Florida Wins First-Ever Stanley Cup

Evan Rodrigues (Boston University) assisted on the game-opening goal, and the host Florida Panthers went on to a 2-1 victory in the deciding Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night to win the 2024 Stanley Cup. Edmonton had won the previous three games in the best-of-seven series, after Florida had claimed the first three contests. The Cup win was the first in Florida's 30-year history, while Edmonton was seeking its sixth NHL title all-time, and first since 1990. 

Florida's Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart sandwiched goals around one by Edmonton's Mattias Janmark through the first 40 minutes of play, while the third period was scoreless before 19,939 on-lookers at Amerant Bank Arena. Sergei Brobovsky made 23 saves in net for the Panthers, while Stuart Skinner finished with 19 stops for the Oilers.

Besides Rodrigues, other players with NCAA ties on this year's Panthers' roster included William Lockwood (Michigan), Ryan Lomberg (Maine), Brandon Montour (Massachusetts), Kyle Okposo (Minnesota), Mike Reilly (Minnesota), Mackie Samoskevich (Michigan) and Anthony Stolarz (Nebraska-Omaha). Lomberg, Montour, Okposo and Stolarz all played in the Cup final along with Rodrigues. Also in the Panthers' lineup was Spencer Knight (Boston College), as the third-string goaltender, although he spent the entirety of the 2023-24 season playing for Charlotte (AHL).

The Oilers came up one game short of becoming the first Canadian team to win the Cup since 1993, and the first NHL club to rebound from an 0-3 deficit in the final since 1945. Edmonton's Connor McDavid still won this year's Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP, just the sixth player from the losing team in the final to do so, and the first since 2003. He also led all NHL skaters in this year's postseason with 42 points, including a league-record 34 assists.

Panthers Take 3-0 NHL Playoff Series Lead

Brandon Montour (Massachusetts) scored one goal and set up another, and Kyle Okposo (Minnesota) registered an assist in his first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance in eight years, as the Florida Panthers defeated the rival Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3, in Game Three of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series tonight. 

Florida, the NHL's defending Eastern Conference champion, now leads the best-of-seven series, three games to none. Tyler Motte (Michigan) scored one of the Lightning's three goals, which put them up by a 2-1 count at the time.

Florida will attempt to sweep the series in Game Four on Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, as the Panthers also look to win a playoff series against the Lightning for the first time ever. Tampa Bay, which claimed three straight Eastern Conference titles between 2020 and 2022 while also winning two Stanley Cups in that span, is seeking to avoid a second straight opening-round playoff ouster.

NCAA Players Moved at 2024 NHL Deadline

A number of former NCAA players changed places last week before the NHL trading deadline last Friday. Some of the more notable transactions (since Feb. 28):

Cole Brady, G (UMass) *            Calgary to Dallas

Devin Cooley, G (Denver) *         Buffalo to San Jose

Brandon Duhaime, F (Providence)    Minnesota to Colorado

Jake Guentzel, F (Omaha)           Pittsburgh to Carolina

Noah Hanifin, D (Boston College)   Calgary to Vegas

Erik Johnson, D (Minnesota)        Buffalo to Philadelphia

Ben Meyers, F (Minnesota)          Colorado to Anaheim

Casey Mittelstadt, F (Minnesota)   Buffalo to Colorado

Kyle Okposo, F (Minnesota)         Buffalo to Florida

Andrew Peeke, D (Notre Dame)       Columbus to Boston

Jack Roslovic, F (Miami)           Columbus to NY Rangers

Chad Ruhwedel, D (UMass Lowell)    Pittsburgh to NY Rangers

Chris Tanev, D (RIT)               Calgary to Dallas

Sean Walker, D (Bowling Green)     Philadelphia to Colorado

Cade Webber, D (Boston Univ.)*     Carolina to Toronto

Jason Zucker, F (Denver)           Arizona to Nashville

* Has not played in NHL yet

Sabres Claim 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic

Vinny Hinostroza (Notre Dame) notched two goals and Tage Thompson (Connecticut) sealed matters with an empty-net tally as the Buffalo Sabres took the 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic from the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 5-2 count outdoors in Hamilton, Ont. on Sunday afternoon.

Hinostroza, who also assisted on Buffalo's first goal of the afternoon, put the Sabres ahead, 3-2, on a bad angle shot just over five minutes into the third period. After Kyle Okposo (Minnesota) helped set up an insurance goal over eight minutes later, Thompson sent a puck into an empty Toronto net with 2:25 remaining in regulation to close out the scoring. It was Thompson's 24th goal of the season, and went along with the assist he drew on Hinostroza's first goal of the day.

Alexander Kerfoot (Harvard) assisted on Toronto's second goal, as the Sabres outshot the Maple Leafs, 38-36, before 26,119 spectators at Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field. The two teams combined to go 0-for-7 on the power play. The Sabres were the first U.S.-based team to participate in the Heritage Classic, in its sixth iteration, and also became the first American club to win what had previously been an all-Canadian event.

Backes, Okposo Sign with New NHL Teams

Two notable former NCAA players changed NHL teams on Friday, according to yahoo.com.

Former St. Louis Blues captain David Backes (Minnesota State) signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Boston Bruins, while former New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo (Minnesota) inked a seven-year, $42 million pact with the Buffalo Sabres. Both are leaving the only NHL franchise that each player had known since turning professional, respectively, after both became unrestricted free agents this off-season.

Backes, 32, played three seasons at MSU (2003-2006), tallying 46 goals and 119 points with the Mavericks. In 727 NHL regular-season outings, all with St. Louis, he has posted 206-254—460 points and 969 penalty minutes, via hockeydb.com, after being drafted by the Blues in the second round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Okposo, 28, played a year-and-a-half at Minnesota (2006-08), tallying 26 goals and 51 points in 58 outings with the Golden Gophers. Taken seventh overall by the Islanders in 2006, he has registered 139-230—369 points and 310 PIM in 529 regular-season NHL games to date.