The Florida Panthers determined to do one thing completely different this season once they had been introduced with the Prince of Wales Trophy, and they’re hoping it pays off.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Invoice Daly introduced the trophy to captain Aleksander Barkov following a 2-1 win towards the New York Rangers in Sport 6 of the Jap Convention Closing at Amerant Financial institution Area in Dawn, Florida, on Saturday. Barkov didn’t contact the trophy earlier than he and his teammates posed for photographs with it.
“We touched it final 12 months and it didn’t work for us,” ahead Sam Bennett mentioned. “So, we thought we might strive one thing completely different this 12 months.”
Final season, the Panthers touched and skated round with the trophy, with ahead Matthew Tkachuk saying: “The very last thing that we will do is be superstitious about not touching it. Like, no one mentioned we had been even going to make the playoffs. I feel it is fairly cool to the touch it, carry it round and take photos with it. We earned that factor.”
Nonetheless, Florida would then lose in 5 video games to the Vegas Golden Knights within the Cup Closing.
On the finish of the sport Saturday, it appeared coach Paul Maurice had instructed Barkov on the bench to not contact the trophy.
“He additionally instructed me final 12 months (to not contact it),” Barkov mentioned afterward. “Final 12 months we had a special state of affairs, however we’re not going to speak about final 12 months. This 12 months, I feel all of us agreed we weren’t going to the touch it.”
When instructed that Barkov revealed he had defied him a 12 months in the past when it got here to touching the trophy, Maurice mentioned: “I feel ‘Sasha’ has a reasonably good humorousness. Truly I don’t bear in mind. All I do know is there an image someplace right here of him carrying it down the hallway, so at that time I needed to say I instructed him to, proper? It has nothing to do with something, however we play our foolish video games.”
In 1996, the one different time the Panthers received the Prince of Wales Trophy, captain Brian Skrudland lifted the trophy. The Panthers had been then swept by the Colorado Avalanche within the Cup Closing.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who received the trophy from 2020-22, touched all of it 3 times however had been defeated within the Cup Closing by the Avalanche in six video games in 2022. Previous to that, they received the Cup in 2020 towards the Dallas Stars and in 2021 towards the Montreal Canadiens.
Latest historical past doesn’t look like on the Panthers’ facet. 5 of the previous eight groups to win the Cup have touched the Prince of Wales Trophy. Previous to 2020, Sidney Crosby touched it in 2016 and in 2017 earlier than serving to the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Cup every season, and Alex Ovechkin did the identical in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, who received the Cup.
The custom of not touching the Prince of Wales Trophy hasn’t labored out nicely for the Jap Convention champion in current seasons. The 2011 Boston Bruins are the newest crew to win the Cup after selecting to not contact it. The previous 5 groups to not achieve this misplaced within the Cup Closing.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara didn’t contact the trophy in 2019, and Boston misplaced to the St. Louis Blues in seven video games within the Cup Closing. The New Jersey Devils (2012), Bruins (2013), Rangers (2014) and Lightning (2015) all misplaced within the Cup Closing after refusing to the touch the trophy.
Due to short-term divisional realignment as a consequence of COVID-19 in 2020-21, the third spherical of the playoffs was renamed the Stanley Cup Semifinals as an alternative of the convention finals. The Prince of Wales Trophy was awarded to the Lightning after they defeated the New York Islanders in seven video games.
The Prince of Wales Trophy has been awarded to the Jap Convention champion because the 1993-94 season.
Florida will play the Edmonton Oilers within the Stanley Cup Closing, which begins June 8.
NHL.com employees author Amalie Benjamin and unbiased correspondent George Richards contributed to this report
