‘I’m sure that I’ll soak it in a little bit’: Ekman-Larsson, Lorentz, Stolarz Receive Stanley Cup Rings in Return to Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Memories of Florida’s 2024 Stanley Cup win flooded back on Wednesday morning at the Baptist Health IcePlex with the return of three Cup champions. 

With the Toronto Maple Leafs in town for their Wednesday night matchup against the Panthers, Anthony Stolarz, Steven Lorentz, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson reunited with their former teammates — while also receiving their Stanley Cup rings. 

The remaining Panthers all received their rings the night before the season began. Rather than mailing over rings to the players who are no longer on the team, the organization decided to wait until they could receive them in person. 

“It means a lot for all of us to get the chance to just hug everybody and say a few words,” Ekman-Larsson said. “It kind of went by quick — Game 7 — we partied for a week and then had to make a decision on what’s next. To get this chance to see and talk to everybody, that made it better in a lot of ways.”

On Wednesday, all the remaining members of the Panthers’ Cup team stayed back after their morning skate to welcome back their former teammates and present them with the rings. 

“We got to see everybody, coaches, staff and the guys,” Lorentz said. “Billy (Zito) gave us a little presentation, it was really nice. All the guys stuck around… the boys were all lined up and said hi to use three. It’s just a little thing but that goes a long way. It says a lot about their character.”

When the teams hit the ice for tonight’s game, it will be the first time any player from last season’s Cup team returns to Amerant Bank Arena in an opposing team’s jersey.

 It’ll also be the first time they played in Sunrise since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

“I said this morning I didn’t really think about it and then it just hits you,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said when asked about returning to Florida. “I’m sure that I’ll soak it in a little bit and then when the puck drops, hopefully I’ll be dialled in.”

The Panthers are in the middle of a rough slump — losing its last four games and dropping six of the last seven.​​ The mood has been anything but joyous over the past two weeks in South Florida, however the return of a few former champions lightened the mood just a bit on Wednesday

“These guys roll in and you get all this flood of memories because all three of them had just huge impacts on what we did,” said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice. “You have these great memories that you don’t live in everyday and then you get this awesome reminder.” 

“You get these nice little reminders of a very special time in your life,” he added. 

Anthony Stolarz is projected to start in goal tonight for the Leafs against his former team and former goalie partner, Sergei Bobrovsky. 

“He was unbelievable for us, he was playing his heart out,” Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said of Stolarz. “He’s been awesome this year too (for Toronto). He definitely just needed a little bit of a chance and I guess he got that.”