‘they’re One Of Us’: Florida Panthers Unite Community With Unpretentious Stanley Cup Goodwill Tour

Seconds after the Florida Panthers won their first-ever Stanley Cup championship, with rats still falling on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night, Matthew Tkachuk’s first emotion was gratitude, telling an ESPN reporter: “It’s the best place, the best guys. It’s something really special here.” Hours later, accompanied by the gleaming trophy, Tkachuk and his teammates embarked on a magical mystery tour of their favorite hangouts, creating a buzz across South Florida that still lingers as the Cats prepare for their victory parade in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.  From early Tuesday morning, which included a well-publicized Elbo Room beer bash and a dunking of the Cup in the Atlantic Ocean, until Thursday, when the trophy departed South Florida for NHL Draft ceremonies in Las Vegas, Panthers players and executives made a series of unannounced stops with the Cup at local spots that had personal meaning to them.  Sure, they made a late-night splash into the wee hours Thursday morning at flashy Miami nightclub E11even — can’t begrudge the champs that moment — but the goal of the trophy’s Fort Lauderdale journey from Las Olas Boulevard to Galt Ocean Mile and Flagler Village seemed less about celebrity and more about sharing the Cup, letting fans touch it, drink out of it, be part of it, and to simply say thanks.  When Tkachuk, teammate Sam Bennett and others carried the Cup into Caffé Europa on Las Olas Boulevard at lunchtime on Tuesday, they slammed it onto the bar, filled it with Peroni and took turns gulping it down.