Panthers damage Stanley Cup amid celebration

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Stanley Cup is a little banged up, thanks to the Florida Panthers' celebration of back-to-back titles.

The bowl of the famous trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented. Not for the first time and likely not the last.

The Panthers won their second consecutive championship on home ice Tuesday night, beating Edmonton in six games. The team, following decades of tradition, partied with the Cup into the wee hours and kept the revelry going in Fort Lauderdale well into Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame said the keepers of the Cup are taking the appropriate steps and plan to have it repaired by the celebration parade on Sunday. Made of silver and a nickel alloy, the 37-pound Cup is relatively malleable.

Damage is nothing new for the 131-year-old silver chalice that has been submerged in pools and the Atlantic Ocean and mishandled by players, coaches and staff for more than a century. Just this decade alone, the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped the Cup during their boat parade in 2021 and the Colorado Avalanche dented it on the ice the night they won the following year.