Current:Home > MyThe Stanley Cup will be awarded Monday night. It’s the Oilers and Panthers in Game 7 -VitalWealth Strategies
The Stanley Cup will be awarded Monday night. It’s the Oilers and Panthers in Game 7
View
Date:2025-04-12 16:31:56
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — A perk of being the captain of an NHL team is this: If your team wins a championship, you get perhaps the ultimate honor in the sport.
You get to be the player who accepts the Stanley Cup on the ice after the game.
Will it be Connor McDavid on behalf of the Edmonton Oilers, seeking their sixth title but first since 1990? Will it be Aleksander Barkov on behalf of the Florida Panthers, seeking the first title in franchise history? The answer comes Monday night, when the Oilers and Panthers play Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final that was all Florida at the start, all Edmonton ever since, and now one last game will decide everything.
“Obviously, it’s not your ordinary game,” said McDavid, who is generally considered the best player in hockey right now and is likely the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. “Everybody understands that. But you’ve got to make it as ordinary as possible in your head.”
It will not be an ordinary game. It’s Game 7, the last game of the season and the capper of a series that has been bonkers; Florida won the first three games, then Edmonton won the next three games — all of them handily, too — to keep staving off elimination.
The stakes couldn’t be higher.
Florida is trying to avoid becoming the second team in NHL history to take a 3-0 lead in the title series and not win the Stanley Cup; Detroit wasted such a lead against Toronto in 1942.
Edmonton is trying to become the first team based in Canada to win the Cup since 1993, an issue of such national importance north of the border that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote “All of Canada’s behind you. Let’s bring the Cup home” to the Oilers on social media as the series was getting underway. It is the longest drought for Canada in Cup history.
“We won three, they won three,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “Both teams have an opportunity. ... Very exciting. Kind of leave-it-all-out-there, desperation on both sides. It all comes down to this.”
When the game ends, the Cup will be brought to the ice. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will say a few words, then present it to the winning captain before he skates away to start the celebration with the newly crowned champions.
Will it be McDavid? Will it be Barkov? The moment they have dreamed about since they started putting on skates as little kids is here, and only one of them will capture it on Monday night.
“It comes down to this last one,” Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said, “and it’s going to be a fun one.”
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Organizers cancel Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna over fears of an attack
- Oregon, coach Dan Lanning put a massive hit on Colorado's hype machine
- What to know about NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission
- Casa De La Cultura showcases Latin-x art in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month
- 2024 Olympics: Gymnast Ana Barbosu Taking Social Media Break After Scoring Controversy
- Brewers 1B Rowdy Tellez pitches final outs for Brewers postseason clinch game
- An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been arrested
- A boy's killing led New Mexico's governor to issue a gun ban. Arrests have been made in the case, police say.
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- How Jessica Alba's Mexican Heritage Has Inspired Her Approach to Parenting
Ranking
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Mexican president wants to meet with Biden in Washington on migration, drug trafficking
- The federal government is headed into a shutdown. What does it mean, who’s hit and what’s next?
- Summer 2023 ends: Hotter summers are coming and could bring outdoor work bans, bumpy roads
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Dead body, 13-foot alligator found in Florida waterway, officials say
- GM email asks for salaried workers to cross picket lines, work parts distribution centers
- Vaccines are still tested with horseshoe crab blood. The industry is finally changing
Recommendation
The 'Rebel Ridge' trailer is here: Get an exclusive first look at Netflix movie
Why Lindsie Chrisley Blocked Savannah and Siblings Over Bulls--t Family Drama
Not RoboCop, but a new robot is patrolling New York's Times Square subway station
Biden faces foreign policy trouble spots as he aims to highlight his experience on the global stage
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina
Farm Aid 2023: Lineup, schedule, how to watch livestream of festival with Willie Nelson, Neil Young
Auto workers still have room to expand their strike against car makers. But they also face risks