad Marchand, went on a presumably drunken Instagram spree, tagging all the former NHL clubs where his current teammates used to play, thanking them for their “contributions.”
And then there’s the bravado — chest-thumping, trash-talking, and not-so-subtle jabs, especially aimed at the team Florida has now defeated in back-to-back playoffs: the Edmonton Oilers.
Tkachuk has been seen on camera encouraging profane chants aimed at Connor McDavid while Marchand was sporting a sticker where the Oilers’ logo was reworked to say “Losers.”
If you thought some sober second thoughts might be creeping in by now, think again.
“A lot of people don’t like the way we play. They call us dirty. They call us nasty. They call us bullies,” forward Sam Bennett told the crowd during their championship parade the other day.
This is the same Sam Bennett, I’ll remind you, who has made a habit of “accidentally-on-purpose” falling into goaltenders, leaving a trail of injuries and controversy in his wake.
“So I would like to take this time to apologize… to absolutely (expletive) no one,” Bennett continued to the roaring crowd. “We are the double champs. We do what the (expletive) we want. Let’s go!”
Well then.
(To be clear, I doubt we’re anywhere near the stage of sober second thoughts. That may still be a week or two away.)
Not surprisingly, there’s no shortage of opinions about this ongoing Panthers party — or, as some prefer to describe it, a display of boorish, bush-league behaviour.
Many — especially those in northern Alberta but also across the hockey world — have labelled Florida as sore winners, classless clowns, and everything in between. They’ve called them filthy, lying, cheating hooligans who are sullying the sport and setting a terrible example for young, impressionable fans.
“Won’t somebody think of the children?!”
Me? I love it. Every debauchery-filled second.
Maybe it goes back to my younger days watching professional wrestling, where I always had a soft spot for the villain, known in that world as a “heel.”
From iconic managers like Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, to commentators like Jesse “The Body” Ventura, to rasslers like Winnipeg’s own “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, there was always something magnetic about being the foil to the so-called heroes.
And it goes far beyond the squared circle. Think of the most compelling TV shows or movies you’ve seen — what do they have in common? Likely a classic battle between good and evil, right and wrong.
Which brings me to the NHL, and why the Panthers are exactly what the league needs right now.
Is it vulgar and brash? Bleepin’ right it is.
Is it entertaining? Absolutely.
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These Panthers are embracing their role as hockey’s ultimate bad guys, doubling and tripling down while reminding the rest of the league they’re looking down from the mountaintop.
They’ve earned the right to spike the proverbial football.
The message couldn’t be clearer: Don’t like it? Try and take this all away from us, then.
And that, folks, is why this is such a win in my eyes. Sports are supposed to be fun, to reel us in and capture our hearts and our minds. And nothing does that better than a clear-cut villain throwing down the gauntlet, especially in a sport where players usually toe the line of polite humility.
Nobody is getting hurt, aside from some bruised egos out there. But in the process, the Panthers have made themselves must-see TV, which isn’t a bad thing at all when it comes to a league that can use all the attention it can get south of the border.
Who isn’t going to want to try and knock these guys down a few pegs when the 2025-26 season begins in October? The line starts with the Oilers and likely extends to all 30 other rivals in the NHL.
But that’s still a few months away.
For now? Party on, Panthers.
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