Panthers have transformed ‘culture’ from cliché into catalyst behind back-to-back Stanley Cup runs

The term “culture” launches a lot in sports and is almost lost in the process of turning into clichés. This is not the case with Florida, where the panthers have breathed a new life in the term, making this culture the spine of two wins of the Stanley Cup.

No one knows more about this culture than the Pantherian center, Sam Bennett, who was named the 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy with 15 goals in 23 games.

“He begins with culture here,” Bennett said in his postgame press conference. “There is a way to do things here and it’s not easy. We don’t play an easy hockey style. It demands a lot from you.”

At Bennett’s point, the Panthers ask many of all the players of the ice. Everyone on the list must go out and check all the changes, without exception, to crush the opponent into a fine powder. In the dressing room and ice, no player is larger than the team or the ultimate goal of winning.

Cats make it easy, but if so, all teams would.

Although everyone buys, this selfless commitment to win and play for each other is infectious and can become a source of youth for players and coaches. If you need an example, there is no better place to start than behind the bench.

On December 17, 2021, Paul Maurice resigned as Winnipeg Jets coach, saying that players needed a “new voice”. According to his admission, Maurice worked out when he finished his term in Winnipeg.

“The people of Winnipeg, the property and the fans, were better than me in the end,” Maurice said after winning his second Stanley Cup. “I was not good. I was burned.”

At that time, Maurice had trained 1,685 games with 775 wins and without Stanley’s glasses. Maurice said he could “manage” how he perceived his career if so, but it wasn’t.

The panthers came by calling in the summer of 2022 and Maurice responded. Three years and two cups later, Maurice’s enthusiasm for training has been restored, and Florida’s costume culture is the greatest reason why.

“Seeing these guys interacting with each other, this has been the gift of this place,” Maurice said. “This has been the best for me. When you are burned, you are exhausted, cynical and believe that you are not effective. These are the three components and that cynicism is real. This year it was a bit altering life, seeing how they are treated and realized that I could treat them the same way.”

Maurice, one of the architects of the new culture at the sunrise, is far from the only person who has heard the effects of what the panthers have built. Just look at some of the players who touched the Cup immediately after Captain Aleksander Barkov accepted it Nhl Commissioner Gary Bettman.

The Panthers celebrate the second consecutive Stanley Cup championship with an epic exit to the bar of Fort Lauderdale

Chris bengel

Nate Schmidt, a 33 -year -old defender, seemed to be on the NHL leaving when he signed a one -year contract for $ 800,000 last summer. In this post -season, he played a comprehensive role on the blue line while publishing 12 points in 23 games.

At the end of his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, Seth Jones’ reputation as the defender of the first appearance had been very successful. In a few months with the Panthers, Jones returned to the maximum form on a stoppage.

After Party 6, Maurice said Jones is a “Norris trophy candidate throughout the day”.

Schmidt and Jones, along with Tomas Nosek, Vitek Vanecek, Aj Greer, Jsper Boqvist and Mackie Samoskevich were new to the Cup’s celebration experience. They were all pushed on the front of the line and lifted Lord Stanley before Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sergei Bobrovsky and all the other Panthers superstars.

Maurice said that the celebration was only a vision of the culture of panthers’ changing rooms.

“These are the little knowledge for the people of this group,” said Maurice. “He did not captain the captain to Sam Reinhart, who scored four … All those guys who played it first, his first drink. This is what makes these men special, to be aware of this. They are not selfish.

It was not the first Stanley Cup by Brad Marchand, but there is no doubt that there was in the Blizzards lactis in southern Florida, it had an effect on him. Marchand was still a very good player for Bruins before his commercial deadline moves to Florida, but found an elite form on the playoffs.

Marchand finished a second second in Bennett at the Conn Smythe Trophy, after publishing 10 goals and 10 assists in the playoffs. Six of these goals came to the Stanley Cup final. It was one of the best hockey in the 37 -year -old race.

Bennett accredited each new addition to buy in the culture of the panthers without hesitation.

“They were purchased instantly, what we do here and the commitment to be fantastic and win,” said Bennett. “Each boy has just bought it. He starts with culture, but the character of the boys, which is why we can do this.”

Of course, leaders of teams like Bennett are the cultivators and carers of this culture. The harshness and commitment to win the best Panthers players became clear shortly after the victory of match 6.

• Tkachuk fought against a torn abductor muscle This came out of the bone, along with “something of hernia”, to score the game winner in match 6.
• Barkov suffered a laceration of hand in match 1 of the Stanley Cup final and still managed to close the two Oilers superstaries in the rest of the playoffs.
• Reinhart scored four goals in a legendary performance of the glass cup as he played through a degree of MCL of Grade 2.

Culture is a difficult thing to evaluate because it cannot be quantified as goals, setting possibilities or saving percentage. It is only difficult to measure when the word is considered to have become Pabum in the NHL and other professional sports.

At the sunrise, culture is unmistakable, but for very different reasons. The panthers have taken an over -cliché and have developed a real commitment to selflessness and victory. Without that, there is no way that a team is able to do three Stanley Cup races, only stronger with each successive appearance.

It is also what will give the Panthers a shot to cease its dynasty by 2026.