Aleksander Barkov raised the Stanley Cup high, shared it with his Panthers teammates, and now the trophy has found a new home in South Florida. The next day, Matthew Tkachuk took it for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean.
After what former player and analyst Paul Bissonnette called the greatest season in NHL history, Commissioner Gary Bettman woke up thinking, “Wow, that was great. Now we’ve got to do it again.”
It won’t be easy to match that success.
The Panthers aim for a third straight trip to the finals, while the Edmonton Oilers are eager to make up for their Game 7 loss to Florida.
The league wants to maintain its momentum after setting records for attendance, revenue, and viewership, reaching more fans in North America and beyond than ever before.
“You’ve got to do it again, and you’ve got to do it better,” Bettman said just before training camps started. “If you take anything for granted, if you’re satisfied with how things are, no matter how good it is, you will slide backwards, so we’ve got to keep pushing.”
Reigning playoff MVP Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers are striving to win the Cup for the first time since 1990. Alex Ovechkin is chasing Wayne Gretzky’s record for career goals.
And after McDavid and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov both had over 100 assists, can Toronto’s Auston Matthews score 60 goals again?
“There’s so many good players,” said Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. “It’s so fast. The players are so skilled and creative. The game is in a great place, and you can feel the excitement.”
