Panthers parade live updates: Cats make an appearance at Stanley Cup celebration
Florida Panthers players, thousands of jubilant fans and the coveted Stanley Cup converged several times along State Road A1A in Fort Lauderdale as the team celebrated its second consecutive Stanley Cup with yet another parade and beach extravaganza.
Also, no, we don’t know why Panthers left wing Carter Verhaeghe wore a helmet on the bus.
Coach Maurice shows off adorable cats
Head coach Paul Maurice’s speech was much more subdued than last year — and for the second year in a row, he wore a shirt with photos of his cats, Poppy and Penny. Maurice also wore a “Benny’s Buddies” hat to represent the fundraiser Sam Bennett did this year, which covered adoption fees for cats and dogs at Humane Society of Broward County for each goal he scored.
Maurice said his daughter pushed him to wear the shirt to face the crowd of what he said was half a million people.
“In the history of man, there is no chance there have ever been this many cat lovers in one spot,” he said as the crowd cheered.
Maurice’s shirt has made the rounds on social media.
Players double down on haters
Several players took to the stage, addressing the jovial crowd. Sergei Bobrovsky shouted out the team’s management and fans.
“Hopefully we can all meet together again next year,” he said.
Sam Bennett, who ended by saying “eight more years, please,” a tease to the contract extension he’s hoping to get before becoming a free agent on July 1, spoke about the Panthers’ domination throughout the season.
“A lot of people, they don’t like the way we play,” Bennett said. “They call us dirty. They call us nasty. They call us bullies. So I would like to take this time to apologize to absolutely [expletive] no one. We’re the double champs. We do what the [expletive] we want!”
“I could get used to this,” Matthew Tkachuk said.
Speeches on the beach
Around 1:20 p.m., players and the Stanley Cup reached the stage area, where Panthers coach Paul Maurice and probably some players will speak joyful words.
Stanley Cup champs come to the stage
The first players on a bus to reach the stage area were center Nico Sturm, backup goalie Vitek Vanecek and winger Jonah Gadjovich.
The fourth line, with Gadjovich and A.J. Greer centered by Tomas Nosek took the last shift in Game 6, the last shift of the season. Panthers coach Paul Maurice wanted to give the line that as a nod to the energy and momentum swing they provided the team when down two goals to Toronto in Game 3 of the second round, already trailing 2-0 in games. Maurice thought their second period shifts saved the game, which the Panthers won in overtime.
Getting off the bus
The bus with the Cup poured beer into a jubilant fan’s mouth at 12:50 p.m. or so. WSVN’s Donovan Campbell reported that fans tossed cans of liquid to players on buses and players did the same right back to fans.
As the buses crept along A1A in the kind of stop-and-go manner normally associated with rush hours on I-95, some Panthers players disembarked buses to run on the beach among fans and high-five fans.
Matthew Tkachuk, who later would be seen shotgunning a beer at Elbo Room, ran into the Atlantic Ocean. Tkachuk was joined soon after by goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Then, they came off with the Stanley Cup.
Defenseman Seth Jones carried the Cup past Elbo Room, cigar in mouth. Other players took the Cup and bounced between the sides of A1A to let fans on the barricades touch the Cup.
Panthers take Stanley for a walk
The buses in the convoy carried all members of the Panthers organization — players, coaches, training staff, front office staff, hockey operations staff, promotions staff.
As the last bus arrived at the parade staging area, Panthers players got off the bus and waded through the mass of fans outside the parade barriers, carrying the Stanley Cup. Once they took the Cup back inside the parade barriers, they carried it for a couple of blocks close enough that fans could see the names on it before reboarding the bus.
The Panthers did this periodically early in the parade. It’s in line with the way the Panthers have been celebrating with the Cup and the public since Tuesday night’s Stanley Cup Final-clinching 5-1 win against Edmonton.
Stay hydrated, people
A reminder for those outside in the South Florida chewy heat at the Panthers parade or anywhere else in South Florida — drink plenty of water.
Three women collapsed outside of Elbo Room. Fort Laudredale Fire Rescue were putting cold towels on them while checking blood pressure.
First bus arrives tossing t-shirts
The first of a convoy of buses with Panthers franchise members arrived on A1A around 11:55 a.m. Perhaps appropriately, Panthers majority owner Vincent Viola. Of course, rolled up shirts were being tossed and grabbed by those fans who didn’t have both hands occupied by canned beverages.
Down and knocked out at Elbo Room
A woman in a red Panthers t-shirt tumbled down the outdoor stairs of Elbo Room and was unconscious upon landing. She regained consciousness as her cohorts summoned nearby Fort Lauderdale police., who tended to her.
Early arriving (and literate) Panthers fans
Some fans booked hotel rooms in the area to make sure they could beat the land rush and stake out their parade spots. Two fans, stomachs down on the sidewalk, spent part of their morning reading.
Rhiannon Langley read Ghosts of Honolulu by Leon Carroll Jr. and Mark Harmon, while Carmon Ellis took in Suzanne Collins ‘ Hunger Games prequel, “Sunrise on the Reaping.”
READ MORE: Panthers fans make early preparations for this year’s championship parade
Panthers and the Cup have left the IcePlex
The Panthers have loaded the buses and left the Baptist Health IcePlex at the War Memorial Auditorium for the parade. Among those on the bus with the Stanley Cup: defenseman Jaycob Megna, who was signed as a free agent in July and spent most of the season with the Panthers’ American Hockey League minor league team in Charlotte.
Megna was born in Plantation on Dec. 10, 1992. The next day, during annual league meetings at The Breakers in Palm Beach, the NHL announced the granting of new franchises to be based in Anaheim and South Florida.
Daily precipitation comes early
Before the parade, around 10:55 a.m., a light drizzle came down near the stage area next to the beach. At 85 degrees with a 74% humidity, nature’s sprinkling system was appreciated by the folks gathered there.
Wristbands for kids
Kids along the route are getting blue wristbands from Fort Lauderdale police with parents’ phone numbers in case the kids get separated in all the hubbub.
With reporting from Herald reporters Jordan McPherson, Connie Ogle, Kaitlyn Pohly and Greg Cote.
This story was originally published June 22, 2025 at 11:14 AM.
