Viola, Florida Panthers Bring Stanley Cup to West Point
On the night the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup, owner Vinnie Viola vowed he would bring it to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
On Friday, he did just that.
With the Panthers having a day between games in New York City, they took their prized possession to a spot that means so much to Viola — who graduated from West Point in 1977.
Aside from Viola, three other West Point graduates who work for the Panthers were on the trip including team president Matt Caldwell (class of 2020), COO Bryce Hollweg (2008) and VP of Programming & Development Keith Fine (2008).
“Vinnie and I, we got here this morning, and we felt like cadets again,” Caldwell said per Jameson Olive of floridapanthers.com.
“This place is so special. Any time you come back, you have this nostalgic feeling. To have the Stanley Cup with us and the whole hockey team, the players are so excited. … I hope everyone feels the culture here, the soul of the place.”
The team visited with cadets and ate lunch with them in the famed mess hall.
“I know we’re really enjoying it,” Matthew Tkachuk told Olive.
“It’s been incredible. As an American, I have so much appreciation for the Army, for everybody in the military. To come here and see it firsthand and just kind of see what they do on a daily basis here, it’s been incredible.”
During their lunch, team leaders Sasha Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Tkachuk brought the Stanley Cup up into the portico overlooking the Mess Hall.
Tkachuk handed the Cup to Barkov, who hoisted it high into the air.
If that was not exciting enough, Barkov got the cadets all fired up.
“Beat Navy!” Barkov yelled.
