The Florida Panthers are your 2024 Stanley Cup champions, recovering from blowing a 3-0 series lead by taking Game 7 at home by a score of 2-1. The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP is going to a skater from the losing club for the second time in NHL history, though. Oilers superstar Connor McDavid receives the honor after recording a postseason-leading 34 assists and 42 points in just 24 games, the former of which is an all-time record.
Among the notables for Florida is captain Aleksander Barkov becoming the first Finn to lead his team to a Stanley Cup. Head coach Paul Maurice, who’s second all-time in games coached with 1,848, also wins for the first time.
The Cup-winning goal came off the stick of Sam Reinhart, who beat Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner for the go-ahead goal with 4:51 left in the second period. He has less than a week to negotiate a contract extension with the Panthers to avoid hitting the open market as the top right wing available next Monday.
Reinhart finishes the postseason second on Florida in goals with 10, one behind Carter Verhaeghe’s 11. He netted the game-opening goal after going scoreless in Games 2 through 6.
While he lost out to McDavid for the Conn Smythe, Panthers star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky isn’t complaining about his first Cup win, either. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is up for the award again this year, and with a championship ring, he’s all but solidified his candidacy for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
With the Cup Final over, attention now turns toward an incredibly busy opening to the offseason. The first buyout window opens Wednesday, the NHL Awards are Thursday night, the 2024 NHL Draft is Friday and Saturday, and the qualifying offer deadline is Sunday. That’s a major calendar event for five days in a row before the opening of free agency and the technical start of the new league year on Monday, July 1.
Didn’t see McDavid come out of the locker room to advertise the Conn Symthe. Never ever saw that before. At least Giggy was out there like a man when he lost game 6 but won the CS.
He didn’t want to take the spotlight off the true reward and the team that just won that. He’s celebrated enough individual awards and knows the Cup is the real one ot be celebrated tonight. Let the cats celebrate their night. Karma will reward him and let him get his cup one day. Doesn’t need another individual reward.
That’s BS!
Just wait until there is a post game interview. That’s what he’ll be saying. How many Hart’s art Ross’s, and Ted Lindsey’s does he need. There is only 1 award on his mind and it doesn’t come as an individual. It’s the one they win as a team.
After humiliating Giguere, hopefully the League learned it’s lesson and they’ll never do that again. McDavid is worthy of the honor, but also the deference.
By the way… Hall, Leach, and Hextall were all awarded off the ice in a discreet “ceremony”. It wasn’t until Bettman took over that the stupidity of parading a guy out from the losing team to accept an “honor” seemed like a good idea. I can hear Gary now… “Why wouldn’t Jean-Sebastien want to celebrate this amazing achievement with all the Devils fans?”
Sorry I’m bias but I can name 3 guys I would rather have as my first overall pick if I was starting a franchise over McCrybaby Not even the best player on his team. All he is flash and stats
Congrats! You’ve posted the dumbest thing on the internet today.
Bias?…Try grossly ignorant or just plain stupid.
You are getting Giggy with it?
MacKinnon. Makar. Kucherov. Would take over McDavid. And no I’m not an Avs fan. Just a minor league scout. So before you call me dumb or ignorant. Don’t be blinded by flash and stats Talk to scouts all over the league. I am not alone. Attitude Leadership Charisma mean just as much as skill if not more. Win a Selke. Or get some votes for one. Sacrifice some points for some defense and you actually might get your ring.
One more thing. I take the Lindsay award over the Hart. Is McDavid even nominated this year. Uhhhhhh no. Who votes on that. Your peers. The other players in the league did not vote him the top three players this year. And he had a so called career year.
Kuuuch is 4 years older and only received Selke votes once in his career. Same amount of times as McDavid. And has a injury history. MacKinnon has won 1 more ring/cup than McDavid but a lot less individual awards. There are 0 people in hockey management that would take any other player tomorrow over McDavid. Fans yes. Professional management no. You don’t have to like the guy, but he is the best player in the game unquestionably.
McDavid has won it 4 times to MacKinnons 0, Kucherov’s 1, and Makar’s 0. McDavid has won the Lindsay more times than your guys combined and it’s the award you said holds more water than any of the others.
I lied, looked further and McDavid has received Selke votes 4 times. MacKinnon 3 times. Kucherov 2 times.
Before this season McDavid has 4 Lindsay awards to the other guys 1, and 1 total nomination.
