By Franklin — SoFlo Sports Buzz
June 18, 2025 | Sunrise, Florida
Woooooooooooooo!!!
Sorry. Sorry. I just needed to get that out of my system. It’s not every day your hockey team hoists the Stanley Cup. Unless, of course, you’re a Florida Panthers fan in 2024 and 2025… then it’s, well, every year. Back-to-back baby! Grab a cafecito, pour some rum into it, and let’s take a victory lap around Amerant Bank Arena with no shirt and a plastic rat in each hand.
The Panthers are Stanley Cup champions. Again. And this time they didn’t just win it — they dominated it. They beat the Oilers 5-1 in Game 6, with Sam “Seriously-How-Is-This-Guy-Not-A-Superhero” Reinhart dropping four — FOUR — goals like he was playing NHL 25 on rookie mode.
Let me break it down for you the Franklin way.
First, Let’s Acknowledge the Historicness of the Situation
Yes, “historicness” is a word. I just decided.
The Florida Panthers — the team people used to joke about playing hockey in front of 11 iguanas and a confused snowbird from Wisconsin — are now a certified dynasty in the making. Two Cups in two years. The banner’s going up again. The memories are permanent. The rats? Still flying.
This isn’t a fluke. This is domination.
Sam Reinhart’s Hat Trick Plus One (Or What I Call a “Quad-Cap”)
The man scored the first goal unassisted — as in, he literally jacked the puck like a pickpocket on Calle Ocho, spun around like he had a sixth sense, and scored while falling down. FALLING. DOWN.
Then after Tkachuk buried the second goal of the night like he was late for a backyard BBQ, Reinhart came back with a second-period snipe to make it 3-0. That goal came at 17:31 of the second, and honestly, I was in mid-churro when it happened and nearly aspirated cinnamon sugar in celebration. No regrets.
In the third, he did what no one thought he could — actually out-chill himself. Two empty net goals, one at 13:26, and another at 14:55, sealed it. Four goals in one game. Four. If this was a movie, it’d be called “Reinhart: Frozen Justice.”
Bobrovsky… AKA “The Wall from Siberia”
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots. He gave up one goal late in the third, which I’m convinced was just him being polite. “Sure, have a little something to remember us by.”
But make no mistake, he was the foundation of this Cup run. Every game, every save, every beard hair frozen in place like a hockey wizard. I don’t know what he eats. I don’t know how he stretches like that. But I do know this: Bobrovsky is our Lord and Netminder.
The Conn Smythe Goes to Sam Bennett… and I’m Not Even Mad
Yes, Reinhart had the game of his life. But Sam Bennett has been a menace this whole postseason. Dude has played with the energy of a rabid alligator and the precision of a Swiss watch. Every shift, he looked like he was one slightly bad call away from punching time and space itself.
Well deserved. I tip my imaginary hat (real hats don’t fit my head) to you, sir.
OIL SPILL IN SUNRISE
Look, the Oilers are a great team. Connor McDavid is basically a cheat code wearing skates, and Draisaitl could snipe a puck through a mail slot blindfolded. But in Game 6? The Panthers made them look like they were playing on rollerblades at Tropical Park.
The Panthers outhit them, outskated them, outscored them, and honestly outpartied them.
We didn’t survive this series. We owned it.
What in the World Was I Talking About Again?
Right. Hockey. I got distracted mid-rant thinking about getting a full-back tattoo of Reinhart hoisting the Cup while riding a panther that’s wearing sunglasses and a gold chain.
What Comes Next?
A parade. A big, loud, borderline-illegal celebration with too much sun, too much bass, and not nearly enough shirts.
But after that? A team that could be built to do this AGAIN. Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bennett (don’t @ me, he is resigning), Bob… they’re all still here. The team culture is tighter than my abuela’s Christmas tamales.
Let the NHL know now: The Panthers aren’t done. They’re just getting started.
Final Thoughts from Franklin
This one’s for all the fans who stuck with this team when the only ice in Miami was in your drink. This one’s for the plastic rats, the late-night OT stress-sweats, and the “Bobrovsky!!!” chants echoing through Sunrise.
This one’s for us.
Back-to-back champions.
Panthers Rule the Hockey World Again.