Skrudland faceoff

Brian Skrudland’s loyalties are a bit divided – but not in a bad way – as he considers the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.

The first captain of the Panthers still has a soft spot for the team, having worn the “C” on their jersey for four seasons – from their 1993 birth through his 1997 free-agency signing with the New York Rangers – then in retirement having served with the franchise in various capacities.

That said, Skrudland is a proud Canadian, a native of Peace River, Alberta, who today calls Calgary home. So there’s the matter of a team from his country not having won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens’ 1993 championship.

Skrudland has won the Cup twice – as a rookie with the 1985-86 Canadiens, then with the 1998-99 Dallas Stars, his penultimate NHL season. A fine checking forward, he scored 343 points (124 goals, 219 assists) in 881 games over 15 seasons.

He is widely celebrated for a Stanley Cup Playoff record he has held since Game 2 of the 1986 Final against the Calgary Flames, scoring just nine seconds into overtime to register the fastest extra-time goal in NHL history.

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      Memories: Skrudland scores fastest OT playoff goal

      Now, the 60-year-old is ready to watch the Panthers and Oilers play seven or fewer games to decide the League’s 2023-24 championship.

      Skrudland spoke on Monday with NHL.com to consider the Panthers, the team he helped put on the map, and the Oilers, with many of the players on the 1980s championship teams massive heroes of his junior-hockey youth.

      The Panthers have twice been to the Stanley Cup Final – swept in 1996 by the Colorado Avalanche, then beaten in five last year by the Vegas Golden Knights. Is this third time a charm, or will a team based in Canada at long last win another championship?

      "Thirty-one years is a long time, we’ve been hearing about it forever. The last Canadian team to win the Cup was the team I was traded from on Jan. 28, 1993 (Montreal to Calgary). I watched them win the Cup on June 9. My beautiful little baby girl, Rudi, was born on June 10. I said to my wife, ‘Lana, it would have worked out perfectly. We could have been home, had the baby the next day, and had the Cup and the baby…’ In the long run, I said, ‘OK, the Canadiens have the Cup, I have this beautiful little girl,’ so it all worked out well.

      "I’ve been hearing about this Panthers team. Until last year, we hadn’t heard much about them except the 1996 team, the most successful in franchise history until last season. I think I can speak on behalf of the guys on that 1996 team to say that last year was about time, advancing to the Final and having a chance to win it all.

      "We followed the Panthers for a long time. They were not very good and they weren’t even fun to watch for a number of years. Then I was gainfully employed by them for a few years and had a chance to work with Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad.

      "Florida hockey has taken off since 1993. It wouldn’t hurt my heart one little bit for the Panthers to win their first… but I’m a Canadian. It goes both ways. I’m just looking forward to a great championship.

      "You’ve got a GM down in Florida (Bill Zito) who’s done such a fabulous job, was on the cusp last year. I wouldn’t mind seeing him rewarded for his hard work. I’m just so proud of Bill and what he’s accomplished – the whole staff, on the development side of it."

      Skrudland portrait

      Florida Panthers captain Brian Skrudland during a Feb. 7, 1997 game against the New Jersey Devils at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.

      Beyond the C you have shared on the Panthers jersey, do you see any similarities between Barkov’s game and the way you played?

      "Totally different. He’s got such a calm demeanor. I was more a vocal guy. Aleksander does it by example. I tried to do that as well as I could defensively and offensively, but this kid is the full package. It’s very rare that he shows his emotions but I really enjoyed his interview after Florida eliminated the Rangers. He’s really stepped out of his shell. I think he’s one of the greatest leaders in the game. I can’t call him underrated anymore. Everyone knows Aleksander Barkov now."

      Not only were you the Panthers’ first captain, you joined the team on the ground floor, claimed from Calgary in the 1993 expansion draft, and spent a lot of time and energy off the ice selling the game in a new market. Is there an enduring memory of your four years on Florida ice?

      "Selling the game. My wife was getting a little tired of me saying yes, but at the same time I knew what my responsibility was to the organization and what they were doing for me and my family. There were very few days that I wasn’t involved with extracurricular activities, an endless string of radio and TV interview requests and public appearances."

      Skrudland 1986

      Helmeted Brian Skrudland celebrates the Montreal Canadiens’ 1986 Stanley Cup win on May 24, 1986 in Calgary with captain Bob Gainey (23), alternate captain Larry Robinson and Mats Naslund, who’s directly in front of Skrudland.

      Were there special challenges being named captain in a new market where hockey was a bit of a curiosity?

