Stenlund Reflects on Return to South Florida

Kevin Stenlund will make the familiar walk into Amerant Bank Arena Friday evening; however, the locker room he enters will be different than last year’s. This is Stenlund’s first trip back to South Florida after winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last season.

“Just a lot of excitement being back,” Stenlund explained ahead of Friday’s game. “Obviously it brings a lot of memories back. It’ll be a fun time. I don’t really know what to expect but I’m really excited for it.

“How the year progressed, it was such fun year and obviously ended the way we wanted,” Stenlund also shared on the experience. “Lot of good things, obviously your head is still spinning when you think about it.”

As is tradition for players no longer with a franchise the season after a Cup win, Stenlund received his championship ring during the following season. When the Panthers traveled to Utah in early January, Stenlund and his former teammates celebrated the occasion at dinner in Salt Lake City.

“It was great to see all my teammates from last year,” Stenlund explained. “We got together with a dinner, and they showed (me) the ring and then we had a nice dinner and talked. It was a great moment.”

When Stenlund thinks back to the celebrations, he shared some insight into the post-game locker room celebrations.

“After we won, we celebrated in the locker room, and it was a lot of champagne. I hope they re-did the floor afterwards; I can tell you that,” Stenlund joked. “It was like a bath and the whole locker room was filled with champagne. I think my gear still smells (somewhat) of champagne.

“I still have a pair of (skates) I was wearing at that time, they smell so bad actually it’s not good,” Stenlund continued. “It was a great week; we had a lot of fun.”

The goals for Utah Hockey Club are to build sustained success and bring Championships to the Beehive State. This offseason, Utah brought in several players who had significant postseason experience, like Stenlund. These additions can teach what it takes to win it all, something Stenlund learned with the Panthers.

“I think the biggest key is consistency,” Stenlund explained about winning the Stanley Cup. “Play the way we want to play and try to do it every night. That’s the hardest part. Not too many ups and downs and even in games, just try to stay with it when it doesn’t go your way. I think that was the biggest key for us last year.

“We had guys like (Aleksander) Barkov and (Matthew) Tkachuk that they experienced a lot going to the Finals the year before,” Stenlund continued. “They knew what was expected, even during the regular season. So, I think we brought that into this season last year. I think that is key, just try to stay in the present and work on the day-to-day.”

Now Stenlund gets to be that example for Utah. His head coach André Tourigny discussed his 'huge' impact on this team.

“He is calm, he's played in a big game, played in the Stanley Cup final in key moments," Tourigny shared. "When you have to shut down (Connor) McDavid to win the game on the penalty kill in Game Seven, it showed (he) had the nerves to do it and the composure to do it. And I think the way he carries himself off the ice, with the players, I think that carries a lot of weight.”

As Utah continues to build towards a long postseason, Stenlund’s voice and experience will impact the organization on and off the ice.