The time period “tradition” will get thrown round so much in sports activities, and it is almost misplaced all that means within the strategy of changing into a cliché. That is not the case in Florida, the place the Panthers have breathed new life into the time period whereas making that tradition the spine of two straight Stanley Cup victories.

Nobody is aware of extra about that tradition than Panthers heart Sam Bennett, who was named the 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with 15 targets in 23 video games.

“It begins with the tradition right here,” Bennett mentioned in his postgame press convention. “There is a manner that we do issues right here, and it isn’t straightforward. We do not play a simple fashion of hockey. It calls for so much out of you.”

To Bennett’s level, the Panthers ask a variety of every participant on the ice. Everybody on the roster should go flat out on the forecheck and backcheck each shift, with out exception, to grind the opponent right into a positive powder. Within the locker room and on the ice, no single participant is greater than the crew or the final word objective of successful.

The Cats make it look straightforward, but when that have been the case, each crew would do it.

As soon as everybody buys in, nevertheless, that selfless dedication to successful and taking part in for each other is infectious and may turn out to be a Fountain of Youth for gamers and coaches alike. For those who want an instance, there is not any higher place to start out than behind the bench.

On Dec. 17, 2021, Paul Maurice resigned because the coach of the Winnipeg Jets, saying the gamers wanted a “new voice.” By his personal admission, Maurice was worn down by the point his tenure in Winnipeg ended.

“The Winnipeg individuals, the possession and the followers, have been higher than I used to be on the finish,” Maurice mentioned after successful his second straight Stanley Cup. “I used to be simply no good. I used to be burnt.”

At the moment, Maurice had coached 1,685 video games with 775 wins and no Stanley Cups. Maurice mentioned he may “handle” how he perceived his profession if that was it, but it surely wasn’t.

The Panthers got here calling in the summertime of 2022, and Maurice answered. Three years and two Cups later, Maurice’s enthusiasm for teaching has been restored, and the tradition within the Florida locker room is the largest cause why.

“Watching these guys work together with one another, that is been the reward to this place,” Maurice mentioned. “That is been the very best factor for me. If you’re burnt out, you’re exhausted, cynical and consider you are not efficient. These are the three parts to it, and that cynicism is actual. It was considerably life-altering this 12 months, to look at the best way they deal with one another, and I noticed I may deal with them the identical manner.”

Maurice, one of many architects of the brand new tradition in Dawn, is much from the one one that has felt the consequences of what the Panthers have constructed. Simply take a look at among the gamers who touched the Cup instantly after captain Aleksander Barkov accepted it from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Panthers have a good time second straight Stanley Cup championship with epic outing at Fort Lauderdale bar

Chris Bengel

Nate Schmidt, a 33-year-old defenseman, gave the impression to be on his manner out of the NHL when he signed a one-year contract for $800,000 final summer time. This postseason, he performed an integral function on the blue line whereas posting 12 factors in 23 video games.

By the top of his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, Seth Jones’ popularity as a top-pairing defenseman had taken a severe hit. In just some months with the Panthers, Jones returned to peak type in a shutdown function.

After Recreation 6, Maurice mentioned Jones is a “Norris Trophy candidate all day lengthy.”

Schmidt and Jones, together with Tomas Nosek, Vitek Vanecek, A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist and Mackie Samoskevich have been new to the Cup celebration expertise. They have been all pushed to the entrance of the road and lifted Lord Stanley earlier than Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sergei Bobrovsky and each different Panthers celebrity.

Maurice mentioned that celebration was only a glimpse into the Panthers’ locker room tradition.

“These are the small insights for individuals into this group,” Maurice mentioned. “It would not go captain to captain to captain to Sam Reinhart, who scored 4. … All of these guys who touched it first, it was their first Cup. That is what makes these males particular, to concentrate on that. They’re simply not egocentric in any respect. They do not want the digicam time. There is not any pecking order.”

It was not Brad Marchand’s first Stanley Cup, however there is not any doubt no matter was within the South Florida Dairy Queen Blizzards had an impact on him. Marchand was nonetheless an excellent participant for the Bruins earlier than his commerce deadline day transfer all the way down to Florida, however he discovered an elite type within the playoffs.

Marchand completed an in depth second to Bennett in Conn Smythe Trophy voting after posting 10 targets and 10 assists within the playoffs. Six of these targets got here within the Stanley Cup Remaining. It was among the most interesting hockey of the 37-year-old’s profession.

Bennett credited every new addition for getting into the Panthers’ tradition with out hesitation.

“They immediately purchased into this, what we do right here, and the dedication to being nice and successful,” Bennett mentioned. “Each single man simply purchased into that. It begins with the tradition, however the character of the blokes, that is why we’re ready to do that.”

In fact, crew leaders like Bennett are the cultivators and caretakers of that tradition. The toughness and dedication to successful from the Panthers’ high gamers grew to become evident shortly after their Recreation 6 win.

• Tkachuk battled again from a torn abductor muscle that got here clear off the bone, together with “some hernia factor,” to attain the game-winning objective in Recreation 6.
• Barkov suffered a hand laceration in Recreation 1 of the Stanley Cup Remaining and nonetheless managed to close down the Oilers’ two superstars in the remainder of the playoffs.
• Reinhart scored 4 targets in a legendary Cup-clinching efficiency whereas taking part in via a Grade 2 MCL sprain.

Tradition is a tricky factor to judge as a result of it could possibly’t be quantified like targets, scoring possibilities or save share. It solely will get tougher to measure when you think about that the phrase has turn out to be pablum within the NHL and different skilled sports activities.

In Dawn, tradition is immeasurable, however for very completely different causes. The Panthers have taken an overused cliche and developed a real dedication to selflessness and successful. With out it, there is not any manner a crew would have the ability to make three Stanley Cup Remaining runs, solely getting stronger with every successive look.

It is also what’s going to give the Panthers a shot at cementing their dynasty in 2026.

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