      "I felt that if I wore the C, if I wasn’t going to say yes to all the stuff I was asked, then I couldn’t expect my teammates to. I had to lead by example. When we got to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final, the crowds were huge. School buses were showing up at our practices for autographs. There were hour-long lineups just to leave the rink. I just told the players, 'If you have somewhere to go, then go. Tell the fans. They’re respectful if you’re respectful of them.'

      "It was a real thrill. My teammates were so special. We had fun on and off the ice. We all felt like we were in dreamland, playing in a place like Florida, having an owner like Wayne Huizenga, the doors open for us right, left and center."

      How do your Stanley Cup championships with Montreal in 1986 and Dallas and 1999 compare?

      "Total surprise in 1986 and total expectation in 1999. How’s that for the pendulum swinging both ways? Seven guys jumped to the Canadiens in 1985-86 from AHL Sherbrooke, who won the Calder Cup, making that team to play with Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson, Rick Green, Chris Nilan, Chris Chelios, Mike McPhee, Mats Naslund, Bobby Smith. A decent regular season which all came down to the young, 180-pound goaltender named Patrick Roy. He was fantastic."

      Seven of Florida’s wins this postseason have been by a single goal, including the last three to eliminate the Rangers. In 1986, you played in front of Roy, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. Do you see any of Roy’s ice-water veins in Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky?

      "The Panthers seem to feel really comfortable with Sergei between the pipes. Why wouldn’t they? But the game has changed so much from my day. If we had a two-goal lead in front of Patrick, sorry, but with my stick, no one was going to get a free whack at a puck. We had them tied up so bad. It’s amazing, the momentum swings these days. That said, Sergei has lived up to his expectations, which now are probably nothing short of a Stanley Cup."

      Skrudland Canadiens

      Brian Skrudland carries the puck out from behind the Canadiens’ Montreal Forum net on Feb. 4, 1989, defenseman Petr Svoboda in the background.

      Your NHL record for the fastest overtime goal in NHL playoff history still stands from 1986. Is it safe forever?

      "Not in today’s game, my gosh, the way these guys skate and shoot the puck. Some of the stuff that happens, today, the bounces, the first steps by some of these guys who fly and can shoot the puck. I’ve really enjoyed the notoriety. I keep telling people, 'Our line at the time of that overtime had 14 goals. Claude Lemieux had nine, Mike McPhee had five.' And then I stop… (laughs)"

      Would you have occasion to get down to Florida, or up to Edmonton, to see any of the Final?

      "The Panthers were kind enough to bring Lana and myself down this past year as part of the team’s 30th anniversary celebrations – we went down to represent the 1990s – and they treated us like royalty. If there’s a chance to get up to Edmonton, I certainly won’t hesitate to go and cheer on both teams."

      What would it mean to Canada, as a nation, for the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup, seeing as a team from north of the border hasn’t won it since 1993, and that the Oilers were such a dominant team in the mid- to late-1980s?

      "If you’re a Canadian, how could you not be a fan of the Oilers during their dynasty? I had a chance to meet these guys in a hotel lobby in Winnipeg when I was playing junior with Saskatoon, before they won the Cup five times (between 1984-90). I always thought, ‘Mark Messier has to be as big as a house… Dave Semenko, all these guys…’ And then I saw them and it was like, ‘Wow, they’re just normal.’ But they were still bigger than life for me.

      "I think Connor McDavid said it best after the Oilers advanced to the Final against Florida. I heard him say in an interview (paraphrased): ‘Sports brings people together, a celebration. I hope our opportunity to win the Stanley Cup will bring our nation together from coast to coast and we can have a little party.’"

      Skrudland bobble action

      A 2014 Brian Skrudland Florida Panthers bobblehead, and Skrudland in action for the Panthers in January 1996.

      Speaking of parties – the Panthers had a Brian Skrudland Bobblehead Night in 2014. How many of those do you have at home?

      "(laughs) Do me a favor. Don’t take it out of the package, just enjoy the picture on the box, because the bobblehead sure as heck isn’t me. You might recognize the number on the jersey but that was it. Obviously I didn’t sign off on it. They gave me a whole box of them and I might have two left. I got involved in the oil and gas business here, then agriculture. I’d give them to people and see if they’d actually put them on their desks."

      Top photo: Former Florida Panthers captain Brian Skrudland drops the ceremonial face-off between the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov (left) and Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings at Amerant Bank Arena on Jan. 11, 2024 in Sunrise, Fla.

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