Tag: Florida Panthers

The Tkachuk brothers’ grandmother went through the gamut of emotions watching them jaw at each other

The Tkachuks’ grandmother was going through it while her grandkids chirped at each other.

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk caused all kinds of chaos on Monday night, in a Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators contest that included a referee handing out a 10-minute misconduct penalty to every player involved in a brawl on the ice.

That also included cameras capturing the Tkachuks jawing at each other, which is just delightful.

You know what else is delightful? Their grandmother was in the stands to watch this all go down, and cameras also captured her reactions, which are exactly how I would have reacted if I was her.

Check all of that out below and enjoy:

NHL referee hilariously gave every player on the ice a 10-minute misconduct after big Panthers-Senators brawl

You know it’s a bad fight when every player on the ice gets penalized for it.

Monday night’s Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators game featured one of the most comical fights of the NHL season so far.

As the back half of the third period played out, a host of Panthers and Senators got into an instant scuffle on the ice that stopped the entire game and broke out into an all-out brawl.

Once the referees got hold of the game, every single player on the ice got assessed with a 10-minute penalty that would knock them out for the rest of the game.

You know it’s a bad fight when literally every single player on the ice gets penalized for it.

We’re guessing that all of these guys will have to skate laps during practice after this one, even if the Florida players wouldn’t mind as much since they had a four-goal lead when the fight happened.

As for this referee, he got to make the call of the night and one he likely won’t forget for the rest of his career.

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Brooks Koepka ends feud with Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad by wearing his jersey to Stanley Cup Final Game 4

Could they be buddies after all?

The saga between golfer Brooks Koepka and Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad took another unexpected turn.

Ahead of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Koepka — a noted Panthers superfan — got the crowd riled up at FLA Live Arena while wearing Ekblad’s jersey.

This would seemingly signal the end of the recent feud between the two, which began when Koepka heckled Ekblad at a game back in March while holding a traffic cone — effectively implying that the cone could perform as well on defense as Ekblad.

Ouch.

Have the two now buried the hatchet after Koepka’s apparent peace gesture? You tell me.

Ekblad was apparently not pleased with the traffic cone stunt, and though he didn’t say much on the topic, his brief response got the message across.

“We’re not buddies. Never be buddies,” he said at the time.

With Koepka making an attempt to squash the beef, perhaps we may see an unexpected buddy arc between the two, after all.

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Jack Eichel doesn’t think Matthew Tkachuk’s dangerous hit on him was dirty: ‘It’s a physical game’

“You’re gonna get hit sometimes.”

Game 2 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final featured a hitting moment where it was hard to ascertain if the play was “awkward” or “dirty.” No, I’m not talking about a vicious high hit by the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ Ivan Barbashev on the Florida Panthers’ Radko Gudas — that seemed pretty clear.

I’m referring to a strange exchange between Jack Eichel and Matthew Tkachuk.

As Eichel skated out with the puck toward his blue line, he tripped and made what probably would’ve been a routine check from Tkachuk look absolutely brutal from most angles. After the game, and after Las Vegas prevailed 7-2 to take a 2-0 series lead, Eichel clarified what happened on the play from his perspective.

The star Golden Knights center admitted he thought Tkachuk landed a “clean check,” chalking it up to the randomness of hockey.

Indeed, not every hit is made equal. There are sometimes some truly savage blows that shouldn’t belong in the game at any level. This Tkachuk blow on Eichel seemed just to be a case of poor fortune, making the routine seem a lot worse than it really was. Heck, even Eichel himself thinks so.

Reporter successfully pushes away Golden Knights fans interrupting her live TV hit: Get ‘out of my face’

What a move while doing a live TV hit!

Samantha Rivera of CBS Miami? You deserve a medal for this.

She was reporting live from the Florida Panthers’ Game 2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at a very loud T-Mobile Arena, which was already a challenge. But then, as she began her report from the Stanley Cup Final, some Vegas fans decided it was a good time to interrupt and celebrate their team’s victory.

As Rivera said as she pushed them away from the camera, “NOPE.” She got them out and sent the broadcast to highlights from the game.

“Listen, I don’t give a damn what team you’re rooting for,” she wrote on Twitter. “Get the hell out of my face when I’m working and respect that I’m here to do my job.”

