Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday congratulated the Florida Panthers on winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship after they beat the Edmonton Oilers in six games in Sunrise. The Panthers also beat the Oilers in seven games last season.

“Congrats — again — to the Florida Panthers on a great championship season,” DeSantis said.  “Florida has become the hockey capital of the world. We might have to issue an executive order granting Florida residency and a homestead exemption for Lord Stanley’s Cup given how much time it has spent in the Sunshine State in recent years.”

DeSantis made a bet with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith before last year’s Cup final, but no wager was announced this time around. Maybe Smith was worried Edmonton would let her down again.

The Florida Panthers are the first repeat Stanley Cup champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21. They also join the 1972-73 Miami Dolphins and the 2012-13 Miami Heat as the only back-to-back champions in the history of South Florida professional sports.

Forward Sam Bennett led the Panthers and all NHL players with a playoff-high 15 goals. The 28-year-old Canadian also scored five of those goals in the Cup final against Edmonton, which was trying to become the first NHL team to win the Stanley Cup from Canada since the Montreal Canadians in 1993.

For his efforts, Bennett was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

But he wasn’t alone.

The Panthers also received 11 playoff goals from Sam Reinhart and 10 goals from Brad Marchand, who was acquired by Florida after spending his entire 16-year career with the Boston Bruins.

Marchand scored six goals in the Cup final, including Florida’s double overtime winner in Game 2. Reinhart scored four goals in the series clincher and seven overall.

Adding to their depth, both Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe led the Panthers with 16 playoff assists. Matthew Tkachuk also tied Verhaeghe and Reinhart with a team-best 23 points.

Defenseman Gustav Forsling also helped shut down one of the NHL’s best players in Connor McDavid, holding the Edmonton star to just one goal in the Cup final. McDavid has won the NHL’s most valuable player award, the Hart Trophy, three times.

Known as “Bob” to Panther fans, Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky started all 23 games in the playoffs, posting a 16-7 record with a 2.20 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage, and three shutouts.

Bobrovsky also went 4-2 with a 2.45 GAA and a .919 save percentage in the Cup Final, providing Florida with a secure glove as Edmonton swapped between goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard in the series.

It might already be a dynasty, but why stop at two?

In case you’re wondering, the New York Islanders are the last team to win three Stanley Cups in a row, winning four from 1980-83. The Toronto Maple Leafs also won three consecutive Cups on two different occasions in the 1940s and 1960s, while the Montreal Canadiens won four in a row in the 1970s and five straight in the 1950s.

Greedy?

Well, Florida is a hockey state now, and Canada is going to have to get used to it.