Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ekblad says it’s time for team to contend
PEMBROKE PINES — Through the course of reading a book with a Zamboni as the central character to an auditorium full of kids Tuesday, Aaron Ekblad revealed that he has never ridden on an ice-surfacing machine.
“I guess I’ve got to get one of the guys at the rink to take me out,” the Florida Panthers’ star defenseman said during his appearance at Southwest Regional Library on the team’s Summer Reading Tour.
That is not the highest priority on Ekblad’s to-do list, though, as he prepares for the upcoming season.
Ekblad clearly enjoyed interacting with the audience of about 70 youngsters, most of whom raised their hands in affirmation that they have attended a Panthers game.
At 22, he’s still a kid himself. Yet, the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick of 2014 is already entering his fifth season.
He is part of the team’s talented core that still gets labeled as young but has been together for several seasons.
Forward Aleksander Barkov, also 22 but a few months older, already has five seasons with the Panthers under his skates. Likewise, second-line center Vincent Trocheck is 25 and has played three full seasons and significant parts of two others. Jonathan Huberdeau, at 25, is entering his seventh season.
Ekblad said it is a group that is eager to make the move from potential to a mature contender. They are two seasons removed from their one playoff appearance that ended with a firstround exit.
“We’re all in prime physical shape and we all have that potential to come together as a team and be a good team,” Ekblad said. “I do think it is time for us to do that.”
He pointed to the offseason additions of veteran scorer Mike Hoffman and Russian import defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich without any significant departures as a foundation for optimism for a team that missed the playoffs by one point, despite a late-season surge to finish with 96 points, third-most in franchise history.
Ekblad recently returned to South Florida after joining most of his teammates in attending forward Nick Bjugstad’s wedding in Wisconsin. Just getting there was an adventure.
“You’ve got to fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul and drive 2
hours and take a ferry over to this island in the middle of Wisconsin. This just kind of proves how close a lot of us are,” he said. “We have a crazy amount of fun together.”
More fun would be winning big together.
Ekblad is coming off a solid season in which he played in all 82 regular-season games and finished with 16 goals and 22 assists. The 16 goals were tied for fourth among NHL defensemen, just one behind the leaders.
Acclaimed for his offensive EDITED FROM NEWS SERVICES prowess from the blue line, Ekblad took on more of a two-way role in 2017-18 in teaming with veteran Keith Yandle as the team’s top defensive pairing.
Tuesday brought a different challenge in reading Kate and Jim McMullan’s “I’m Cool!” to an attentive group of school-age kids. This was the fourth of 11 stops on the Panthers’ Summer Reading Tour of Broward County Libraries, which began June 6 when goaltender Roberto Luongo visited North Lauderdale Saraniero Library.
The Panthers Foundation’s Community Champions Grant Program awarded a grant in February to the Broward Public Library Foundation to help local libraries inspire new readers through funding for various initiatives and outreach programs.
It is all part of Panthers efforts to build bridges within the community. On Saturday, forward Jared McCann instructed nearly 100 children ages 5-9 in the team’s Learn to Play program, which is being conducted at a half-dozen rinks in the region.
“Definitely, it’s a little bit nerve-wracking,” Ekblad said. “It’s a treat, honestly, for me, nice to give back and be able to read to some kids and maybe teach them a little bit about hockey, the Zamboni and what that book was all about.”