Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champions

Sports

add

Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.

🏆 Play it on repeat: Panthers keep the Cup

The Stanley Cup will remain in South Florida. And Canada’s title drought will continue.

Advertisement

Back-to-back: The Panthers beat the Oilers, 5-1, in Game 6 to repeat as champions and hoist the Cup in front of their home fans for the second straight year.

• Star of the night: Sam Reinhart became just the sixth player in NHL history (and the first since 1957) to score four goals in a Cup Final game.

• Star of the playoffs: Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring an NHL-best 15 goals throughout the postseason, including five in the Cup Final.

Love this quote: “He’s a better player and person than I ever knew, and I’m grateful that I got to play with him,” said Bennett of former nemesis turned beloved teammate Brad Marchand, who could have easily won the Conn Smythe himself.

Dynasty down South: The Panthers won four playoff series in their first 28 seasons as a franchise. They’ve now won 11 (out of 12) in the last three years. The state of Florida this decade: Six straight Finals appearances and four Stanley Cups (two for the Panthers, two for the Lightning).

Meanwhile, in Edmonton: The Oilers’ loss extended one of the wildest sports stats for another year: An American team (Baltimore Stallions, 1995) has won the CFL Grey Cup more recently than a Canadian team (Canadiens, 1993) has won the Stanley Cup.

Advertisement

• Edmonton is the third team in the NHL’s post-expansion era to lose consecutive Cup Finals, joining the Bruins (1977-78) and Blues (1968-70).

• Canadian teams are now 0-7 in the Cup Final during this 32-year title drought, with the Oilers (3x), Canucks (2x), Canadiens and Flames all falling just short.

Looking ahead: Will next year finally be Canada’s year? The Oilers are the way-too-early betting favorites (+650 at BetMGM) over the Panthers (+750) to win the 2026 Stanley Cup.

🏆 Welcome to the Mascot Hall of Fame

The Mascot Hall of Fame — yes, that’s a real thing — welcomed five new members this week.

Class of 2025:

• Fredbird (St. Louis Cardinals)

• Blitz (Seattle Seahawks)

• Sebastian the Ibis (U of Miami)

• SJ Sharkie (San Jose Sharks)

• Toro (Houston Texans)

Backstory: The Mascot Hall of Fame was founded in 2005 by David Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic (1978-93). A brick-and-mortar location was opened in Indiana in 2018 before closing its doors last summer, kicking off a search for a new permanent home.

Exclusive club: The newest inductees increase the total membership to just 38, spanning the “Big Four” leagues, the NCAA and a handful of minor and independent teams.

Advertisement

• NCAA (11): Sebastian the Ibis, YoUDee (Delaware), Smokey (Tennessee), Otto the Orange (Syracuse), Nittany Lion (Penn State), Monte (Montana), Lil’ Red (Nebraska), Bucky Badger (Wisconsin), Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State), Big Red (WKU), Aubie (Auburn)

• MLB (9): Fredbird, Phillie Phanatic, The Oriole Bird (Orioles), Southpaw (White Sox), Sluggerrr (Royals), Slider (Guardians), Orbit (Astros), Mr. Met (Mets), Lou Seal (Giants)

• NBA (7): The Gorilla (Suns), The Coyote (Spurs), Rocky (Nuggets), Jazz Bear (Jazz), Clutch the Bear (Rockets), Boomer (Pacers), Benny the Bull (Bulls)

• NFL (5): Blitz, Toro, K.C. Wolf (Chiefs), Jaxson de Ville (Jaguars), Blue (Colts)

• NHL (3): SJ Sharkie, Youppi! (Canadiens), Tommy Hawk (Blackhawks)

How it works: In order to be eligible, mascots must have existed for at least 10 years and had an impact on their sport and community. They need 60% of the weighted vote to get in, with votes from the Hall’s executive committee worth six times as much as the general public.

🏒 Inside the chaos of “Ice Wars”

“Ice Wars” answers the question: What if you took all the hockey out of fighting?

New combat series: The Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s newest foray got underway on Saturday with the inaugural event in “Ice Wars,” a series that distills the dying art of hockey fights into its own sport.

