6 72 Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky 72 TRUE BOBROVSKY
7 Contents Hanging On Filling Up the Cup 8 11 GOOD CLEAN FUN 12 ROCKET SCIENCE 15 MR HOCKEY 16 The Rise of the Original Six 17 THE GREAT ONE 22 The NHL Expands 23 THE NEXT GREAT ONE 25 Many Winners 27 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE 29 Top 10 Stanley Cup Winners 31 Index 32
8 Hanging On The Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League NHL were on the verge of an epic collapse in the finals of the Stanley Cup at the end of the 2023-24 season The Cup is awarded to the league champion The Florida franchise dated back 30 years to the 1993-94 season but had never won It seemed that this championship drought would finally end The Panthers took the first three games against the Edmonton Oilers Only once had a team facing a 3-0 deficit come back to win the Cup That happened in 1942 when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings But Edmonton roared back to win the next three games They outscored the Panthers 18 goals to 5 Panthers fans feared a replay of the 1942 series Florida jumped out to a quick lead just over four minutes into the decisive Game 7 on a goal by center Carter Verhaeghe The Oilers quickly scored an equalizer Then came a scramble in front of the Edmonton goal late in the second period Florida forward Sam Reinhart the team's leading scorer tapped a loose puck into the net to put his team ahead 2-1 That tally held up The Panthers had their first-ever Stanley Cup This is the best moment of my life so far veteran Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad said Nothing tops it PANTHERS REINHART 13
9 STANLEY CUP 27 LUOSTARINEN 2 727 PANTHERS BENNETT 6 42 77 The Florida Panthers won their first-ever Stanley Cup in 2024
