Hornqvist, now in Panthers front office, celebrates day with Cup

Patric Hornqvist got to see an old friend in Sweden this weekend.

The former forward, who played 15 NHL seasons and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017, is now a scout and development consultant with the reigning champion Florida Panthers and got his day with the trophy in his native country.

And while there is no comparison, Hornqvist said, between winning as a player and as a member of team brass, it is still pretty sweet to see the Cup again.

"You can’t compare. There is a big difference between being on the ice and being in the management suite. On the ice, you can control what happens... I scored the game winning goal in one of the finals with Pittsburgh and you can't compare that to what it's like to win from the stands," Hornqvist said. "But still, both as a player and as a leader, the Stanley Cup is the finest prize you can win in hockey. To win it as part of the management... well, the big thing for me was to see the joy on the ice when the players got to lift the cup."

Hornqvist opted for a low key day with family by the water. He even let his kids turn the trophy into the world's greatest candy dish.

Hornqvist's final year playing was last season when the Panthers won the Eastern Conference before falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. So he knew the makeup of the team well enough to know they were not going to lose Game 7, even after leading the series 3-0 and dropping Games 4, 5 and 6 to let the Edmonton Oilers tie the series 3-3.

"Going into the seventh and deciding game, I thought 'Florida is going to lose four straight games? No, it's not going to happen," Hornqvist said. "And for Edmonton to win four straight games in a playoff against the same team? No, that's not going to happen either. It was very much about manipulating the brain there. But that's the Florida Panthers style. We make it difficult for ourselves. There shouldn’t be an easy way to success.”

NHL.com international correspondent Janne Bengtsson contributed to this report