The Florida Panthers made NHL historical past on Monday night time.
In entrance of greater than 19,000 followers, the group beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Recreation 7 and gained the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup.
It was additionally a second two native gamers – Brandon Montour, the 30-year-old Panthers defenceman from Six Nations of the Grand River, and Steven Lorentz, the 28-year-old Panthers centre from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. – will always remember.
Montour mentioned he can’t wait to deliver the Stanley Cup again to Six Nations.
“Be prepared for it to come back residence,” he mentioned after Monday’s win. “The help I’ve had my complete life… clearly this group, however [also] my household, my pals, all people again residence. We will get pleasure from this for the summer season, then do it yet again.”
A whole lot of followers, in addition to Montour’s household, have been gathering on the native group corridor to cheer on their hometown hero all through the ultimate.
“I’m very proud of him,” Montour’s aunt Jamie beforehand instructed .
Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour, heart, lifts the Stanley Cup trophy after Recreation 7 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Closing in opposition to the Edmonton Oilers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Dawn, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Oilers 2-1. (AP Picture/Wilfredo Lee)
Lorentz’s household, in the meantime, watched Recreation 7 at residence.
“We’re so proud, so incredibly proud,” his father Mark Lorentz mentioned the day after Florida’s large win.
Highway to the Stanley Cup
Steven Lorentz’s journey to the Stanley Cup started with a telephone name virtually precisely one 12 months in the past.
“We were at a cottage up north, down by the dock, and his phone was going off,” recalled Mark Lorentz.
That second, on Canada Day 2023, is when Lorentz realized he’d been traded from the San Jose Sharks to the Florida Panthers.
“He goes: ‘I’m going to Florida. I’m going to Florida and we’re going to win the cup.’”
Steven Lorentz pictured sporting a Florida Panthers jersey. (Courtesy: NHL)
Lorentz mentioned that promise made the Panthers’ playoff run really feel like future, particularly when Florida took a 3-0 sequence lead over the Edmonton Oilers.
With just one win standing in the best way of the Stanley Cup, the Lorentz household joined the group in Edmonton for Recreation 4 after which to Dawn, Florida for Recreation 5.
Sadly for them, the group had back-to-back losses, narrowing the Panthers’ result in 3-2.
So the group determined to make a change off the ice.
“The coach and some of the staff said ‘we’d kind of like it if you’d stay away for a while because it’s a bit of a distraction for the players,’” Mark Lorentz defined. “So we came back home.”
The household returned to Waterloo, Ont. the place they gathered to observe Recreation 7.
One win away
The Lorentz household had been on the sting of their seats going into the third interval of Recreation 7.
“I’ll tell you, that third period – my fingernails are a whole lot shorter as a result,” Mark Lorentz joked to Bounce 99.5 radio host Angie Hill on Tuesday morning.
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save in entrance of Edmonton Oilers ahead Zach Hyman (18) and Florida defenceman Brandon Montour (62) throughout third interval sport 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup finals in Dawn, Fla., on Monday, June 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
At that time, the Panthers had a 2-1 lead.
“The last 20 minutes were probably the 20 longest minutes of our lives,” Mark Lorentz recalled. “When it was down to 10 seconds, I was like ‘oh-oh’ because they were pressing hard and, all of a sudden, it was zero.”
Then, the second household – and followers – had been ready to listen to.
“The Florida Panthers have won the Stanley Cup!”
Steven Lorentz’s dream has now come true and his identify can be etched onto Lord Stanley’s mug.
“[It’s] something I’ve dreamed of since I picked up a stick and skates and I’m just trying to enjoy the moment right now,” he mentioned. “Mom and Dad are back home. They were playing ping pong, going back and forth with coming down here [and] then going back to Edmonton.”
Regardless of being 2,300 kilometres away, father and son had been capable of have a good time the massive second collectively.
“Stevie’s fiancé, she FaceTimed me. They brought the cup right to me. That was something,” Mark Lorentz defined. “He’s got a beer in his left hand and his phone in his right hand… He took me out on the ice because I didn’t get to go out on the ice.”
“He never gave up”
The Stanley Cup win was the results of years of arduous work.
“One thing I’ll say about Stevie is, from early on, we knew he was going to do one thing, and that was play hockey. It’s all he wanted to do and it wasn’t an easy path. If you look at his journey, it’s been long. There’s been ups, there have been downs and stuff like that, but he never gave up. He always believed. [Monday] night was kind of like the culmination of all that.”
Steven Lorentz pictured when he performed for the Waterloo Wolves. (Courtesy: Waterloo Wolves)
All of it boils down to 1 factor.
“We’re so proud,” Mark Lorentz mentioned. “So incredibly proud.”
One other native Stanley Cup star
Adam Henrique, the 34-year-old centre for the Edmonton Oilers, could have missed out on the Stanley Cup however he has made his hometown of Burford, Ont. proud.
Edmonton Oilers’ Adam Henrique (19) celebrates his aim through the second interval of Recreation 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup ultimate in opposition to the Florida Panthers in Edmonton, Friday, June 21, 2024. (Supply: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
The small group, simply west of Brantford, confirmed their help by flying shiny orange flags forward of the ultimate NHL sequence.
An Edmonton Oilers flag flies exterior of the Burford Group Centre forward of Monday night time’s Stanley Cup sport on June 24, 2024. (Shelby Knox/)
