Panthers hand out Stanley Cup championship rings, stressing how title was won together

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — It took Florida coach Paul Maurice 30 years to win a Stanley Cup championship ring. And after he was handed the box holding his new piece of jewelry on Monday, he had to wait about 30 minutes before he could actually look at the prize.

The reason: The Panthers wanted the whole organization to see the rings together. It was worth the wait.

The Panthers handed out dozens of rings Monday at a private ceremony commemorating last season’s Stanley Cup title to players, coaches, team executives, members of the athletic training and medical staff and more. But owners Vincent and Teresa Viola had one rule: Since, in their view, it took everyone in the organization banding together to win the Cup, then everyone had to open the boxes at the same time.

“No peeking,” Vincent Viola said as he and his wife handed out the rings that their family designed. The rings contained 617 gemstones, mostly diamonds, weighing 15.6 carats, all set into yellow gold. They had the image of a rat etched on the inside of the band, a nod to the plastic toys that fans throw onto the home ice after wins.

“It’s incredible. I’ve never seen a piece of jewelry like this in my entire life,” Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk said. “I unfortunately can’t keep the Stanley Cup in my possession at all times. But this will remind me of that each and every day and it’s incredible.”

Even the ring boxes were unique: The inside of the lid has a video screen that shows highlights of last year’s Cup run, as a small light shines onto the notch where the ring sits.

“You can just tell the love they put into making it,” Panthers hockey operations president and general manager Bill Zito said, as he proudly displayed his ring. “It’s really humbling and special.”

Executives and staff got their rings first in small groups, followed by the players. The Violas wanted the players brought up individually, so they could express thanks to each one. And Vincent Viola dropped the hint to team captain Aleksander Barkov that he’d like to have another ring ceremony a year from now.

“We gotta go for No. 2, right?” he told Barkov.

The messages of thanks and congratulations continued throughout the ceremony while a spotlight shone on the Stanley Cup — on a table a few feet from where the red boxes that held the rings were lined up.

To Tkachuk, Viola said, “God bless you.” To Sam Reinhart, who had 57 regular-season goals and the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, he said, “you chose us, we’re blessed, and we’re humbled.” And to potential free-agent-in-waiting Carter Verhaeghe, Viola promised that he would always remain a Panther — a clear hint that Florida hopes to keep him.

Viola even shared a story about how Sam Bennett is his granddaughter’s favorite player, and how Bennett boldly told her when last season was starting that the Panthers were going to win the Stanley Cup.

“You were right,” Viola said. “I never forgot you said that … you were the soul of this team.”

The celebrations have gone on almost nonstop since Florida beat Edmonton 2-1 on June 24 to win the franchise’s first championship and essentially come to an end on Tuesday. The Panthers will hoist their Stanley Cup championship banner in a ceremony before hosting the Boston Bruins in the regular season opener for both clubs.

The Violas gave each other their rings last, then a 10-second countdown happened before everyone opened their boxes. It capped a ceremony that was originally scheduled to be open to the public, but those plans were scrapped out of concern for looming Hurricane Milton.

“To get this ring, this is the cherry on top,” Bennett said. “It’s a great way to start the new season.”

There was another last-second change of plans as well. Vincent Viola — who bought the team a decade ago and promised to deliver a Stanley Cup to South Florida, despite years and years of the franchise being far from a contender — planned on wearing khaki pants to Monday’s ceremony. His wife made him go buy a new suit about an hour before the event instead.

“Vinny has a vision and when Vinny sets his mind to a vision, he does it,” Teresa Viola said. “And 10 years ago, you said we were going to win the Stanley Cup. And we did it.”