But unlike last season, if the Panthers can seal the deal, don't expect to see the NHL's prized possession paraded around the Atlantic Ocean, passed from one proud Panther to another like a toddler. Because, as it turns out, salt water isn't the best thing for a trophy made of silver and nickel alloy.
A year ago, Matthew Tkachuk and the Panthers took the Cup for a dip after an early morning championship celebration at the Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale. At the time, Tkachuk admitted he didn't realize bringing the trophy into the ocean was a no-no.
The Keeper of the Cup — yes, that's an actual job — wasn't exactly thrilled about dropping the ball on his one responsibility. So if Tkachuk and the Panthers find themselves celebrating by the water again, expect him to be on high alert as the sun rises over the inevitable pile of red Solo Cups.
Without jinxing it (and yes, saying it out loud cancels the jinx juju), we got to thinking: what would be the most Broward County way for the Panthers to celebrate a championship this tind?
We asked the question, and we have some answers.
Looks like the Panthers went back to Dairy Queen before Game 5 in Edmonton 👀🍦
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 14, 2025
(h/t @panthersakgae) pic.twitter.com/TsLj30pSpD
Dairy Queen Party
Between playoff games, Brad Marchand and teammate Nate Schmidt have started organizing Dairy Queen runs, treating the team to Blizzards. The tradition took off after cameras this postseason caught Marchand sneaking a spoonful of something during intermission; while it turned out to be honey, the internet ran with the rumor that he was sneaking in a Blizzard — cookie dough, to be exact — during the game.Florida gets heat for tax breaks and humid ice, but nothing screams Broward like eating soft serve from a trophy named after a Canadian governor general who donated the trophy to "the championship hockey club of the Dominion of Canada" back in 1892.
Nothing says Broward like celebrating big life events at soulless chain establishments. It's practically in our DNA.
Sawgrass SleepoverJeremy Tache 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐸𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒫𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈’ 𝐹𝒶𝓃 🐆🌿
— jeremy taché (@jeremytache) June 12, 2024
Stop 1 on my tour on the search for a Panthers fan who knows hockey: Sawgrass Mills Mall
Follow my full report on today’s @LeBatardShow 📺 pic.twitter.com/d1Wj6nECKb
By the time the Panthers clinch the title on Tuesday night, Sawgrass Mills — just steps from Amerant Bank Arena — will already be closed. But here's our official proposal: upon victory, local officials should order it reopened for the world's first-ever championship sleepover.
Everything you need is right across the street at Sawgrass Mills. Imagine the scene: the team and fans pour out of the arena and flood into the mall where they find a complimentary beer garden and an all-you-can-eat food court. Getting tired? Head over to the mattress store and grab a bed.
A mall that looks like an alligator from the sky is practically Broward's claim to fame. Give Sawgrass Mills its flowers before it goes extinct.
It's always been Go Panthers for Ariana Grande. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/gtpg2WuP3t
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 11, 2024
Pop-Up Ariana Grande Concert
If you don't know that Ariana Grande has been a Panthers fan longer than the world knew who Ariana Grande even was, you're not a true Ice Cats fan. She has supported the Panthers since she was a toddler from Boca Raton, attending games when she was just 2. She sang the National Anthem at a Panthers game when she was 8. Cameras routinely spot Grande in the crowd now, as they did earlier in this very series.Imagine the smells if the Panthers win, and to the crowd's surprise, Ariana Grande magically descends from the rafters to center ice while her dancers file in for a performance of "Thank U, Next." Then everyone heads over to Sawgrass Mills for a sleepover party where we all eat Blizzards out of the Stanley Cup because why choose just one?
Anyone can be a famous lifelong Los Angeles Lakers fan. The Panthers must celebrate to the soundtrack of one of their own.
🚨 THE PARADE ROUTE IS HERE 🚨
— x - Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 27, 2024
See you Sunday!!! pic.twitter.com/9Z5XL8ksDB
University Drive Parade
Last year, the Florida Panthers parade rolled down Fort Lauderdale Beach. This year, we propose that they celebrate somewhere even closer to the hearts of Broward residents — University Drive, a road locals actually use nearly every day. Seeing as the Panthers play closer to the Everglades than they do the ocean, this only makes sense.Celebrating on the beach feels a bit disingenuous for a team named after a rarely seen animal that actually lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks, and freshwater swamps. It also felt weird last year when most fans spent all their Panthers time in Sunrise, not on Las Olas.
The Miami Heat have a championship parade down Biscayne Boulevard, which makes sense considering they play nearby. This year, the Panthers should skip the beach and pay homage to their actual stomping grounds — a street lined with a McDonald's every other mile, strip malls, and 500 stop lights.
Postgame Rat Toss
The Florida Panthers' rat tradition traces back three decades to a moment before a home opener at the old Miami Arena, when a live rat ran through the locker room. Forward Scott Mellanby, who later became the team captain, used his stick to send it across the room and against a wall, igniting an odd tradition that has somehow stood the test of time.Fans began tossing robber rats onto the ice to celebrate victories and the rest, as they say, is history. The tradition has endured and evolved over the years, adding new twists along the way, but the plastic rats remain — now tossed in a slightly classier fashion.
Following their Game 6 victory, we propose that the Panthers parade the Cup around the rink as fans toss their rats into it until it runneth over with plastic rodents. Fans could sign their rats, and the team could display them in a makeshift arena museum — like the Marlins' bobblehead wall, but weirder.
Rats and Panthers. Ice hockey in the summer in Florida. It's a Broward thing. You just wouldn't understand.
