Well the 2022-23 Florida Panthers season is over and it had some of the biggest highs and lows I’ve ever experienced as a fan. From a difficult Regular Season to an improbable Playoff Run that ultimately fell short, the 2022-23 Florida Panthers will be a team that I will remember forever. The pain of losing the Stanley Cup Finals to Vegas is immense, but there is only so much the human body can take. The Panthers pushed themselves beyond their physical limits to get to that point, but it wasn’t enough. Vegas was the healthier team, who had built their squad dedicated to a dominant run and fulfilled it. The Panthers 2023 Playoffs created some of the best memories I’ve had so far in my 19 years of life, from Tkachuk’s promise in Game 5 of the Bruins series to Montour tying Game 7 in the last minute to Verhaeghe finishing off the greatest upset in NHL history and this was only Round 1. Other memories like seeing Sam Reinhart in person win Game 3 against Toronto on a wrap-around against a John Tavares team to Matthew Tkachuk ending a marathon game in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to personally witnessing Bobrovsky’s shutout in Game 3 to Tkachuk sending the Panthers to the Finals in the dying seconds of regulation of Game 4, this was a playoff run for the books. Yet we didn’t lift the Stanley Cup, but it’s okay. We weren’t supposed to get this far, men aren’t supposed to play through the injuries that they suffered, and ultimately as soon as Dallas won Game 5, the Panthers momentum was stopped and the path to the Finals was easy for the Golden Buzzsaws.

A run like this may never happen again in franchise history, we could experience many more runs like it, we don’t know. The future is uncertain. At the end of the day, all we have are memories of what was, past glories and pain. I just wanted to say thank you to the men who made this run possible. Vinnie Viola, Doug Cifu, Matt Caldwell, Bill Zito and Paul Maurice, you all have built something that I’ll cherish forever. Thank you to the players who poured their hearts, souls and bodies on the line to make these memories. This team has Guts. This team had Grit. This team showed that any challenge, no matter how insurmountable, can be undertaken. These stories will be shared with my children one day and my grandchildren after that. Yes the loss in the Finals was heartbreaking, but at the end of the day, it’s one season. Just as soon as the pain may wash off, if it ever will, it will be time for a new season. A new season means new hope sprung abound. The Panthers are no longer a baby-faced doe in the playoffs. They are a hard battle-tested bunch who knows the sacrifices required to win it all. I always saw the Stanley Cup as the hardest trophy to win in sports as hyperbole until this run. This team has more chances to finish what they started this season, with a great ownership group and an excellent General Manager and a battle-tested Coach. While the run ultimately came up short, I don’t see any reason to cry. Don’t cry because it’s over Panthers fans, smile because it happened.