You don’t have to like the guy for whatever reason, but to deny he is the best in the game right now is laughable. Every single team in the league would take him 1st OA tomorrow if there was a league wide redraft.
Attitude, leadership, charisma…if you watched after the final buzzer as all the Oilers players filed off the ice back to their locker room there was one player who was still on the ice making sure to engage with each of his teammates. Spoiler alert it was McDavid.
Not the best player on his team…I assume you are inferring Draisaitl is then? What did Draisaitl do this series to help the Oilers? 3 assists and a -2 rating. Stats aren’t everything but usually your best player is expected to show up in the biggest series. Guess who did.
I guess that is one way to admit that your hockey knowledge is severely lacking.
You are not a minor league scout – at least not one employed by any team. Maybe that is the role you play when you go to a game. Connor McDavid played stellar defense during the Final and a scout would recognize that.
Any of yall think McDavid had some kind of injury the last couple games? He didn’t play as much and didn’t seem his usually self.
I think he just ran out of gas. Fatigue, no injury.
Looked that way at the start of the Dallas series too.
Disrespectful not giving the Conn Smythe to a Panther.
It isn’t a disrespect since Connor McDavid was better than anyone on the Panthers. End of story.
Other than game 5 he had no effect on the finals.
He had 8 points in games 4 and 5 alone.
No effect?!? Are you delusional or just ignorantly stupid?…Wake up dude!
Game 1. 0
Game 6 0
Game 7 0
7 of his 10 points came in two blow out wins.
Barkov. Hmmmmm. Ya he sucks. Only 80 points a +33 and the second best defensive forward in the league behind Kopitar odds our his third Selke oh ya and a STANLEY CUP
@RW: It isnt a finals award. Its for the whole playoffs.
It seemed like the only times Barkov was on the ice in the playoffs for goals against were shorthanded & empty net. At 5 on 5 he dominated!
typically you do see the winning team get it as its very rare for the losing team to get it, McDavid was inches away from the playoff record which did look unbeatable, you just dont see 40 point postseasons anymore
@soccer_ref you do realize it’s an award for the entire postseason right? I mean if we’re going off of regular season stats then wouldn’t McDavid and Draisaitl be better choices on points alone?
Its weird McDavid gets it on the losing team but whose the better candidate? Barkov had a good postseason overall but he also had 4 games in the finals where he had 0 points. It was Bobrovsky’s award to lose after Game 3 and he forgot to show up the next three games which ruled him out short of a “stand on your head” type of game in Game 7….which he had a solid game but hardly a “he’s the reason they won” type of game. Pretty much the rest of the Panthers forgot to show up for Games 4-6 so how is it justifiable to give any of them the award if we’re dinging McDavid for not showing up in 3 games too?
OMG.
Can ESPN coverage be any worse. Blew the camera angle. Did not get to see Barkov lift the cup because the camera guy in the ice blew it. Despite the horrible east coast bias and lack of coverage of any teams that play on the west coast. Please please please NBC. Get the NHL contract back. Despite that you televise the Flyers and Penguins WAY TO MUCH EVEN WHEN THEY SUCK. Your camera angles studio coverage on ice interviews and most importantly your play by play guys are second to none
I’m just glad they got a little Leah Hextall in before the game… Does it get any better than Leah Hextall?
Yes Kathryn Tappen
Caroline Cameron.
Almost Anyone else!
ESPN ruins everything they touch.
Hot take, the sky cam was fine. Was a nice mix up and I also heard anecdotally that it helped some people see the puck.
Thank you hockey gods!!!
That 3rd period was surreal! Eetu Luostarinen should be bronzed for those two blocks he made in the 3rd period!
And the Hershey Bears win the Calder Cup in OT!!! I’m emotionally drained.
Amazingly, Sling TV somehow didn’t make game 7 available tonight on their app. They suuuuuuuccccckkkkkk!!!!!
This is why I have been using [redacted].gr for watching hockey games for a few years. If I’m gonna have to sit through 2 hours of ads, expecting me to pay for it is a good laugh.
And the NHL’s official streaming service that costs $300 a year? Again, still packed with ads on the boards, in the colour commentary, on the jerseys? Naaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.
@PyramidHeadcrab — It’s now up to $300? F that and their horse! Sounds like you made a much better decision in my books.
