Bragging Rights on Line for Montour and Henrique in Cup Final

FORT LAUDERDALE — With the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers fighting it out in the Stanley Cup Final, there is a whole sub-story going on for friends Brandon Montour and Adam Henrique.

Montour is of Mohawk descent and grew up in Ohsweken, a village inside the reserve of Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario.

Henrique is from nearby Burford, and the two friends are vying for the ultimate in bragging rights to the charity golf tournament they share during the offseason.

“I think it’s just an extra motivation,” Montour told FHN. “Obviously, in the end, I think both of us understand there’s a winner and a loser and that’s why we play — to compete. But, again, there’s some bragging rights in that sense. I’m sure he’s super proud of me and as I’m proud of him, but in the end, we’ll go back to being good friends and hopefully we get more chances at this.”

For both of them it’s a chance to represent their hometown on hockey’s biggest stage while sharing the ice with a good friend.

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“It’s fun. It’s obviously a great opportunity for the both of us and I think it’s exciting for a lot of the people back home,” Henrique said.

“With our golf tournament, it’s a little more bragging rights on the line this year when we go, but I was happy for them last year on their run and almost getting there and he knew they’d be one of the teams you’d have to go through to win again this year again, too. So, not much communication between the two of us, but when it’s all said and done at the end, I’m sure we’ll be alright.”

The two friends started the Henrique Montour Foundation Golf Tournament in 2021 to raise money for their neighboring hometowns.

They initially met when Montour became friends with Henrique’s younger brother during his junior hockey career, then later shared the ice as teammates in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks from 2017-19.

“We are from small towns. He is four years older than I am, but I‘m just cool with his little brother, so I knew the family a bit in that sense,” Montour said. “Obviously, playing hockey, we’re close in that factor before we played with each other, but I think once we became teammates, we became even closer friends. A friend that we both talk to each other every week, essentially.

“We both have families now, so we’ve certainly grown up together and we’ve kind of started that chapter together with our families and friends at the golf tournament. It’s all family-based. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and kind of what we put together and we want to bring that to the community.”

Florida Panthers’ Brandon Montour Committed to Growing Indigenous Hockey Community

The two had the idea of starting some kind of charitable organization for a while when they were teammates in Anaheim and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of it to 2021.

Since then, they have raised over $170,000 to support programs for the communities of Brantford and the Six Nations tribe.

”We both talked about doing something together in Anaheim, then COVID happened, so we were supposed to start it a couple of years prior, so we obviously waited it out,” Montour said.

“Now, we’re going on Year 4 and each year, it gets bigger and bigger. This year, it sold out within a day or two. It’s pretty busy. There are 300-plus people who show up to the events and we raise over 100k each year for people in need and people we want to help in our communities.”

Their friendship has grown a lot since their days with the Ducks.

At the time, Henrique was a veteran with playoff experience helping an Anaheim team in transition while Montour was a young defenseman still finding his footing in the NHL.

Now, Montour is a star defenseman and the top power play quarterback for a Panthers team two wins away from the Stanley Cup.

Their relationship has grown just as Montour has on the ice.

“You could see it before and sometimes you just need an opportunity to present itself for a player to have their breakout,” Henrique said. “A lot of times, it’s not always on their first or maybe not your second team, but when you finally get that opportunity, guys know that they have to take advantage and he did that.

“It’s great to see him finally get that. The trades are tough, but to see him have the year that he did last year and what he means to this team here is a big part that, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the summertime.”

The one thing that hasn’t changed about Montour after all these years? His firecracker personality.

Henrique is sure he is going to hear some chirps from his buddy throughout the Stanley Cup Final.

“He talks a lot,” Henrique said. “He’s pretty loud, so I’m sure it’ll be the same way on the ice chirping and yelling, but that’s just him. I think that’s how he goes about everything. He’s a great person, he’s got kids now, too, which is special to see, so it’ll be a fun challenge out there for us.”

With the Panthers up in the series, has he yet?

”Last game, I was a bit more serious,” Montour said ahead of Game 2. “But if I get a chance, I’ll throw a jab here and there. I don’t know if I got close to him last game, but it’s a long series, so we’ll probably mix it up here eventually.”

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2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL

EDMONTON OILERS VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS 

GAME 3

Panthers Lead Best of 7 Series 2-0

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Rogers Place; Edmonton, Alberta
• National TV: ABC
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule, All Games 8 p.m. on ABC — Game 1: @Florida 3, Edmonton 0; Game 2: @Florida 4, Edmonton 1; Game 3: Florida at Edmonton, Thursday; Game 4:Florida at Edmonton, Saturday June 15; Game 5*: Edmonton at Florida, Tuesday June 18; Game 6*:Florida at Edmonton, Friday June 21; Game 7*: Edmonton at Florida, Monday June 24. (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here — Florida: d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2, New York Rangers 4-2; Edmonton: d. Los Angeles 4-1, Vancouver 4-3, Dallas 4-2.
• This Season (Florida Won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Oilers 3 (Nov. 20). At Edmonton: Panthers 5, Oilers 2 (Dec. 17).
• Last Season: Edmonton Won 2-0
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-16-0, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting