A visit with the Cup
Stoneman Douglas’ hockey team practices, gets a chance to check out the NHL’s coveted trophy
SUNRISE — Before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas club hockey team tries to win another trophy, they were unexMatt pectedly greeted by hockey’s most coveted one Monday afternoon — the Stanley Cup.
The Stoneman Douglas hockey team practiced at the BB&T Center, home of the Florida Panthers, on Monday in preparation for their trip to nationals and the NHL and Panthers surprised them by bringing the Stanley Cup out onto the ice after practice. The team won the Florida state title on Feb. 25, less than two weeks after 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at the school on Feb. 14.
“They said there was going to be something special coming out, but I wasn’t expecting anything like that,” team captain Hauptman said. “More expecting to see Stanley out there, Stanley the Panther, not the Cup. It was just unreal.”
Forward Joey Zenobi added:
“That’s the last thing I was expecting. I was expecting maybe [Aleksander] Barkov or [Nick] Bjugstad to come on and skate with us. That was the last thing I was expecting.”
Panthers vice president of business Shawn Thornton carried the Cup onto the ice after practice and said it was amazing to see the players’ faces when they saw the trophy.
“Talking to them afterwards, I think they understood how important that trophy is to hockey,” said Thornton, who won two Cups, one with Anaheim and one with Boston. “I think they really drank in the experience and they loved every second of it. It was good to see their faces light up like that.”
The Panthers and airline Swift Air also partnered to fly the team up to Minnesota for the USA Hockey High School National Championships in Plymouth, Minn., from March 22-26. Thornton said the idea originated from Swift and the Panthers’ ownership once they saw Stoneman Douglas win the state title.
“Swift and ownership said ‘Why don’t we put them on the team plane and get them up to Minnesota and back?’ ” Thornton said. “Very generous, very thoughtful of them. Today, we were just the people that got to relay the message. The kind hearts of the people behind the scenes is what really made that happen.”
The NHL, the Hall of Fame and the Panthers teamed up to bring the Stanley Cup to Sunrise. The Hall of Fame reached out to the organization and asked if Stoneman Douglas would be practicing at the arena soon.
Howie Borrow is one of several Keepers of the Cup that bring it around to various events.
“It was amazing,” Borrow said. “The second that they saw Shawn bring it out, it was great, big smiles. Their jaws dropped and kind of a little bit of disbelief.”
Hauptman said the trophy was surprisingly heavy, but that the day was a high point of the range of emotions he’s experienced since Feb. 14.
“It’s been ups and downs like crazy,” Hauptman said. “Starting out, the day just being the worst day of my life to having some of the best days of my life, winning a state championship, being treated like a professional player, it’s been incredible. Holding the Stanley Cup [has brought] my roller coaster to a peak.”
Stoneman Douglas won twice on the final day of the state tournament in Estero, defeating East Lake, 3-1, and Tampa Jesuit, 7-4, to claim the state crown. The team lost the first three games of the tournament before bouncing back.
A turning point came when the team realized that 17 players would play in the title game. One player was injured and one left early, bringing their roster to a number that matched the amount of victims.
“They got together and decided that they were going to win and they were going win for the 17 that we lost,” team mom Bonnie Hauptman said.
When the team returned after winning the championship, they placed their medals at the memorials of the 17 victims outside Stoneman Douglas.
“And they’re still hanging there today,” Matt Hauptman said.
On Sunday, Flyers defenseman and former Stoneman Douglas student Shayne Gostisbehere hosted the team at Philadelphia’s game against the Panthers. After the game, he met the players, signed autographs and took pictures and he conducted postgame interviews with a backwards Stoneman Douglas hat on.
The team was present for the Panthers’ first home game since the shooting, a last-second 3-2 win over Washington on Feb. 22 that started a six-game winning streak. Before that game, Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo expressed support for the Parkland community, and the team met the Panthers after the game.
“We built relationships with the players that led them to come to our game to watch us play during states and then speak to us after,” Matt Hauptman said.
The Panthers players have expressed pride in the team’s state championship.
The team is wearing “MSD” patches on its jerseys and Stoneman Douglas logo decals on its helmets for the remainder of the season.
“Everyone’s going to go through a lot of things in the last few weeks and the next however many years,” Thornton said. “We’re there to support in any way we can. Not going to pretend that we know what the best answer is or the best way to support. We’re going to wait and listen and see what people need and we’ll try to support them in any way we can.”