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 With the seconds ticking off the clock, nervousness and excitement both started to settle in for the Florida Panthers. With Drew Stafford’s late goal with over two minutes left, the Panthers were clinging on to a slim 4-3 lead. But the Panthers had the fire in their eyes and showed no backing down, keeping the pressure on the Kings, not allowing them to pull Kari Lehtonen and bringing the cup back to the state of Florida for the 2^nd straight year….this time to Sunrise.

“This team faced everything these playoffs. Facing elimination in Game 6 of the first round, where Johnny (Quick) came through with two straight shutouts. To being three seconds away from losing in Game 7 of the East Final for the second straight year, we battled, and it finally paid off,” said an elated Captain, Sidney Crosby.

 It has been a long road for these Panthers. When GM Wilson took over the team over 5 years ago, the roster was much thinner.  But after some years of failure, the team finally made the playoffs last year coming a game away from the cup finals.  Seeing the prize so close, Dylan went about making the team better, signing Patrik Elias and Sami Salo, two veterans that were huge parts of the winning team. Still it was not enough, with a losing streak mid-season, Joe Sacco was shown the door and Marc Crawford was brought back to right the ship.  And adding Mikko Koivu , Keith Yandle, and cup clinching goal scorer Alexei Ponikarovsky at the trade deadline. But according to Dylan, the best move was the first.

“Our first ever pick was Alex Pietrangelo, and we have been hounded to move him ever since we drafted him, but we knew he was special and we don’t win this cup without him.”

 Pietrangelo, in the winning game played 31 minutes, picked up two points (including a game tying goal) and rightly deserved being named the 1^st star of the game. And with his 16^th win of the playoffs, that saw him pick up 3 shutouts, Jonathan Quick was named Conn Smythe winner. “Both these guys are invaluable to us, but everyone picked up their weight and everyone wanted this as badly as the guy beside him on the bench,” said coach Marc Crawford, who took over back in December.

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 With the cup drunkenness just starting (leading to the hangover), and already the team has been busy.  Sending out all important players in the cup win, David Backes and Kyle Quincey to Winnipeg.  “Winnipeg moving out of the division really made it easier.  Both these guys are huge loses, but we have to deal with the cap and contracts that will be coming. And when we had the opportunity to pick up Toffoli, it was hard to pass up.”

The team also moved Kyle Beach, Kevin Poulin and Tobias Rieder for picks. While Martin Gernat was swapped to Carolina for Kenny Ryan.  And the Panthers brought back former fan favourite, David Booth. “We wanted to bring in more picks, as we have a plan to utilize to fill out some deeper organizational needs. As for Kenny Ryan, we loved Martin, but Kenny adds something to our future bottom lines that we really like,” said GM Wilson, “We hated dealing Booth the first time around, and he has fallen off, but we couldn’t be happier to bring him back.”

 The team also wanted to acknowledge how proud they are that San Antonio coach, Dallas Eakins found a job with the Colorado Avalanche. The team quickly filled the open coaching slot with former Lake Erie Monsters bench boss, Glen Gulutzan. “Dallas really deserved the job, he brought San Antonio to the playoffs for the first time under my watch, and we believe Glen will have no problem continuing the success.”

 When asked about the draft and free agency, Dylan said he expects to be much quieter than he has normally been in the past, and that he expects this to be the summer of depth in Florida.