featured-image

After three decades of futility, the Florida Panthers won their first-ever Stanley Cup last month – and they celebrated accordingly. Panthers’ left winger Carter Verhaeghe shared that the team feted their 2-1 Game 7 win over the Edmonton Oilers on June 24 until the wee hours of the morning. “The best time we had, I think, was in the locker room after.

I think we stayed until 5 a.m.,” Verhaeghe exclusively told Us Weekly on the ESPYs red carpet in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 11.



“You couldn’t see in the room [because] it was so cloudy from all the cigars. It was awesome.” Verhaeghe said the celebration wasn’t just limited to players and coaches.

“Everyone was in there. Management, too. We were dumping the Cup on them full of beer,” he said.

“It was a great celebration. There’s some things I can’t mention, though.” You can’t say the long-suffering franchise didn’t deserve to let loose.

The Panthers made it to the NHL’s Championship series just three years after their founding but were trounced by the Colorado Avalanche in a four-game sweep. What followed was more than 20 years in the wilderness, with the team failing to win another postseason series until 2022. The team reached their first Stanley Cup Finals since ‘96 last season, only to fall to the relative newcomers of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Their second trip to the Finals in as many seasons was no sure thing, either. The Panthers very nearly suffered a historic collapse, allowing.

Back to Entertainment Page