One of the greatest honors about being named as an NHL team captain is accepting the Stanley Cup if your team wins the championship. It’s a huge honor in hockey.
On Monday night, we’ll find out if it will be Connor McDavid for the Edmonton Oilers or Aleksander Barkov for the Florida Panthers.
The Oilers are trying for their sixth title, but their first since 1990. The Panthers have never won before.
Monday is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, and it has been a wild series. Florida won the first three games, then Edmonton won the next three. Now it all comes down to this last game.
McDavid, who many think is the best hockey player in the world right now, says they’re trying to treat it like a normal game. But it’s far from ordinary. It’s the last game of the season, with everything on the line.
Florida is trying not to become only the second team ever to lose after being up 3-0 in the final. Edmonton wants to be the first Canadian team to win the Cup since 1993, which is a big deal in Canada. Even the Prime Minister is cheering for them.
Both teams know how important this game is. As Panthers player Matthew Tkachuk said, it’s time to leave it all out there.
When the game ends, the NHL Commissioner will bring out the Stanley Cup and give it to the winning team’s captain. Either McDavid or Barkov will get to live out their childhood dream of lifting the Cup as champions.
It’s going to be an exciting, high-stakes game that hockey fans won’t want to miss.