Panthers receive Cup rings, prep for banner night

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Seth Jones had waited astir of his beingness to get a Stanley Cup ring. And past helium had to hold adjacent longer earlier helium could spot it.

The Florida Panthers handed retired the rings from their 2nd consecutive rubric connected Monday, and Jones was the archetypal idiosyncratic connected the agelong database of players, coaches and unit who got the prized pieces of jewelry during the ceremony.

But the Panthers person a rule: Nobody opens the container until everybody tin unfastened the container together. So, Jones -- who joined the squad midway done past play -- had to hold ... and hold ... and hold ... earlier helium and everyone other got to spot the caller shiny bauble.

"Awesome," Jones said. "It's a postulation portion for the remainder of my life."

Among the highlights of the ring: A play connected the speeches that Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett gave astatine the Stanley Cup parade, wherever they some gleefully pointed retired that they apologize to nary 1 for the Panthers being the Panthers. That phrasing is etched connected the wrong of the ring, which has much than 250 diamonds and rubies and is created retired of achromatic and yellowish gold.

A ringing acceptable for Back-to-Back Champions 💍 pic.twitter.com/u8Y6fS9Y2f

On the sides of the players' rings: Their sanction and fig connected 1 side, on with the squad logo and "back to backmost champions" connected the other.

The Panthers did the ceremonial successful private, with the players each successful acheronian suits and reddish ties. The solemnisation for fans comes Tuesday, erstwhile the squad volition rise the banner earlier its opener astatine location against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The ownership radical -- Vincent and Teresa Viola and their families -- presented their rings to 1 another, and past the connection yet came to unfastened the boxes.

"I ne'er believed that owning a sports squad could beryllium arsenic invigorating, arsenic heart-touching, that you'd attraction astir the players erstwhile they get hurt," said Teresa Viola, the woman of squad proprietor Vincent Viola said. "You privation to tally down determination similar a ma and conscionable go, 'My goodness, are you OK?' This squad has shown maine the tone of togetherness, family, everything that I hoped it would be."

All the trophies from past play were connected a array adjacent the stage. There were the 2 won by skipper Aleksander Barkov -- the Selke Trophy arsenic the NHL's champion antiaircraft guardant and the King Clancy successful designation of his enactment and humanitarian enactment connected and disconnected the ice. There was the Conn Smythe Trophy, the 1 Sam Bennett got arsenic MVP of the playoffs. There was the Prince of Wales Trophy, which the Panthers person won successful each of the past 3 seasons arsenic Eastern Conference champions.

And, of course, determination was the Stanley Cup. The Panthers person taken it everyplace for the amended portion of the past 3 1/2 months -- hospitals, occurrence houses, sportfishing trips, adjacent eaten meatballs retired of the happening -- and present commencement the quest toward trying to triumph it again.

The rings person been handed out. The banner goes up Tuesday. There volition beryllium reminders on the way, similar taking a ringing to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Stanley Cup Final rematches with Edmonton, rematches of playoff matchups. But the Panthers cognize it's clip to crook the leafage to what awaits.

"Dealing with that and not surviving successful the past is precise important," Panthers manager Paul Maurice said. "But also, we privation to marque definite that we're not mandating that. It's OK to bask tonight. And it's OK erstwhile we person to bash different things that bring america back. We're conscionable not having a reunion each time that we travel to the rink."