Advertisement

• 20 fighters — former hockey players, boxers and MMA fighters — competed in a small arena inside the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino in central Michigan, where they donned full hockey gear but with nary a stick, puck or goal in sight.

• The ring was an 800 square foot “hockey rink” called the Ice Box (though the “ice” was synthetic), which hosted 10 fights between American and Canadian opponents in the “Battle of the Border.”

How it works: Each bout features between three and five 90-second rounds. Like NHL enforcers, the fighters circle each other on the ice before throwing haymakers. Unlike NHL enforcers, they keep their (four-ounce MMA-style) gloves on.

• Rather than a round-by-round scoring system, fights are judged as a whole.

What they’re saying: While the concept might sound like unbridled chaos, the athletes are fully bought in. “I’ve had fights in MMA, and this is the most fun fighting I’ve ever had in my life,” said super heavyweight Zach Hughes, not long after getting flattened by a 276-pound slab of humanity from Alberta nicknamed “The Chief.”

Here’s more from Chuck:

The fictional hockey world had the Hanson brothers, a bespectacled trio who came to the Charlestown Chiefs from the North American Hockey League, where gooning it up was a way of life. The nonfictional Ice Wars has the LaPorte brothers, Nick and Will, 6-foot-6 hockey specimens who throw hands more for simple pleasure.

Advertisement

Keep reading.

📚 Good reads

🏀 Kevin O’Connor: Which wild-card teams might want to roll the dice on a deal for KD?

Yes, Kevin Durant is aging. And yes, he could bolt in a year. But if you think he’s the guy who gets you to the Finals, you make the call.

⚾️ Jordan Shusterman: Everything you need to know about the MLB draft combine

This week, many of the top high school prospects and collegiate players descend on Chase Field to showcase their skills.

⚽️ Henry Bushnell: Why are Club World Cup stadiums half empty?

Despite FIFA’s lofty ambitions, the Club World Cup has so far played out in front of half-empty stadiums, the result of steep ticket prices, poor promotion and flawed messaging.

📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, June 18

⚾️ No. 13 Coastal Carolina vs. Louisville | 2pm ET, ESPN

The Chanticleers (no losses) have the easier path in the first College World Series semifinal, needing just a win tonight to advance to their first championship series since winning the 2016 title. If the Cardinals (one loss) win, they’ll force a win-or-go-home game tomorrow.

⚾️ No. 6 LSU vs. No. 3 Arkansas | 7pm, ESPN

The Tigers (no losses) are one win away from reaching their second CWS Finals in three years. The Razorbacks (one loss) will be hoping to extend their season and force a rubber match tomorrow.

Advertisement

More to watch:

• ⚾️ MLB: Red Sox at Mariners (4:10pm, MLB) … AL strikeout leader Garrett Crochet takes the mound for the Sox, who’ve won eight of their last 10.

• ⚽️ Club World Cup: Real Madrid vs. Al Hilal (3pm, TNT) … Group H action in Miami.

• ⚽️ Gold Cup: Suriname vs. Mexico (10pm, FS1) … Group A action at Jerry World.

Today’s full slate →

🎾 Tennis trivia

Ben Shelton rose to a career-high No. 10 in this week’s ATP rankings, joining No. 4 Taylor Fritz and No. 8 Tommy Paul to give the U.S. three men in the top 10 for the first time since April 2006.

Question: Which three Americans were ranked in the top 10 in April 2006?

Hint: Two are major champions.

Answer at the bottom.

⛳️ Throwback Thursday

I stumbled upon a video of Bobby Jones demonstrating how to hit out of a plugged bunker lie, and I can’t stop watching it.

Enjoy.

Trivia answer: No. 4 Andy Roddick, No. 7 James Blake, No. 10 Andre Agassi

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Club World Cup match interrupted by animal-rights activists targeting Morocco’s treatment of stray animals

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Fluminense distribui milhares de bandeirinhas para torcida nos EUA e ajuda a incrementar festa no Mundial

O Globo