Winning the Stanley Cup a moment Aleksander Barkov will ‘never forget.’ He wants to do it again
The memory is still fresh in Aleksander Barkov’s mind. The Florida Panthers had just won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, beating the Edmonton Oilers on home ice in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. He’s the first Finnish captain to lead his team to the championship.
As the formal celebration began at Amerant Bank Arena, Barkov skated over to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, accepts the Cup as pyrotechnics go off in the background and does a lap around the rink he has called home for 11 years.
“That will never leave my mind, that moment and everything leading up to that moment,” Barkov said. “I will never forget anything of that.”
It’s a reminder of where the Panthers have finally gotten to. After so many lean years at the start of his NHL career, all the missed playoff appearances and struggles to be competitive, Florida was now one of the standard bearers in the league. The Panthers are now an annual contender.
Barkov, who owns just about every career record in franchise history there is to attain, doesn’t want that run to end.
He wants more memories like the one last June.
Their chance to experience that feeling of being champions all over again begins Tuesday when the Panthers play the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin their best-of-7 opening-round matching of the Stanley Cup playoffs (8:30 p.m., ESPN/Scripps Sports).
To get to that point, to be in a place where they avoid complacency, the Panthers, with their captain leading the way, attacked this season the way they did the first two under coach Paul Maurice — like they have something to prove, like their ultimate goal still needs to be attained.
“We’ve done a really good job this year by kind of turning the page and just thinking about the day that you’re in right now,” Barkov said Thursday. “I’m thinking about this day and then thinking about tomorrow, thinking about practice and that kind of stuff, preparing for Game 1. We’ve done good job with that. Just keep doing that.”
Barkov is a standard bearer of sort for this franchise. He owns the franchise records for games played (804), goals (286), assists (496), points (782) and game-winning goals (52) among a slew of other marks. He’s a two-time Selke Award winner, given annually to the NHL’s best two-way forward. He’s in his seventh season as the team’s captain.
Yet the 29-year-old attacks every moment of his career as if he still has something to prove. There’s always an aspect of his game where he can get better, always something to learn.
“He’s taken for granted, absolutely, with all the things that he does,” Maurice said earlier this season. “He’s such a great driver of the culture here in that he skates on the day before the game because he feels he needs to to be good. We push the idea of being good pros here. You don’t have to skate in the morning skate if that’s what you think you need to be great, but be responsible for yourself and for what you do. When your captain is a guy who will always lead to being on the ice,more than less that does set a tone for your group.”
The Panthers hope that tone continues to be seen as their playoff run — and hope to repeat as champions — begins.
“The best time to be a hockey player,” Barkov said, “is starting now. We’re really happy about this opportunity again to be in the playoffs and battle for something big again.”
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