Luongo Returns to Bang Drum for Game 6 of Cup Final, Other Celebs

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers will come full circle tonight when it comes to who will bang the big bass drum before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final: Hello, Roberto Luongo.

Luongo fired up the crowd something fierce when he “banged the hell out of that drum’’ as one local, longtime Panthers beat writer tweeted out before Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.

The Panthers, of course, won that game 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup.

He hinted that he would be part of the pregame ceremony Monday when he tweeted out a video of Will Ferrell in Step Brothers working Dale’s drum kit with the caption ‘Warming up in the bullpen.’

Charles Barkley will also be in the building for Game 6 — with rumors abounding that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will make a return engagement in Sunrise.

Warming up in the bullpen pic.twitter.com/UDhadbPOFQ

— Strombone (@strombone1) June 16, 2025

Luongo had never won the Cup in his Hall of Fame career which spanned 19 seasons with three teams — including two stints with the Panthers.

The closest Luongo got to it as a player was in 2011 when his Vancouver Canucks led Boston 3-2 going into Game 6.

The Bruins won that series and got Brad Marchand, among others including current Panthers front-office members Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell, the Cup.

“It means nothing. It means nothing,’’ Marchand said Tuesday of being up 3-2. “It doesn’t matter how any series played out in the past. They are an incredible team, they have a tremendous amount of talent, and they’re going to play their best and we’re going to try to do our best and the chips are going to fall as they do.”

Thornton, Campbell, and Luongo all got their name on the Cup when the Panthers won it last June.

Luongo even got to eat pasta out of it one night after leaving work.

The Panthers certainly hope Luongo will bring them the kind of luck he brought last year.

So, too, does Marchand.

He has been chasing that Cup since 2011.

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 6

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Panthers Lead Best-of-7 Series 3-2

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• 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
• Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-170); Puck line (-1.5, +140); Over/Under 6.5 (+100/-120). Series: Panthers -400.
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: Edmonton 5, @Florida 4 (OT); Game 5: Florida 5, @Edmonton 2; Game 6: @Florida Tuesday; Game 7*: @Edmonton Friday.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties