Florida Panthers Leave Trophy Alone, Want the Stanley Cup

The Florida Panthers, once again, completely ignored the Prince of Wales Trophy after they beat the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. That trophy isn’t the one they want. The Panthers, as everyone knows, want the Stanley Cup.

Matthew Tkachuk said as much over the summer.

Even though his team was still celebrating with the Stanley Cup before the new season started, he talked about being “greedy” and wanting to keep that big silver mug as long as he could.

The Panthers have that chance.

Florida will be playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year and, like last year, are taking the business-like approach.

When the Panthers won the Eastern Conference championship in 2023, they partied with the Prince of Wales (trophy) as if their journey had ended.

Those were different circumstances, right?

The Panthers, after all, had not been to the Stanley Cup Final in a lifetime and that team got into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed after the Pittsburgh Penguins flamed out in the final weeks.

They were a ragtag bunch just happy to be there.

That ain’t the case now.

“A few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,’’ Tkachuk said. “Last year, it was part of the journey. Same as this year. We have a bigger goal in mind.’’

FLORIDA PANTHERS / FHN

• Sasha Barkov made a play that left the Panthers speechless — and the Hurricanes stunned.
• Paul Maurice and Rod Brind’Amour stayed away from the handshake line.
• Making the Stanley Cup Final three straight years puts the Panthers in some pretty cool company.
• The Panthers were staring down the face of the Hurricanes and didn’t flinch.
• All the postgame video you can handle from Wednesday’s win.
• An update on Eetu Luostarinen after he left in the first. Nothing on AJ Greer.
• The Panthers handled their business. Could we have a Florida-Edmonton rematch in the Final?
• Three big pieces returned to the lineup for Game 5.
• The Panthers were ready to host a good ol’ fashioned celebration Monday night — only the Hurricanes spoiled everything.
• Tickets for the Miami Winter Classic going on sale to the general public soon.
• Don’t forget to subscribe to the FHN YouTube channel to watch video interviews with the Florida Panthers throughout the postseason. Too many to list here. Just check it out!

NHL LINKS / NHN

• The Oilers will be without Zach Hyman for the remainder of their run after the high-scoring forward needed surgery after a hit from Mason Marchment.
• The Stars hope home ice will bring some zip to their game.
• Edmonton wants to end this thing tonight.
• Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry will miss the start of the season after having surgery.
• The Philadelphia Flyers should try really hard to get the second overall pick from San Jose.
• Is Jonathan Marchessault looking to get out of Nashville?
• Former Panthers forward Marco Sturm could be the new coach for the Boston Bruins.

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 1

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ DALLAS STARS/EDMONTON OILERS

Edmonton Leads Dallas 3-1 in Best-of-7 Series

• When: Wednesday, June 4 or Saturday, June 7
• Where: AmericanAirlines Center, Dallas/Rogers Place, Edmonton
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule: TBA

IF DALLAS

• Regular Season — Panthers Won 2-0 (Tampere, Finland): Florida 6, Dallas 3; Florida 4, Dallas 2 
• How They Got Here: Dallas d. Colorado (7), Winnipeg (6); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 28-21-2, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First meeting

IF EDMONTON

• Regular Season (Panthers won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 4, Oilers 3 (Feb. 27). At Edmonton:  Panthers 6, Oilers 5 (Dec. 16).
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties