It’s the Sunday after the Florida Panthers won back-to-back Stanley Cups — no need to ask where the boys are. Fort Lauderdale beach, of course.

The oceanfront along A1A will once again provide the most beautiful backdrop in Stanley Cup championship parade history beginning at noon, when thousands of fans are expected to line the glamorous stretch of seashore to pay tribute to their blue-collar heroes.

Last year’s Florida Panthers parade drew an estimated 200,000 spectators, who braved rain squalls and lightning for a glimpse of the players. Captured on social media and TV broadcasts across the United States and Canada, the size, passion and determination of the rain-soaked crowd answered any question about whether South Florida had hockey fans.

This year, heat may be the challenge: Temperatures on Sunday are expected to be in the high 80s to low 90s, with a 45% chance of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

The parade route will start at State Road A1A and Riomar Street, ending with a rally at a stage in the sand at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, annual site of the Tortuga Music Festival. The schedule calls for the parade to conclude at around 1 p.m., with the rally from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

If recent history provides a template for Sunday’s parade, expect the players’ enthusiasm to match that of the fans. You’re likely to see Panthers stars, many of them bare-chested, dart off open-air buses to exchange high-fives with fans along the barricades, while beer will be poured from the Cup onto the crowd.

One of the signature moments of the rally in 2024 was winger Ryan Lomberg leaping from the stage and crowd-surfing over the audience. Lomberg isn’t a Panther anymore, but the Sun Sentinel’s David Furones reported that Brad Marchand practiced his surfing skills at Miami nightclub E11even on Thursday night.

With a celebration that began early Wednesday with beer-soaked Panthers stars and the Stanley Cup at Fort Lauderdale beach dive bar the Elbo Room, Sunday’s parade will conclude a frenzy of weekend fan events and impromptu Cup sightings, though player interactions will continue through at least Wednesday, June 25.

Originally Published: June 22, 2025 at 7:54 AM EDT