SUNRISE — Finally, amazingly, the game was over. Gloves and sticks flew in the air, arms and bodies tangled. The Florida Panthers celebrated behind the goal in the heart of hockey, winning the big game and completing their long journey to the top.
Move out, Miami Heat. Make way, Florida Marlins. Make way, veteran champions, Miami Dolphins.
There's a new champion in town.
When the Panthers beat Edmonton 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, the emotion was more than just ecstasy about winning the franchise's first championship or pride in how the Panthers played in that final game.
This, too, was, in a word, whew.
Above the rare breath of relief the Panthers took as champions, the caption should have read: Whew. They bounced back from three straight losses in this series. Whew. They didn't become just the second NHL team to blow a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final, or the first since 1942.
As this series unfolded, and the Panthers lost their series lead and frustration grew with each game, this became more than just a hockey story. This became a story of controlling demons and believing in talent. This became a story of team determination, no matter what happened, even if by the time Monday night rolled around, the uncertainty across the team was palpable.
Can you feel the tension in the stadium? There was a tense atmosphere at Amerante Bank Arena during the tense minutes before Monday's match, made even more so by the loud cheers of the foreigners.
“Go Oilers,” chanted hundreds of Edmonton fans who had traveled across the country to watch.
“Go Panthers!” the home fans chanted back.
And the exchange, the answer, the response had already begun.
On that magical night against a hot Edmonton team, Carter Verhaeghe scored less than five minutes into the game to shake off a quiet series and take a 1-0 lead, the first time the Panthers had led in three games.
Then, two minutes later, Edmonton's Mattias Janmark turned in a breakaway goal to even the score, and both teams' emotions and belief that tonight was their night were even.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was back to the form he'd had for most of these playoff games, not only making saves but also smacking pucks that were fired right in front of him into a harmless corner.
Sam Reinhart, the other quiet Panther in the series, scored a shot over Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner's head late in the second period to make the score 2-1.
So, with 20 minutes left in the hockey season, the only question remaining was whether the Panthers could close out tonight's game or whether Edmonton could stage another dramatic comeback. The best player in sports, Connor McDavid, was silent this night. Did he have anything left?
As time went on, the cheers grew and the fans began to rise with under eight minutes remaining. An Edmonton shot was saved by Bobrovsky and the puck came loose in front of the goal. McDavid and Oilers leading scorer Zach Hyman went for the puck, and the Panthers tried to cover. When the whistle blew, nine players were in various positions in front of the goal.
With just under four minutes left in the game, Edmonton had the ball in the back of the net, Bobrovsky fell to the ice and lost his stick, and Edmonton's Evan Bouchard tried to get a shot but couldn't get through the clutter of players. Another threat was gone.
That was the way the season ended. Can you play bigger on a bigger stage than Bobrovsky did tonight? Can you contribute more to the team, the fans, and the team's traditions than Reinhart or Verhaeghe?
With two minutes remaining, Reinhart gets in front of Edmonton's Warren Vogel, drawing an offside.
Skinner was pulled from the Edmonton goal. Seconds felt like minutes, but the clock was already running. Fans began counting loudly: “3, 2, 1…”
It was a moment the Panthers had been waiting for since the franchise was the butt of jokes, when the coaches were changing hands faster than the players, when a quarter-century had gone by without a postseason win.
Then they suffered three nerve-wracking losses to Edmonton over the past few days. This night could have sent their legacy to the seventh hell. But instead, seventh heaven came. They got their dream, not their nightmare.
What a night, what a series and a season that will live on forever. Trace the Panthers' timeline back to when H. Wayne Heusinga bought the team and they lost in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final in their third season. That series lives on this season.
“That's when I fell in love with hockey,” Panthers veteran Kyle Okposo said, “My parents let me stay up late watching the triple-overtime game. Colorado scored at the right point in overtime. I watched the whole game, and that's when I really fell in love with hockey.”
“It was my first time seeing people lifting the trophy and, of course, I'm eight years old so I can't understand the emotions they're going through. But after 27 years of watching people lift the trophy I have a pretty good idea of how they're feeling after the hardships they've been through.”
Now he threw his gloves in the air, and they all did too, and as the seconds on the clock dwindled, the rats darted across the ice and a new champion was crowned.