In Canada, it costs around $300 a year, but is discounted if you also subscribe to Rogers, a cable company here. But even if you pay the full price, you can’t see a game if it’s ALSO airing on TV, even if it’s some BS like TSN4. So I’m a Sharks and Panthers fan, right? If those teams are playing in Canada, there’s a strong chance I can’t even watch it if I purchase the NHL streaming service.
It is a SCAM, friend. Bless Russian, Greek and Swedish reuploads.
@PyramidHeadcrab — That’s like another form of the bogus blackout rule.
It’s a shamefully eye-rolling seeing a team like the Panthers who were an underhandedly dirty & arrogant team throughout the playoffs, win it. They got utterly lucky in more ways than one. There fanbase was classless throughout & acted self-entitled. There could also be strong arguments that the refs (particularly O’ Rourke & Kozari who did the majority of their playoff games strangely enough) helped them during significant points throughout the playoffs (can’t say that in the finals really but the other rounds, oh yes). As far as I’m concern, they’re cheaters as I have no respect for them. Screw the Panthers & their fans as I’ll just say, karma is a b**ch & it will get them moving forward. Anyway, on to next season now.
Glad to see Connor McDavid win the Conn Smyth Trophy as he truly was objectively the best player in this year in the playoffs.
Obviously you’ve never seen a Bruins game to make a completely stupid statement like that. Between Cheap Shot Charlie and Marchand they add a whole new dimension to arrogant and ignorant. And as far as McDavid goes he was a warrior even though he was left out there most of the third period while he was as worn out as dog in the heat with his tongue hanging out. I hope that was by his choice and not Knoblauch’s because that was a mistake. BOB should have got the Conn Smythe too as they rode his back all the way. Just my opinion.
Go Panthers!
Are you like 10 years old? What a bunch of rubbish.
Go Panthers!
Wow …. Bitter homer or what?
ummm Edmonton had 3 Game Misconduct reviews in the Stanley Cup Final alone
would you like any cheese with your wine sir?
Could you cite me a single panthers fan writing what you did about the lightning? Ever? Wanna talk Karma… imagine Stamkos in a Panthers jersey next year ;-)
Wow, 1st the PLD trade and now Florida wins! I didn’t think I would have anything to celebrate since our season ended!
Kings fan. Blake robbed the Caps using a squirt gun with no mask on. PLD. I would love to have you read the scouting reports. Total head case. 4th team in 5 seasons. Honestly. He is closer to out of the league than a top 6 forward. Kuemper is an above average goaltender. And with Big Save Dave behind him. Now all you need is a center for the third line because moving Byfield away from Kopitar and Kempe is crazy. DMonahan. Middlestat or Henrique would be perfect
Byfield will move back to his natural C position since the Cancer got traded. Kopitar at 37 is nearing the end and Danault is 33. Kings need a big tough RW & some grit on D!
Who would be his wingers. You do not break up the Danault-Fiala-Moore line. Kopitar and Kempe will need a winger. Who do you put Byfield with? You waist his talent and kill his ice time if you move him to the C
Well that sure was nice of Edmonton to let Florida win so they wouldn’t become the Minnesota Vikings of the NHL and go to 4 finals and lose all 4 times
AHL and NHL cup awarded the same day
Barkov was the MVP & the NHL continues to be a joke.
Barkov wasn’t even the MVP on his team. Bob would have got that. The CS goes to the MVP of the playoffs and clearly CMD was the best player thru the entirety of the playoffs. I’m a Panthers fan and can honestly say no one was more dominant than McDavid thru the entirety of the playoffs. The Panthers were the best team, McDavid was the best player. Fantastic series. Tonnes of entertainment. But the best team won.
McDavid blew everyone else out in points, you can make a case for a couple Panthers to get it, 40+ points is insane and almost the postseason record
link to thephwa.com
Barkov finished 2nd & was closer to McDavid than Forsling (3rd) was to Barkov. Bob finished 4th. A dozen nhl goalies would’ve won the Cup this yr with Florida. Never is Bob more valuable than Barkov. Ever!
What a dream-contract year for Reinhart.
I think he doesn’t cash out and stays TBH… Panthers have a strong show to be a LONG dynasty (Barkov and Matty are both in their 20’s)
It just seems to me that a player from the winning team should be given the conn smythe.
“Congratulations on being the mvp, even though you lost. Boy, do your teammates suck!”
As a side note, at least we won’t need to hear about mcdavids cup from every broadcast team all year next year. They can go back to sucking off Bedard every chance they get.
Way to go Panthers ! Congratulations on that cup !