2025 Stanley Cup Champions
Of Arsonists and Firemen: Florida Panthers Now NHL’s Enemy No. 1
FORT LAUDERDALE — Matthew Tkachuk may be loved in South Florida, but the brash Panthers forward is not all that liked amongst fans of other NHL teams.
Tkachuk is one of those players you hate playing against, but love when they are on your team.
The Panthers seem to have quite the collection of those type of players.
They know it, and they love it.
“I would like to apologize,’’ Tkachuk yelled at the team’s Stanley Cup celebration in June, “to absolutely [f-ing] nobody!”
Sam Bennett had the same sort of message that steamy day on the beach.
“A lot of people, they don’t like the way we play,’’ he said. “They call us dirty, and they call us nasty. They call us bullies. So I would like to take this time to apologize … to absolutely [f-ing] no one. We’re the double champs! We do what the [F] we want. Let’s go!”
The Panthers liked that phrasing so much, ‘We Apologize to No One’ is now inscribed on the inside of the team’s new Stanley Cup championship rings and on the fancy gift box it came in.
They left out the ‘F.’
“I was shocked,” Bennett said on Monday night. “That’s definitely a quote I said after a little too many drinks on the parade bus. It’s awesome, very cool that they used it in the ring.”
The Panthers are no longer the lovable losers of yesteryear, a collection of talented players sure, but a team that did not have enough to make much of a mark in their own market much less elsewhere.
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Tkachuk said that when he joined the Panthers in 2022 after being traded here from Calgary that he could saunter down to the Elbo Room and no one knew who he was.
Players back in the day used to joke that when they told people they played hockey for the Panthers, many did not believe them.
Not that they were lying about playing hockey.
“They did not know the Panthers were still around,’’ one player said in the mid-2000s.
As Jake Taylor in Major League said, yes, the Panthers had “uniforms and everything. It’s really great!”
The inside of the Florida Panthers 2025 Stanley Cup championship ring. // Photo @FlaPanthers
Winning, of course, cures most ills.
And the Panthers have been backing up their talk and tough play with a lot of wins.
Tkachuk, a proud two-time Stanley Cup champion, cannot walk down Las Olas anymore without honks and shouts from passing vehicles.
Even the team’s lesser-known players get recognized at their favorite hotels and restaurant-type places.
The Panthers are in demand not only locally, but are worldwide now.
Tkachuk has become the face of the NHL, starring in numerous commercials as well as the cover boy for the popular NHL26 video game.
That doesn’t mean the Panthers are liked.
Far from it.
Florida’s rough-and-tumble style that Bennett referenced on the parade stage certainly rubs quite a few the wrong way.
Tampa Bay, eliminated the past two years by its rivals from down south, brought up six minor league players to try and beat the snark out of the Panthers in a preseason game last Saturday.
It did not seem to work but was likely rooted in response to Aaron Ekblad’s hit on Brandon Hagel in the playoffs last year, and then A.J. Greer’s hit on Hagel Thursday.
That plus a few years of pent up frustration.
Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy a year after knocking Brad Marchand out with a punch, then inadvertently concussing Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz in the second round.
Marchand, known not-so-affectionately as a ‘rat,’ is now Bennett’s teammate and best bud; Stolarz is Bennett’s former teammate and Stanley Cup champ brother from 2024.
Monday, Florida coach Paul Maurice was asked about his team’s reputation, and the way people look at the Panthers these days.
As much as Maurice and South Florida may love this talented bunch of old-school hockey players, he understands not everyone does.
He, too, seems OK with it.
”I get to wear a suit, so I never really have to answer to anything,’’ Maurice said. “It’s part of a narrative that serves a purpose. … It’s a good story. Everybody needs a villain. We get out-hit in most games that we play.
“I got more firemen than arsonists.”
Maurice paused as reporters chuckled at yet another solid gold quote from Maurice.
”I’m not saying I don’t have an arsonist or two, but I have more firemen.’’
With that, welcome to the new season.
ON DECK: OPENING NIGHT
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Tuesday, 5 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- National TV: ESPN
- Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
- Radio: WQAM 560-AM/104.3 FM; 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/Panthers App
- Last Season: Tied 1-1
- This Season — At Florida: Tuesday; At Chicago: Jan. 25
- All-time Regular Season Series: Blackhawks lead 30-20-4, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. (Local TV)
