SUNRISE, Fla. – Aleksander Barkov ended last season by winning the Stanley Cup as Florida Panthers fans cheered with joy.

And this season started the same way.

Barkov, the Panthers’ captain, skated the trophy onto the ice Tuesday night just before Florida hoisted its first championship banner from the rafters – all the players arm in arm gazing at the building’s newest memento. The Panthers posed with the trophy again after the banner flew into the sky for two minutes, and then it was finally time for a new season to begin with a season opener against the Boston Bruins.

“Now we can try to pursue it again,” Barkov said.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final was replayed on the giant video screens above the ice before warmups. The fans cheered again when Sam Reinhart scored the opening goal and grew even louder as the final seconds were shown.

And then came the real applause – as the final part of the trophy celebration came and the banner took its place in the rafters.

The pre-game ceremony capped a three-and-a-half-month celebration of the franchise’s first title. Players, coaches and some staff members received their championship rings in a private ceremony Monday and then looked skyward as the banner was raised Tuesday. Replica rings were given to 158 season ticket holders, called Panthers “Legacy Members,” who have had tickets with the franchise since its inaugural season.

“The fans are really going to enjoy the banner,” said Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe, who scored the first goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to help Florida beat Edmonton 2-1 for the title on June 24 If you need a little inspiration, just look up there and see what we’ve achieved.

For the championship banner, the Panthers chose one with a white background, the words “Stanley Cup Champions” in red at the top, “2024” in red at the bottom, and the image of the cup in the center directly above the team’s logo. He was hoisted over the end of the ice, where Florida held the puck on the boards as the final seconds of Game 7 ticked down, beginning a championship celebration that has lasted 30 years.

Last season’s other banners commemorating the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles were already hanging from the rafters, along with two more banners for conference titles, three more for division championships and one for winning the Presidents’ Trophy as the top team the regular season in 2021. 22.

It was a summer of joy for Florida as the trophy traveled to most of the players’ home countries so it could be shared with friends and family. It all started with a parade with an estimated crowd of 300,000 spectators braving thunder, lightning and downpour, and the Cup has made countless appearances in South Florida and beyond in recent weeks.

As fun as it was, Bill Zito, the Panthers’ general manager and president of hockey operations, said it was time to move on to a new season – something he said the players started doing weeks ago, even before this Training camp began.

“I think, at least for me, I’m already there,” Zito said. “I’m just so excited for an NHL game tonight. I can tell you, that’s what I thought yesterday before the rings. And then when I opened the box, it was one of those surreal moments. We used the word ‘speechless.’” I was speechless. And it was pretty nice that that happened.

The raising of the banner was preceded by the screening of a highlight video that captured the key moments of the final championship run of the season. And as expected, the trophy was brought back onto the ice before the banner was raised.

“After last night, I’m even more excited,” Zito said. “But listen, it’s not just our job, it’s what we do. And I think we have the right mindset that we have Game 1 tonight and that’s the focus.”