SUNRISE, Fla. – It took until the final day of the NHL season, but the Florida Panthers are officially the 2024 Stanley Cup champions. And with that title comes some strong St. Louis ties.
The Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Monday to win the Stanley Cup Final in seven games. It’s their first Stanley Cup championship in three decades as a franchise.
Most notably representing St. Louis in this year’s Stanley Cup championship were Vladimir Tarasenko and Matthew Tkachuk.
Former St. Louis Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko secured his second Stanley Cup championship in six years. It’s also his second time helping a franchise take home their first Stanley Cup, having also accomplished that with the Blues in 2019.
Panthers alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk, raised in suburban St. Louis and the son of former Blues great Keith Tkachuk, is also a first-time Stanley Cup champion.
The Panthers win their first Stanley Cup Final after losing in the final round last season. It’s their first Cup championship in three trips to the big stage. Florida won the first three games of the series, then lost their next three before a winner-take-all on home ice.
Tkachuk, nearly six years younger than Tarasenko, remembers watching him during his childhood in St. Louis. Now both united in Florida, Tkachuk described of the experience, “It’s actually pretty crazy that I’m on the same team as him right now. … My 12- or 15-year-old self would be completely starstruck.”
And the special bond didn’t stop there. As Tkachuk had the opportunity to lift the Stanley Cup among his teammates, he handed it to Tarasenko to help the St. Louis connection come full circle.
Tarasenko finished with five goals and nine points over 24 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs,a while Tkachuk finished with six goals and 22 points over 24 games.
If there weren’t already enough St. Louis connections, Florida is the first team to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final for a championship since the Blues won it in 2019.
Former St. Louis defenseman Niko Mikkola also takes home a Stanley Cup title with the Panthers. He is a first-time champion as he was not part of the Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup roster.
One Panthers staff members also carries St. Louis ties to the Cup. Jamie Kompon, who spent several years in hockey operations roles with the Blues in the 1990s and early 2000s, gets rewarded as the team’s assistant coach.
It’s a quick turnaround to the NHL offseason. The 2024 NHL Draft begins on Friday. Free agency will begin one week from Monday.
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