Tag: 2024 Stanley Cup Final

Videos of the Panthers’ Stanley Cup parade getting rained on show the party didn’t stop

The party must go on.

Mother natured rained on the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup parade Sunday, but the team and its fans didn’t let a little precipitation ruin their celebration.

Videos of fans gathering for the parade along Fort Lauderdale Beach surfaced on social media, and the rain appeared to be coming down pretty hard. But it wasn’t enough to dampen a special moment after the first championship in franchise history.

If anything, it was a perfect way to cap the Florida festivities after the Cup already took a swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

What’s a little rain after you stave off a 3-0 comeback from the great Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers to clinch your first title in 30 years.

See the moment Keith Tkachuk finally lifted the Stanley Cup after the Florida Panthers won Game 7

Keith Tkachuk’s long wait is finally over.

The Florida Panthers might have finally gotten the Stanley Cup monkey off their back, but another person had been waiting a lot longer.

Five-time NHL All-Star Keith Tkachuk, father of the Panthers’ standout Matthew Tkachuk, missed out on touching the greatest trophy in sports during his illustrious career. And while younger brother Brady avoided touching the Cup — because he wanted to win it on his own — Matthew made the best possible gesture for his father.

He sought him out during the on-ice celebrations, letting the elder Tkachuk finally experience the ultimate hockey nirvana. For folks who watched Keith dominate as a power forward in the 1990s and early 2000s, this was quite a sight:

What a beautiful moment for the Tkachuks. A moment that was decades in the making. Now Brady just has to complete the trifecta and earn a Cup of his own.

Featured image courtesy of ESPN

Childhood pals Matthew Tkachuk, Jayson Tatum made their high school proud with NHL, NBA championships

From high school pals to champions.

For an athlete to reach the professional ranks of their respective sport is an extreme source of pride for the hometown and high school they came from. For that athlete to reach star status and win a championship only heightens that sense of pride.

But what is it like to have two athletes from the same school do it all in the same month? We’ll have to ask Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis. Because after Matthew Tkachuk’s triumph with the Florida Panthers Monday night followed his buddy Jayson Tatum winning an NBA title for the Boston Celtics last week, Chaminade is one of the few schools to know that over-the-moon feeling.

After Florida won the Stanley Cup, Tkachuk said everyone back home should be very proud.

“Two champs from St. Louis, are you kidding me right now?” Tkachuk said. “Chaminade, everybody there. All the teachers, classmates, you guys should be very proud.”

They are, Matthew. They are.

Chaminade principal Philip Rone said as much in a tweet, adding that Tkachuk should be proud too. And he had a lot more to say about “The Hilltop of Champions.”

Kyle Okposo finally getting his Stanley Cup victory skate after the Panthers won was so wholesome

Okay, this was so cool to see for Kyle Okposo.

It’s always fantastic to see a beloved veteran player who has never won a championship finally get their moment in the sun.

That time came for Florida Panthers winger Kyle Okposo on Monday night as his team won the 2024 Stanley Cup Final over the Edmonton Oilers in a 2-1 Game 7 victory in front of the home crowd.

The 36-year-old Okposo has been in the NHL since 2008 after being drafted in 2006 and spent the majority of his NHL career with the New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres.

His first season with Florida cast him as one of the team’s elder statemen, and it proved to be worthwhile as he finally got a chance to skate on the ice and hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup in victory as his teammates cheered him on.

For a hockey player, this is the pinnacle of your career. for Okposo, he’s waited 16 years to finally get his chance at tasting a Stanley Cup win.

Seeing him get his victorious stake with the trophy is just beyond cool to see.

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Why Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy after the Oilers lost the 2024 Stanely Cup Final

Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe without the Stanley Cup to go with it. Here’s why.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid wasn’t able to hoist the Stanley Cup on Monday night but winning the 2024 Conn Smythe Trophy is a pretty good consolation prize.

Per NHL analyst Frank Seravalli, McDavid became the first NHL player since 1976 to win the trophy without his team taking home the Stanley Cup, as Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers accomplished the same feat nearly a half a decade ago.

While the Oilers went home without the series win, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the player with the best performance over the entire playoffs, not just the Stanley Cup Final.

McDavid pretty easily was the best player on the ice throughout this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, which paved the way for his earning the trophy.

It’s just the tough luck of the draw that his team wasn’t able to totally match what he was able to accomplish.

