The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup after winning 2-1 in the seventh decisive game against Edmonton. But the playoff Most Valuable Player award, the Conn Smythe Trophy, went to the opposing team and Connor McDavid, who never came out and claimed the award.
But afterwards it was hardly the price he wanted to talk about.
Stanley Cup
Florida Panthers historic – win their first ever Stanley Cup
Kent “Kenta” Nilsson before the decisive Stanley Cup meeting: “Bobrovsky closes”
– It’s tough. We battled uphill for months, then we were so close. I’m proud of how we worked all year. This sucks, says the star.
Hear more from the star in the clip.
It is the first time a player on a losing team has won the prestigious award since goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere did it with Anaheim in 2003.
Barkov first Finnish captain to lift the dent
The Canadian McDavid has been dazzling in the playoffs, accounting for a mighty 42 points in 25 games. Among other things, the 27-year-old scored four points in two straight games in the final series against Florida.
Wayne Gretzky’s previous record of 31 assists is also a thing of the past. McDavid stepped past the legend during the final series and the new record is written at 34 assists.
Only six players from a losing team have won the award.
Aleksander Barkov became the first Finnish captain to lift the Stanley Cup trophy.
– Of all the games in the final series, we were the least pressured in this seventh. We came into the game with the attitude that we are going to play our best game ever and we succeeded in that, Barkov says to EPN after the historic feat.
This fall, Florida will come to Tampere to play the NHL Global Series against Dallas in two games.