On his day with the Stanley Cup, Carter Verhaeghe gave back at Panthers’ practice rink
Moments like this never get old for Carter Verhaeghe.
The Florida Panthers’ sharpshooting forward was back at the Baptist Health IcePlex, the team’s practice facility, on Saturday but not for a workout.
With the Stanley Cup in tow, Verhaeghe hosted three groups — Best Buddies, the Special Olympics and the Panthers’ adaptive ice hockey team — for an hour-long skating session with Lord Stanley at center ice.
“Seeing them so happy and just enjoying being together and being included in everything is great,” Verhaeghe said. “We have three great organizations here. To see them all together, making new friends and to see them with the Cup, too, they’re going crazy. It’s so special for them to have this opportunity.”
This is Verhaeghe’s third time enjoying a summer as a Stanley Cup champion in six NHL seasons. He won in 2020 as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and then each of the past two years with the Panthers.
He is one of six active players with three Stanley Cup championships to his name, along with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Evgenii Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.
“It’s been crazy,” Verhaeghe said. “I’m honestly just really fortunate to be able to be on such great teams and around such great people. This organization has done so much for me and my family, and to be able to share with people I love and all these people that came out, it’s just so special.”
Every player on the championship team gets his own day with the Stanley Cup during the summer. The first two times Verhaeghe won, he spent the day in his hometown Toronto. This year, he decided to spend it in South Florida, where he has spent the past five seasons and is set to begin his eight-year contract extension this season.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of days like this, and I brought it home, but to be able to share with the community here, it’s something special,” Verhaeghe said. “It’s a community that I’ve grown to love and kind of is my home now, so I love it.”
Verhaeghe has been an instrumental part of Florida’s success. He has scored 138 goals and logged 289 points through 359 regular-season games in his five seasons with the Panthers. His performance elevates in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where he has 76 points and 33 goals, including 13 game-winning goals and five overtime goals — the latter of which is tied for the most among active players and tied for third overall in NHL history behind only Joe Sakic (eight) and Maurice “Rocket” Richard (six).
And before he knows it, the Panthers will be back at it again looking for a chance to three-peat, something that hasn’t been done in the NHL’s salary cap era (since the start of the 2005-06 season). Florida begins training camp next week, with their seven-game preseason schedule starting Sept. 21 and the regular season beginning on Oct. 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
What will it take for Florida to win it all again?
“More of the same stuff,” Verhaeghe said. “We learned the last two years what it takes. Let’s hope. That’s our goal.”
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