EXACTLY:

Jack Eichel awkwardly collided with Matthew Tkachuk and the resulting hit was so brutal

This was such an unfortunate hit on Jack Eichel.

This was just a case of some severe bad luck for Jack Eichel.

In a game that already featured a vicious hit on Radko Gudas early on, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers was an incredibly punishing one. In the final moments of the second period, Eichel was rocked on a hit by Matthew Tkachuk, but the play wasn’t a dirty one at all.

In fact, the hit only looked so brutal because Eichel tripped into it after toe picking into the ice. The result was a really unfortunate collision between the two that looked absolutely nasty after Eichel was crunched into Tkachuk at an awful angle.

Tkachuk was given a two-minute roughing penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct in the scrum after the fact, but despite his reputation here, this hit is as clean as they come. It’s a hard one, but it turned so unfortunate only because Eichel lost his footing and fell awkwardly into it.

Thankfully, Eichel returned for the third period and even managed to help the Golden Knights score a goal in the final frame! Here’s how NHL fans reacted to Eichel’s unfortunate collision into Tkachuk.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice was so delightfully cheeky despite losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final

There’s no panic in sight for the wise-cracking Maurice.

Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final proved to be a tough opener for the upstart Florida Panthers — and a clearly frustrated Matthew Tkachuck — on Saturday night.

After holding their own for two stanzas, the Las Vegas Golden Knights busted the matchup open with three third-period goals to take home the 5-2 win and a 1-0 series lead. If not for the ridiculous heroics of Las Vegas goaltender Adin Hill, the game potentially never shifts this much against the Panthers.

But, even while his team took one on the chin, Florida head coach Paul Maurice kept a positive attitude in the postgame. Maurice was so positive, in fact, that he couldn’t help but crack a few wise jokes to cut the tension.

First, he urged the gathered media to relax in his own unique way.

(Warning: NSFW language in the video below.)

Then, he made light of the referees giving the Panthers a penalty after a seemingly fast review:

And he also had thoughts on what the Golden Knights breaking a 2-2 tie meant to the Panthers. It was a pretty straightforward explanation!

Las Vegas may have landed the first punch of this Stanley Cup Final, but I have a feeling the Panthers are far from done. Maurice’s loose and free-wheeling approach to his interviews after Game 1 is an excellent sign for his squad.

Matthew Tkachuk hit Nicolas Hague with a dirty sucker punch in Game 1

You can’t do that.

Matthew Tkachuk has been an MVP for the Florida Panthers in the postseason with his OT heroics and his instant walk-off celebrations.

But what he did in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final as his team was losing to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday was absolutely dirty.

In the third period, with Tkachuk’s team down, his teammate Marc Staal held on to Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague after the whistle. With Staal’s arm around Hague, Tkachuk punched a defenseless Hague right in the face.

Is that suspension-worthy? Fans might be wondering. But it was a double-minor for roughing and a game misconduct, so he left the contest.

Either way, this was dirty:

Not good.

 

6 big-name celebrities who are huge Florida Panther fans

Expect to see Tua Tagovailoa and Brooks Koepka during the Stanley Cup Final

The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 and just the second time in franchise history — and they’ve brought some well-known fans along with them as they face the Vegas Golden Knights.

The now-30-year-old franchise has built a strong following in south Florida and it won’t be surprising to see some celebrities throwing rubber rats on the ice at FLA Live Arena.

We’ve compiled a list of the six biggest celebrity fans to look out for and put together a similar list of celebrity fans you can expect to see at Miami Heat games in the NBA Finals.

Predicting the 2023 Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Golden Knights

The 2023 Stanley Cup Final is here!

The road to the Stanley Cup Final certainly had its twists and turns this year.

The 2023 Stanley Cup Final officially begins on Saturday night, with the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights set to duke it out for the NHL’s top prize. For the first time since the St. Louis Blues won in 2019, the NHL will see a first-time Stanley Cup winner when either the Panthers or Golden Knights emerge victorious by series’ end.

Though the playoffs did not play out in the way many expected them to, the Panthers and Golden Knights are no less deserving of being here. After all, the Panthers took down the NHL’s best regular season team ever in a seven-game series to open the postseason. An unconventional Stanley Cup Final this may be, but the Panthers and Golden Knights fought hard to get here at the precipice of greatness.

So, before the main event, let’s predict which team will win the 2023 Stanley Cup Final!

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