McDavid will have more time in his career to push for a Stanley Cup, but adding the Conn Smythe to his record is nothing to shake a hockey stick at.

We’ll see in the future if the elite hockey star is able to win both the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup in one fell swoop.

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Meet Brodie, the very good dog who got a front-row seat to Game 7 of the 2024 Stanely Cup Final

This is the best Stanley Cup boy ever.

If you were watching Game 7 of this year’s Stanley Cup in Miami between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, you might’ve noticed a big dog sitting right by the glass.

Who is that dog, you might ask? Have you seen this dog before? Well, as it turns out, you probably have.

The very good dog in question at Monday night’s Stanley Cup game is Brodie the Goldendoodle, who has attended sporting events in the past.

His Instagram (@brodiethatdood) stories on Monday showed that Brodie was indeed the dog sitting by the rink with his owner, taking in the exciting hockey festivities.

 

In fact, Brodie has gotten into a dance battle at a Los Angeles Lakers game while sitting courtside (in his owner’s lap).

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1CmXXPOidP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

No matter who won Monday night’s Game 7 for Lord Stanley’s Cup, it’s clear that Brodie is the real winner for being a very good boy.

Maybe someone will fill the Stanley Cup with water and let Brodie take a few drinks of it for being the best pup?

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Connor McDavid made an absolutely unbelievable pass to set up a Corey Perry Game 5 Oilers goal

Connor McDavid isn’t of this world.

Edmonton Oilers superstar center Connor McDavid made one of the sharpest moves of his career on Tuesday night to set up teammate Corey Perry for a goal during Game 5 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.

McDavid navigated staunch defense from the Florida Panthers to weave his way down the ice and set up Perry for the goal with an absolutely outrageous assist in front of the net.

When people talk about McDavid as an all-time talent down the road, this is one of the plays that’s going to come up in his career highlight reel.

It just shows what a generational distributor of the puck he is outside of his excellent scoring prowess.

For Edmonton fans, this is the kind of play you’ll want plenty more of in the years to come.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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Connor McDavid scored his first Stanley Cup Final goal and broke a Wayne Gretzky record in the same night

That Connor McDavid is sure good at hockey.

The Edmonton Oilers are still alive in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, and superstar Connor McDavid is a big reason why.

The electric center scored the first goal of this Stanely Cup series on Saturday night during Game 4 in front of the Edmonton crowd.

He also managed to set a new record for assists during a single NHL postseason with 32, passing Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky’s 31 assists on the leaderboard.

Edmonton’s 8-1 victory over the Florida Panthers saved the Oilers from elimination, and getting to see more playoff hockey from McDavid is a win for us all. Seeing so much happen for him in a night is just icing on the cake.

While the Panthers still have very good odds of winning it all with the series headed back to Florida, McDavid and the Oilers can point to Saturday night as proof enough that they can still hang in there and make this competitive.

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Oilers’ Warren Foegele sported the most unexpected Kobe Bryant tribute ahead of Game 4

Warren Foegele wanted to channel the Mamba ahead of Game 4.

Edmonton Oilers forward Warren Foegele made the most unlikely Kobe Bryant tribute ahead of Saturday’s Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.

With the Oilers entering an elimination game, Foegele needed all the good vibes he could muster to help get his team’s first win of the championship series.

In order to add a spark to his game, he wore a shirt that featured a photo of Bryant wearing a Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers jersey on it.

That’s a heck of a way to motivate yourself to play some hockey and pay tribute to an all-time athlete in the process, as honoring Bryant rocking your team’s jersey (your team’s all-time best player at that) has to get your blood pumping in the best way possible.

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Sean McDonough’s muted Game 3 broadcast call had NHL fans wondering if he was sick

Was Sean McDonagh sick during ESPN’s Stanley Cup Final broadcast of Game 3 on Thursday night?

ESPN broadcaster Sean McDonough’s announcing during Game 3 of this year’s Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night sounded a bit off.

On this Florida Panthers goal, you can hear McDonough’s muted call that doesn’t carry the enthusiasm we’re typically used to when it comes to listening to the regular broadcaster.

McDonough is a pro’s pro, which is why he didn’t suddenly forget to bring his A-game to calling a championship series. It’s very possible that McDonough was under the weather and was powering through Game 3’s broadcast.

Something was off, and it’s not hard to imagine that McDonough was battling some sort of ailment with his dampened delivery on the game call.

NHL fans noticed something wasn’t right with McDonough and wondered if he had some sort of bug.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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